Law Offices Attorneys Help Free Innocent
Man
On January 8th, 2008, Professor Richard Kling and his Law
Offices Colleague, Susana Ortiz, saw victory in the case
of their client, Herb Whitlock. Mr. Whitlock, of downstate
Paris, Illinois, was wrongfully incarcerated on murder charges
for over 20 years and thanks to the efforts of Professor
Kling and Ms. Ortiz and teams of Law Offices clinic students
who have been working on the case for the past 7 years,
Mr. Whitlock saw freedom when the State dismissed the charges
against him as a result of a new trial obtained for him
by Kling and Ortiz. In the Appellate Court opinion which
granted Mr. Whitlock a new trial, the Court cited the fact
that favorable evidence was hidden from the defense and
that Mr. Whitlock’s trial counsel was ineffective for failing
to investigate key forensic evidence that would have shed
serious doubt on the credibility of the State’s witnesses.
After his release, Mr. Whitlock was reunited with his daughter,
Brittany, who was 12 at the time of his original trial and
he met his seven-year old grandson for the first time. Read
the article from the Chicago
Tribune.
Law Offices Professor Admitted into U.S. Supreme Court
On January 7, 2008, Professor Daniel Coyne was admitted
on motion in open court before all nine justices of the
supreme court in a group admission ceremony. The admission
was sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers. There were ten admittees from various jurisdictions
across the country. Immediately following the admission,
the death penalty case of Baze v. Rees was argued.
Baze challenges the propriety of the use of lethal
injection to execute condemned inmates.
LEGAL EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Do you want to develop your legal skills, get practical
legal experience, see what it is like to work in a corporation,
firm or government agency and -- at the same time -- make
yourself more marketable to prospective employers? If so,
then consider doing a for-credit externship and signing
up for Chicago-Kent’s Legal Externship Program (LEP).
LEP is 4 credit hours, non-graded, and open predominantly
to students in their last three semesters of law school.
Externs interested in civil law may select to work in
such diverse legal areas as immigration, tax, commodities,
securities, health care, medical malpractice, or general
corporate law. Externs in criminal law may choose to work
with the State’s Attorneys Office, Public Defender's Office,
or the U.S. Attorney's Office. Some externships offer the
opportunity to obtain a 711 license and appear in court.
The information about Summer 2008 Legal Externships and
an accompanying application form will be available in early
March.
Please e-mail Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu)
to set up an appointment for more information about externships.
For a complete description of all clinical programs, please
visit the Law Offices' Home Page at http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/clinic.
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