JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIPS: SPRING 2009 SEMESTER
2L APPLICANTS MUST HAVE A MINIMUM G.P.A. OF 3.28
3L APPLICANTS MUST HAVE A MINIMUM G.P.A. OF 3.35
Judicial Externship is a 4-credit hour Pass/Low Pass/Fail
program open to students who have completed at least their
first full year of law school and want to do legal research
and writing for a federal appellate, district or magistrate
judge or a designated Illinois appellate or circuit court
judge.
Judicial Externship enables a student to become involved
in particular legal problems through research and writing,
and to contribute to the resolution of those problems by
writing memoranda and drafting opinions. Depending upon
the judge, an extern may have the opportunity to observe
the day-to-day routine of a judge and discuss with the judge
or the judge's law clerk those legal problems which attorneys
face in their profession, as well as the specific problems
confronted in the courtroom.
Informational Meeting
On Tuesday, September 23, 2008, at 12:00 p.m. in
Room 170 there will be a meeting for students who
are interested in externing for one of the designated judges
for the Spring 2009 Semester. Professor Vivien Gross will
describe the kinds of experiences a judicial extern will
have in the course of a semester, as well as how to apply
for a judicial externship.
Take advantage of this prestigious learning opportunity
while enhancing your marketability in the legal world. If
you are interested in a judicial externship but are unable
to attend the meeting, please see Professor Gross in Room
617.
Application Process
Applications for Spring Judicial Externships will be available
in the Law Offices reception area (Room 600), in the Career
Services Office, and in front of the Spakateria as of Monday,
September 22nd.
Completed applications should be submitted to Ms. Carole
Ross, Secretary to Professor Gross, Room 612 of Law Offices,
by Wednesday, October 8th, at 5:00 p.m.
Work Study Position
The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic work study position has
been filled. Thank you for your interest.
LEGAL EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
What is the Legal Externship Program?
LEP is a 4-credit hour non-graded program which enables
you to extern with a supervising attorney in a wide variety
of legal areas – private or public, civil or criminal. Externships
are available for the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.
Most public sector externships enable you to obtain a 711
license and appear in court.
Students interested in civil law may extern in a wide
variety of places. For example, some have externed at the
City of Chicago Corporation Counsel’s Office, Office of
the Illinois Attorney General, Illinois Commerce Commission,
Immigration Court of the U.S. Department of Justice, Internal
Revenue Service, and Environmental Protection Agency, as
well as major corporations like Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
and Rush University Medical Center.
Students interested in criminal law have externed at the
U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Federal Defender,
and at the offices of the State’s Attorney and Public Defender
in Cook County as well as the surrounding counties.
Why Extern?
To become a good lawyer and to supplement what you learn
in the classroom, you need practical experience in real-world
legal work. Most students aren’t fortunate enough to receive
a paid clerking position — or even a volunteer opportunity
— that teaches what they want to learn. LEP presents a unique
and important opportunity to gain exposure to an area of
the law in which you are interested and helps you significantly
broaden your future employment opportunities.
Applications for Fall 2008 Legal Externships are currently
available in the Law Offices reception area (Room 600),
in the Career Services Office, and outside of the Cafeteria.
If you would like more information about externships,
please e-mail Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu)
to set up an appointment. There are lots of different types
of opportunities in which you might be interested.
Exciting Opportunity for 2Ls and 3Ls
Spring 2009 Semester: Externships with U.S. Attorney’s
Office
Northern District of Illinois
If you are interested in exposure to and possible participation
in federal trial and appellate practice while assisting
the U.S. Attorney’s Office in handling its multitude of
important cases, please pick up an application in Room 612
from Carole Ross, administrative assistant to Professor
Gross.
Completed applications must be received at the Office
of the U.S. Attorney by Friday, September 19, 2008.
The reason for this accelerated date is because each accepted
extern must go through a security clearance, which takes
several weeks.
To receive law school credit for this externship, should
you be selected by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, you must
enroll in the law school’s Legal Externship Program.
Professor Gross will be happy to answer any questions
you may have about either the Legal Externship Program and/or
the externship position with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Awards
Richard Kling and Susana Ortiz received two awards re the
Herb Whitlock case:
- The Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
for “Excellence in Public Service;”
- The University of Illinois’ Downstate Illinois Innocence
Project for “Defender of the Innocent.”
Richard Gonzalez received the "Award for Excellence
in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service" on May 13.
Richard Kling will be receiving The Northwest Suburban
Bar Association “Award for Distinguished Public Service.”
On June 5th.
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. CBS television show 48 Hours Mystery
ran a show about this case on March 1, 2008. For more information
about this show, please visit the CBS
48 Hours Mystery webpage.
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.
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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