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Week of September 15, 2008

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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