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Week of March 29, 2010

LAW OFFICES - IN-HOUSE CLINIC

Applications for the Summer 2010 semester are due on Wednesday, March 31 at 4:00. They should be handed to the receptionist in the Law Offices, Suite 600. Applications for the Fall and Summer 2010 Semester of the Law Offices are located outside of the 3rd floor cafeteria and also in the Law Offices reception area, Suite 600. The due date for the Fall semester will be announced at a later time but they are usually due a few days before registration begins. You can also download the forms here:

Summer 2010 Law Offices

Summer 2010 Business Transactions Clinic (please note you must also fill out a Law Offices application and attach a resume to the Business Transactions application)

Fall 2010 Law Offices

Fall 2010 Business Transactions Clinic (please note you must also fill out a Law Offices application and attach a resume to the Business Transactions application)

 

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. Some public sector externships enable you to obtain a 711 license and appear in court.

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.

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 approved in-house corporate legal counsel.

Students interested in criminal law have externed at the US 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.

Information about Summer/Fall 2009 Legal Externships and an accompanying application form are available in the Law Offices reception area (Room 600), in the Career Services Office, and in front of the Spakateria.

If you would like more information about externships, please e-mail Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) to set up an appointment. There are many different types of opportunities in which you might be interested.

Listed below are some available for-credit externship placement opportunities:


EXTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
FOR CREDIT

Fall 2010 Semester For Credit Only: U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights

The United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), enforces several Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex disability and age. OCR also enforces the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001 that prohibits the denial of equal access or a fair opportunity to meet with, or discriminate against, any group officially affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America. Successful extern candidates will work with OCR attorneys and investigators on one or more teams in the Chicago Office to resolve discrimination complaints.

The extern will observe and participate in complainant and witness interviews, participate in the drafting of all documents pertinent to an OCR investigation, including letters of notification, data requests and letters of finding. The extern may have the opportunity to participate in local on-site investigations and will assist with data analysis, engage in substantial legal research and be expected to adhere to the tight time frames of the Department. The team attorney(s) with whom the extern will work will supervise the extern's work. The extern coordinator, the deputy chief attorney and chief attorney will also be available to assist the extern.

If you are interested, please submit a letter of interest along with a copy of your resume and writing sample, postmarked no later than April 15, 2010 to:

Ms. Leticia Magdaleno
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
Citigroup Center
Suite 1075
500 W. Madison St.
Chicago, IL 60661

Applications may also be submitted by email to Leticia.Magdaleno@ed.gov.

Please notify Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) if you are selected as an extern.


Summer 2010 Semester For Credit Only: Legal Externship in New Orleans

Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (formerly known as New Orleans Legal Assistance) offers free civil legal aid to the Greater New Orleans area. It has substantive law units in housing, employment and public benefits, family, homeless advocacy, consumer, foreclosure prevention, tax and successions/title clearing.

Externs assist in litigation, prepare research memos and briefs, take clients through intake, and a variety of other tasks.

If you are interested in applying to SLLS as a Summer extern, please e-mail a cover letter, resume and writing sample to: Amanda Furst at afurst@slls.org.

Please include the dates when you are available to extern over the summer.
 

Summer/Fall 2010 Semesters For Credit Only: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
3Ls Only With an Interest in Securities Law and Regulation

The Department of Enforcement of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) was created through the consolidation of NASD and the member regulation, enforcement, and arbitration functions of the NYSE. It is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States and is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation.

Externs will perform research, writing, investigative work and analysis as part of preliminary and formal investigations being conducted by FINRA. These investigations cover all areas of the securities industry including customer-initiated sales practice complaints, market manipulation, insider trading, member firm financial operations and trading violations. Externs will attend hearings and depositions over the course of the semester.

The selected student must receive school credit to be eligible to participate in the Program, and must have completed a course in Evidence.

If you are interested, please indicate which semester you are applying for and submit a resume, writing sample and unofficial transcript to:

Mr. Dale Glanzman
Senior Regional Counsel
dale.glanzman@finra.org

Summer applicants must submit their materials by Friday, April 2, 2010.

Fall applicants must submit their materials by Friday, April 30, 2010.

Please notify Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) if you are selected as an extern.

 
Fall 2010 Semesters For Credit Only: U.S. Dept. Of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Office of the Chief Counsel, Dept. Of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Externs will gain experience in immigration law in the areas of citizenship, asylum, and immigration benefits; will draft briefs on visa petition appeals and research issues in immigration law and criminal law; and will also have the opportunity to assist with federal litigation, primarily mandamus actions. The extern will rotate among the various departments within USCIS to observe citizenship, adjudications and asylum interviews.

If you are interested, please submit a copy of your resume and transcript to:

Ms. Debra Gordon
Associate Regional Counsel, USCIS
101 W. Congress Pkwy.
Chicago, IL 60605
debra.gordon@dhs.gov

Fall applicants must submit their materials by Monday, May 3.

Please notify Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) if and when you are selected as an extern.


Fall 2010 Semester For Credit Only: Intellectual Property (IP) Legal Externship for IP Certificate Participants
2L and 3L Applicants Must Have a Minimum G.P.A. of 3.28

Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, will select a Kent IP Certificate student for a for-credit Fall 2010 Legal Externship in their IP division.

To Apply:

Submit your resume and an online transcript to Prof. Gross by Tuesday, April 6, at noon. Professor Gross will then forward the information to the participating firm to make its selection.

Do not apply directly.

For more information about intellectual property externship opportunities generally, please contact Professor Vivien Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu).

 
Fall 2010 Semester For Credit Only: Accenture/DLA Piper Corporate Law Externship
2L and 3L Applicants Must Have a Minimum G.P.A. of 3.28

This corporate externship will expose a student to the daily operations of the Legal Department at Accenture, a commercial management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company for half of the semester (7 weeks); and to the corporate/commercial law practice area at DLA Piper, a leading global law firm, for the remaining 7 weeks.

At Accenture, the extern will be assigned to a client services group (e.g., Products, Resources, Communications & High Tech, Financial Services) and 1-2 areas of specialty (e.g., Employment, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Compliance, etc.), thereby gaining experience in legal research, drafting and internal client management. At DLA Piper, the extern will be assigned to one or two of the following five departments and will participate in research, drafting or project management assignments: Intellectual Property, Mergers & Acquisitions; Litigation, Insurance and Reinsurance, and Real Estate.

To Apply:

All interested applicants should submit their resume and an online transcript to Professor Gross by no later than Wednesday, March 31. Professor Gross will then forward the materials to Accenture and DLA Piper, who will make their selection as quickly as possible to comply with law school pre-registration timelines.

Do not apply directly.

If you have any questions, contact Professor Gross at vgross@kentlaw.edu.

 

Fall 2010 Semester For Credit Only: 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 Monday, April 19, 2010. 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. Externship applications for Fall 2010 will be available in mid-March.

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.

 

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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