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Week of April 11, 2011


LAW OFFICES IN-HOUSE CLINICS
FALL 2011 APPLICATIONS

Fall 2011 applications are now available and can be found outside of the 3rd floor cafeteria and also in the Law Offices reception area - Suite 600.

SUMMER/FALL JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP

Cook County Domestic Relations Court (4 credit hours)
2Ls and 3Ls

Enjoy this exciting opportunity to be an extern to a judge in the Domestic Relations Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County at the Daley Center. You will not only be able to observe and participate in the day-to-day operations of a busy domestic relations courtroom but will also assist your judge in researching law, drafting orders, and resolving disputes.

Students who have either taken Family Law or Family Law Clinic or who will be enrolled in Family Law in the Fall are preferred.

If you are interested in either a Summer or Fall externship, please contact Professor Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) as soon as possible to set up a meeting and to submit your resume and transcript.


ACCESS2PRACTICE
LEGAL EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM

A2P Legal Externship 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.

Application Process:

Information and application packets for Fall 2011 are available in front of the Spakateria, in Career Services Office, and in Room 600 Law Offices reception area.
 

Externship Opportunities:

Summer 2011: Legal Externship with Legal Affairs Department, Mérieux Nutrisciences Corporation (For Credit Only)

Mérieux Nutrisciences Corporation is the leading internationally accredited food testing and consulting network. It is comprised of over fifty-five laboratories in 16 countries worldwide. The corporation provides consulting, testing, auditing, research and training solutions to companies who are searching for an innovative and reliable service partner.

The Legal Affairs department is in charge of all legal matters globally for Mérieux Nutrisciences, including sales support, mergers and acquisitions, corporate compliance and governance, and litigation. Some of the items an extern can anticipate participating in:

  • Providing general advice to senior management on legal implications of business and operational decisions;
  • Researching corporate governances issues impacting global operations;
  • Developing tools to promote accountability for legal and regulatory compliance;
  • Provide as needed guidance to other functions, including Finance, Sales, Operations, and Information Technology;
  • Drafting and analyzing a wide variety of commercial contracts and vendor agreements; and
  • Assisting in the management of outside law firms and legal resources.

Qualifications:
Extern applicants should be rising 2Ls only and rank in the top 25% of their class.

To Apply:
Applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and transcript (unofficial on-line transcript is acceptable) by either regular mail or email to:

Christopher A. McVety
Corporate Vice President of Legal Affairs
Mérieux NutriSciences Corporation
Suite 2300
111 E. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
chris.mcvety@silliker.com

Application Deadline: Friday, April 8, 2011

If you are selected to extern, please notify Prof. Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) immediately for permission to register for Legal Externship (4 credit hours).
 

Fall 2011 Semesters For Credit Only: Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC

Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC (MRC) is a railcar operating lessor servicing customers throughout North America, including Canada and Mexico. MRC's customer base includes many Fortune 500 companies in a wide variety of sectors, including energy, mining, coal, steel, automotive, appliances, grain, plastics, etc. MRC also provides rail and infrastructure advisory services to its sister-companies in Amsterdam, Munich and Sao Paolo, as well as affiliated sister-companies worldwide.

The extern will work directly with General Counsel on numerous legal matters including but not limited to: equipment leasing agreements; equipment financing and other financial documentation; NDAs or other confidentiality agreements; corporate governance documents including board minutes, consents/resolutions, company and employee policies; matters relating to human resources and employment; insurance claim handling and reporting; various litigation matters; and other legal matters as needed by the company.

Qualifications:
Extern applicants can be either 2Ls or 3Ls. Students who have had course work in Business Organizations, Commercial and Secured Transactions and/or Employment Law are preferred. In addition, the extern should have an interest or experience in cross-cultural business environments.

To Apply:
Applicants should send a cover letter, resume, writing sample and transcript (unofficial on-line transcript is acceptable) by either regular mail or email to:

Julie Schotanus
Manager, General Affairs
Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC
Suite 1800
71 S. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60608
jschotanus@mrc-rail.com

Please note: cover letters should be addressed to:

Mr. Rudy A. Figueroa, Jr.
General Counsel
Director of Human Resources & Corporate Secretary
Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC

Application Deadline Dates:

Fall Semester Legal Externship applicants must submit their materials by Wednesday, April 13, 2011.

If you are selected to extern, you must notify Professor Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) immediately for permission to register for Legal Externship (4 credit hours).
 

Fall 2011 Semester: Legal Externship with Encyclopaedia Britannica (For Credit Only)
3Ls Only
Applicants Must Have a Minimum G.P.A. of 3.2.

Encyclopaedia Britannica was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1768 and today is primarily a publisher of reference material distributed in a plethora of languages to individuals, schools and libraries throughout the world over the Internet. As a result, much of the work of the Law Department has to do with intellectual property, its development, protection and distribution.

The Law Department serves the legal needs of senior management at the company's world headquarters in Chicago and oversees the legal functions and compliance requirements of subsidiaries located in London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Taipei, Seoul, New Delhi and Sydney. The Law Department also provides legal services to the company's dictionary publishing subsidiary, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The extern will primarily be involved in drafting legal documents, particularly amendments to moderately complicated international trademark and copyright licenses, assist in ongoing privacy policy audits, and be exposed to strategic discussions about current litigation dealing with both the plaintiff and defendant sides.

To apply:
Please submit a resume, transcript and writing sample to Professor Gross (vgross@kentlaw.edu) by no later than Friday, April 8, 2011.

Do not contact Encyclopedia Britannica directly; your application will not be considered.
 

Fall 2011 For Credit Only Legal Externship: Mintel International Group Limited

Mintel International Group Limited, a London-based market research company with offices in downtown Chicago, is a global leader in market research and competitive intelligence.

The externship will focus on soft IP and transactional law and involve hands-on legal work such as running the U.S. copyright registration program for a variety of Mintel products, summarizing and preparing reports about vendor agreements, reviewing and providing comments on sundry agreements, including licensing and non-disclosure agreements, developing and implementing a program to identify and engage copyright infringers, and conducting legal research.

Qualifications:
Applicants must have completed their first year of studies and have a minimum G.P.A. of 3.0.

To Apply:
Applicants should email a cover letter, resume and unofficial transcript to Mr. Douglas Colber (dcolber@mintel.com).

Fall application deadline: Friday, April 8, 2011. Mintel will complete its selection by Friday, April 29.

Please notify Professor Gross immediately if you are selected (vgross@kentlaw.edu).
  

Fall 2011 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, 2011 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.
 

Fall 2011 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, April 15, 2011. 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 2011 are available in the Law Offices reception area (Room 600), in the Career Services Office, and in front of the Spakateria.

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.

If you would like more information, please check the Externship web page: http://www.kentlaw.edu/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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