For more information, please contact:
Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS, AND ASSIGNMENT, LEGAL, SPORTS, BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY, PLANNING, CITY DESK, FEATURES AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO–June 4, 2008–Chicago-Kent College of Law and Stuart School of Business have experts available to discuss current issues. To reach any of our experts, call Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, at (312) 906-5251. Press releases and earlier advisories are available on our Web site: www.kentlaw.edu/news/advisory.
A federal jury has found political fundraiser Tony Rezko guilty on 16 of the 24 counts against him. Professor Nancy S. Marder teaches a course on juries, judges and trials and has written extensively about the American jury system. Professor Marder is the author of Jury Process (Foundation Press 2005). She is available for interviews. Clinical professor and attorney Richard S. Kling and former prosecutor Douglas Wm. Godfrey also are available for interviews about the Rezko trial.
The prosecution in the R. Kelly trial rested Monday after its key witness testified that she, Kelly and the alleged underage victim appeared in the videotaped sexual encounter at issue in this case. The singer was arrested in 2002 after a videotape he allegedly made of himself in 1997 having sex with an underage girl was turned over to authorities by a Chicago Sun-Times reporter. Although Kelly always has denied that he is the man in the video, a number of witnesses for the prosecution have testified that it is Kelly on the tape. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison. Chicago-Kent professors Douglas Wm. Godfrey and Richard S. Kling are available for interviews. Professor Godfrey is a former prosecutor in the Kings County (New York) District Attorney's Office, where he served in the sex crimes and homicide bureaus. Professor Kling is a criminal defense attorney who teaches evidence and forensic science courses.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week announced a number of initiatives to improve oversight of the energy futures markets. The CFTC’s actions were prompted by recent dramatic increases in the price of crude oil traded on futures exchanges. The agency says the initiatives are intended to ensure the prices "reflect fundamental economic forces of supply and demand, free of manipulation and fraud." Professor Michael Gorham is director of IIT’s Center for Financial Markets in the Stuart School of Business. From 2002 to 2004, Professor Gorham served as the first director of the CFTC’s newly created Division of Market Oversight. The division of 100 economists, lawyers, futures-trading specialists and others was responsible for the designation of new exchanges, the review of new futures and options products, and the protection of markets from manipulation and customer abuse. Professor Gorham is available for interviews.
Chicago-Kent’s PLUS Program. More than two dozen undergraduates interested in legal careers are participating in a special four-week summer session. For the seventh consecutive year, the law school is hosting the Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program, which is designed to expose the students to the rigors of law school and contact with legal professionals. This year’s PLUS scholars come from 21 colleges and universities. They are taking courses adapted from Chicago-Kent's curriculum. Chicago-Kent graduates Temeka Higgins and Chanel Jefferson, who earned their law degrees last month, were PLUS scholars in 2004. Students, faculty and administrators are available for interviews about the program, which ends June 27.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says Adam "Pacman" Jones can play for the Dallas Cowboys--as long as he stays out of trouble. Jones has been arrested six times since he joined the NFL in 2005. In April 2007, the commissioner suspended Jones, who played for the Tennessee Titans, for the entire 2007-08 season following a series of legal troubles. The Titans traded him to the Cowboys in April of this year. The suspension was lifted on Monday. Sports attorney and adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham is available for interviews about the NFL’s crackdown on players’ behavior and disciplinary issues within professional sports.
Online shoppers in the state of New York must now pay 8.75 percent sales tax for their purchases on Amazon.com. A new law that took effect this week requires certain online retailers to collect and pay the taxes to the state even if they have no physical presence in New York. Amazon.com, which is headquartered in Seattle, and Overstock.com, based in Salt Lake City, have filed lawsuits claiming the law is unconstitutional and unfairly targets their Web sites. Professor Richard Warner is faculty director of Chicago-Kent’s Center for Law and Computers. From 1998 to 2000, he directed Building Businesses on the Web, an IIT executive education e-commerce program. Professor Warner, whose research interests include the regulation of business competition on the Internet, is a co-author (with Chicago-Kent Dean Harold J. Krent and Professors Graeme Dinwoodie and Margaret Stewart) of E-Commerce, the Internet and the Law: Cases and Materials (Thomson West 2007).
"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." Charles Moskos, a Northwestern University sociology professor credited as one of the architects of the military’s "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays, died this week just as a documentary film that examines the impact of the policy is being screened throughout the country as part of Gay and Lesbian Pride Month celebrations. "Ask Not," an award-winning new documentary produced and directed by Johnny Symonds, includes interviews with gay soldiers and veterans about their experiences and looks at groups and individuals working to overturn what they see as a discriminatory policy. Professor Michael I. Spak, an expert on military law, is available for interviews about the policy. Professor Spak served on active duty with the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1963 to 1969 and has remained in the U.S. Army Reserve. As Colonel Spak, he is currently liaison officer of the Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Professor Spak is the author of the law review articles The U.S. Military Should Give Up Its Excuses and Change Its Policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" to a Policy of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Don't Ask (and) Don't Tell Don't Work: Now What?
Downtown Campus Events
June 6: 27th annual Conference on Not-For-Profit Organizations. This one-day conference is designed for experienced attorneys, accountants, not-for-profit executives and staff, and board members. The conference features a comprehensive program at a mid-to-advanced level of discussion on the most current developments in taxation, legislation and regulation of nonprofits. Registration is required. To register or for more information, please call (312) 906-5090 or visit http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cle/.
June 19: Hot Topics in Contemporary Labor Relations Law: Rats, Banners, Cards, E-Mail and More! This one-day conference focuses on major issues under the National Labor Relations Act and is for attorneys, labor relations and human resources managers, union business representatives and other labor relations professionals. The conference will present a variety of workshops--some focused on emerging complex issues under the National Labor Relations Act and others on the basics of practice before the National Labor Relations Board. A unique feature of this conference will be the opportunity to discuss particular issues during "table talks" led by facilitators over lunch. This program is co-sponsored by Chicago-Kent’s Institute for Law and the Workplace and the National Labor Relations Board, Region 13. Registration is required. To register or for more information, please call (312) 906-5090 or visit http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cle/.
June 28: The Last Chance CLE: A Survey of Professional Conduct and Commercial Law. Chicago-Kent professor Michael I. Spak will lead a one-day program that includes a review of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct and a survey of commercial law that will cover contracts, commercial paper, secured transactions and pertinent articles of the Uniform Commercial Code. Professor Spak has been professor-reporter on the Uniform Commercial Code Committee, Illinois Judicial Conference, and is also the professor-reporter in the Living Legends of the Law Series for Contracts, Sales (Art. 2, UCC), Secured Transactions (Art. 9, UCC), and Commercial Paper (Art. 3, UCC). He teaches courses in the commercial law area at the law school. Professor Spak is the author of Electronic Cases and Materials on Sales and Secured Transactions, Electronic Cases and Materials on Commercial Paper, Electronic Cases and Materials on a Survey of Commercial Law, and Faulkner and Gray's Comprehensive Guide to Electronic Health Records. Registration is required. To register or for more information, please call (312) 906-5090 or visit http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cle/.
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