DePaul Law News

Moot court students enjoy record-breaking season of success

Associate Dean Howard Rubin and the Institute for Advocacy & Dispute Resolution are proud to announce that the 2011-2012 DePaul moot court programs enjoyed record-breaking success this year with the most team championships and finalists in recent history. The Moot Court Society anticipates that it will rank among the nation's top 20 programs once all national rankings are finalized.

Dedicated students under the guidance of Legal Writing Instructor Christopher Evers, Professor Barbara Bressler, and several other faculty and alumni coaches produced these record-breaking results:

Whittier National Juvenile Law Competition
Team: Patrick Viktora & Kelly Olivier 
Result: champion

National IP LawMeet
Team: Michael Comeau & Julie Krupa
Results: champion & best term sheet award

Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition (Patent)
Team: Nicholas Restauri & Rachel L. Schweers
Results: National -- runner-up; Midwest Regional -- first place, best appellant brief, best appellee brief

ABA Client Counseling Competition 
Team: Brandon Baseman & Zariah Udeh 
Results: National -- third place; Regional -- first place

Fordham Securities Law Competition
Team: Andrew Cunniff & Melinda Wetzel 
Results: semifinalist, best respondent brief, best preliminary round oralist - Melinda Wetzel

Vanderbilt 1st Amendment Competition
Ream: David Porter & Anna Esfeld
Result: semifinalist

Charleston Constitutional Law Competition 
Team: Erik Nelson & James Maruna
Result: semifinalist

Wagner Labor and Employment Law Competition
Team: William Alzugary & Mark Sliwinksi
Results: quarterfinalist, best petitioner brief

George Washington National Religious Freedom Competition
Team: Aaron Dozeman & Rachel Brown
Result: quarterfinalist

Honorary degree recipient John B. Simon to deliver DePaul law commencement address

At its May 20, 2012, commencement ceremony, DePaul College of Law will confer on graduation speaker John B. Simon (JD ’67) the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, for reflecting the highest ideals of the legal profession and helping the university fulfill its Vincentian mission of education and outreach to those most in need.

Throughout his career, Simon has served not only his clients, but also the public, the legal profession and DePaul. He is a former chair of the university’s board of trustees, has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Law, and is currently an advisory board member of the law school’s Center for Dispute Resolution. 

Simon has been a leader in the state and local bar associations and in dozens of community and government organizations—all while maintaining an active practice at one of the nation’s most prominent firms, Jenner & Block. He was president of the Chicago Bar Association, a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Planning and Oversight Committee for the Judicial Performance Evaluation Program, and a commissioner of the Illinois Racing Board. He currently chairs the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission as well as the court’s Rules Committee, where he facilitates the negotiation and drafting of the rules and ethical standards that govern our state’s justice system. 

Committed to public service in innumerable ways, Simon has served as counsel to numerous state agencies including the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, Illinois Racing Board, Illinois Farm Development Authority, Illinois State Board of Investment, and the Illinois departments of Insurance and Public Aid. He helped expand the Illinois Toll Highway Authority system and McCormick Place, and facilitated the sale of the Chicago Milwaukee Railroad/Heartland Partners’ commuter rail lines to create a regional transportation authority, all of which had major impacts on Chicago’s regional economy. On behalf of three governors of Illinois, he faithfully served and was appointed chancellor of the Lincoln Academy, awarding the state’s highest honor each year to those who have served the state through their life’s work.  

DePaul University and the College of Law are proud to honor an alumnus who has devoted his life to the well being of Illinois’ citizens and its system of justice.

 

DePaul College of Law's Commencement will be held Sunday, May 20, 2012, at the Akoo Theatre in Rosemont, Illinois. A full schedule of events and other information can be found on DePaul's commencement website.

 

DePaul students earn runner-up title at national patent law moot court competition

After a demanding six months of preparation for the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition, Nick Restauri’s and Rachel Schweers’ hard work and dedication paid off with a regional first place finish, two best brief awards and the national title of runner-up.

Restauri and Schweers formed a team in November 2011, soon after the release of the competition problem. The brief writing process took them through the end of the year, and in mid-January, they finalized their briefs for the regional competition held in Chicago in March. Unlike most moot court competitions that require participants to write one brief, the patent moot requires students to write briefs for both sides of the argument. Schweers, a patent agent with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and a recipient of the Robert and Clytia Chambers Endowed Prize for Excellence in the College of Law, says, though this requirement made more work for the team at the onset of the writing process, “It also facilitated our ability to more effectively advocate for either side of the issues.”

“Rachel and I spent a great deal of time going back and forth over our briefs,” says Restauri, a third-year student who received the 2012 Allen J. Hoover Memorial Award. “We scrutinized every sentence and rewrote portions multiple times. The process was long and very tedious, but Rachel and I played off each other’s individual writing strengths and eventually arrived at the final products.” The team received awards for best appellant brief and best appellee brief at the regional level, where they competed against 26 teams to win first place and advance to the national competition in Washington, D.C., in April.

To prepare for oral arguments, the team practiced two days a week for seven weeks before the regional, and after winning, continued to rehearse two days a week until the national competition. They also benefited from the assistance and support of DePaul intellectual property law professors, the Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology, and alumni who previously competed in the patent moot.

Students and alumna recognized for pro bono and community service work

DePaul College of Law’s Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) presented awards to more than 100 law students for their volunteer work. At its annual service awards reception held on April 19, 2012, PBCSI recognized students who completed and reported at least 50 hours of volunteer work during their time at DePaul.

Left: Chancellor's Award recipients Sarah Gorham, Laura Horner, David Zwaska, Sara Suleiman and Rebecca Birger.

Students also received awards for completing 100 hours of service and 200 hours of service. Graduating students who completed at least 200 hours of service and who best exemplified the Vincentian commitment to service and social justice received the Benjamin Hooks Distinguished Public Service Award, named after 1948 law alumnus and civil rights activist Benjamin Hooks. This year 35 students received the prestigious Hooks Award.

Right: PBCSI Director Cheryl Price with Hooks Award recipients Brandon Baseman, Joseph Resowski and Chastidy Burns.

In addition to the students, PBCSI recognized alumna Kellye Fabian (JD ’00) for her deep commitment to pro bono work and service to the poor. The recipient of PBCSI’s 2012 Pro Bono Alumni Award, Fabian is a partner at Freeborn & Peters where she practices commercial litigation.

Below: PBCSI Director Cheryl Price and 2012 Pro Bono Alumni Award recipient Kellye Fabian.

Fabian’s pro bono work is extensive. She is the co-founder of Willow Creek Legal Aid Ministry, which is housed in a food pantry in Hoffman Estates. The ministry was launched in 2009 and provides free legal services every Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to noon and again from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the areas of family law, consumer debt, immigration law, and foreclosure to name just a few. The ministry uses approximately 20 pro bono attorneys, including Fabian, to assist clients. To date, Willow Creek Legal Aid Ministry has served more than 3,000 people.  

Fabian also is the vice president and a board member of Shama Ministries, a nonprofit organization serving Chicago’s inner-city communities and men and women who have recently been released from prison. She is a former board member of Housing Opportunities for Women, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women, children and families to break the cycle of poverty to homelessness. In light of Fabian’s impressive pro bono record, this award was well deserved.     

If you have questions about PBCSI or its service awards, please contact PBCSI Director Cheryl Price at cprice13@depaul.edu.

The complete list of our 2012 service award recipients is available for download: Download 2012 PBCSI Service Award Recipients

Summer Scholarship Awards help students pursue public interest internships during the summer

Unfortunately, the number of students who wish to public interest internships during the summer exceeds the amount of scholarship money available to these students. To help alleviate this deficit, each year the Center for Public Interest Law and the Public Interest Law Association award summer scholarships to qualified students seeking public interest work. These awards of between $1000 and $5000 help defray the costs that students incur from working at unpaid internships during the summer. On April 24, 2012 the CPIL and PILA celebrated the award recipients at a luncheon in the DePaul Club. 

For more information on Summer Scholarship Awards, please contact Shaye Loughlin, Executive Director of DePaul Center for Public Interest Law, at sloughli@depaul.edu. Below is a list of the award recipients from both PILA and CPIL:

Students shadow Cook County circuit judges in Bridgeview

As part of the College of Law’s Institute for Advocacy & Dispute Resolution, eight students shadowed judges at the Bridgeview Courthouse, the 5th Municipal District of the Cook County Circuit Court, on Friday, April 13. Students met Presiding Judge Raymond L. Jagielski, and shadowed other judges throughout the day.

Pictured from left to right: Presiding Judge Raymond Jagielski, Victoria Ger, Judge Colleen Hyland, Megan Einsele, Jennifer Gates, Judge Kerry Kennedy, Martha Soto, Kathleen Groark, Lizette Jaramillo, Colleen Glass, Judge Pete Felice, and Marta Tuhchieva-Petit.

“I really enjoyed the day,” says Victoria Ger (’12). “Meeting the judges and hearing their point of view on court proceedings, law practice, and even current events was very insightful.”

The students also had lunch with the judges, and got to meet with representatives of the State’s Attorney’s and Public Defender’s Offices. 

“Thanks so much for the chance to visit the 5th Municipal District Courthouse,” says Susan Ritacca (’13). “It was a productive and interesting trip.” 

Events take place every spring and fall semester. Please contact Natalie Taylor at ntaylor4@depaul.eduor (312) 362-8312 if you are interested in participating in fall 2012.

Panel discusses Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law and what it means for Midwest

What is Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law and what does it mean for the Midwest? A panel sought to answer this question on April 19, which was especially timely because of the Supreme Court oral argument in the Arizona v. U.S. case this week. The panel (pictured right) included moderator Chuck Roth, director of litigation at Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC); Brian Murray, partner at Jones Day who represented NIJC as amicus curaie in Arizona v. U.S.; Maricela Garcia, CEO of Gads Hill Center; and Daniel Morales, assistant professor of law at DePaul University.

Professor Morales began the panel discussion by mentioning some of the controversial aspects of the Arizona immigration law SB 1070 that the Supreme Court would consider. He described how section 2b of the law requires law enforcement officers to verify a person’s immigration status if the officer has a “reasonable suspicion” that the person may be an undocumented immigrant. The concern with this provision is that it opens up too much discretion for officers, and people will be targeted based on the way they look. Professor Morales pointed out that section 3, which the 9th Circuit enjoined, criminalizes being undocumented. Section 5 criminalizes applying or soliciting work if you are undocumented, which is unprecedented for state law. Finally, section 6 authorizes warrantless arrests and deportation based on probable cause. Additionally, citizens can sue local law enforcement for “failing to enforce the law to maximum extent.”

Garcia pointed out that 36 states have filed similar “copycat” laws since Arizona’s, but 31 of those states have rejected those laws. She spoke of a strong pushback in communities across the nation to reject this anti-immigrant sentiment, despite the economic fear-mongering that undocumented immigrants will take our jobs. Garcia illustrated how SB 1070 represents an attack on the Latino community and an invitation to racial profiling. However, Arizona has suffered $740 million in economic loss since SB 1070 was passed because of a significant loss of tax base from people who left the state. Arizona has paid $1.5 million alone in legal fees to defend the bill.

Pritzker Elementary School sixth graders visit College of Law

(Pictured: 6th grade Pritzker Elementary School teacher Jerry Weissbuch and Professor Len Cavise)

On March 30, 2012, almost 60 sixth-grade students from A.N. Pritzker Elementary School visited the College of Law to experience a day in the life of a law student. The field trip was the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative’s March Donate-A-Day service event. The Pritzker students were greeted by a group of 20 law students, as well as Dean Gregory Mark and Dean Francine Soliunas. The Pritzker students talked with Dean Mark and Dean Soliunas about lawyers and law school. 

(Pictured: Dean Howard Rubin) During their visit, the students received a tour of the school, attended a mock class, and participated in a mock trial.  On their tour, which was led by DePaul law students, the Pritzker students visited all of the important areas in College of Law, such as the student lounge and the library.  Professor Len Cavise and Dean Howard Rubin taught the mock classes and had the students engaged and excited about criminal law topics.  During the mock trial, the students learned about the varying aspects of a trial, such as opening statements and cross-examinations.   Law students put on the mock trial, and the Pritzker kids were allowed to sit in the mock trial room and act as the jury for a shoplifting case. 

(Pictured from left to right: students Paulina Muñoz, Zaria Udeh, Goli Rahimi, Courtney Shelton, David Gerald, Amanda Noble, Michelle Cass, Timothy Richards)

The students at Pritzker are always highly engaged and interested in learning and exploring, and the group clearly included some future lawyers!  It was a great day for law students and faculty to share why they chose the legal profession and share their love of the law with the next generation.  

For more information about the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative and its work with Pritzker Elementary School, please contact Cheryl Price, Director of PBCSI, at cprice13@depaul.edu.

Students help the homeless through a new volunteer legal clinic

(Pictured: Damon Ritenhouse ('11) and students Emily Mannix-Slobig and Goli Rahimi)

 Students and staff started a new program to assist homeless individuals get state identification cards and expunge or seal minor criminal records. The program, Neighborhood Legal Assistance Project (NLAP), takes place every other Saturday at Grace Episcopal Church on 637 S. Dearborn St. Students meet homeless clients at the free breakfast program run by volunteers from The First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple. By helping homeless clients get state identification cards, NLAP helps homeless clients receive public benefits. With their record sealed or expunged, homeless individuals can get housing or employment.  

(Pictured: students Nick Gutierrez and Sam Keen)

NLAP collaborates with several other agencies to make the program work. Franciscan Outreach through St. Peter's Church trained students on getting state IDs. Cabrini Green Legal Aid trained students in expungement and sealing of minor criminal records. The program began on March 17 and will continue every other Saturday. Alumnus Damon Ritenhouse ('11) supervises the clinic. For more information, contact Cheryl Price, Director of the DePaul Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative, at cprice13@depaul.edu

Click here to view the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's recent piece on NLAP (note that subscription is required to view the article).

The Journal for Social Justice Takes a Look at Occupy

The Journal for Social Justice's tradition of an annual symposium continued on March 28 with  New Battlefronts: Struggles for Economic Justice in the Year of Upheavals.  Over the past year, from Madison to Manhattan and beyond, hundreds of thousands of Americans have taken to the streets, squares and parks of their cities, clamoring against economic inequality, home foreclosures, the erosion of workers rights, and the seeming indifference of an unaccountable elite. The symposium featured a range of lawyers, activists, and organizers and addressed the social and economic grievances that produced Occupy Wall Street and other popular mobilizations.

The event opened with a panel examining intersections between economic injustice and race.  The panel  included Jose Luis Gallardo, an organizer with the Latino Union, Keeanga Taylor, a tenant rights activist and a researcher in the history of housing policy, and Kelli Dudley an attorney and adjunct professor of housing law at DePaul.  Gallardo spoke about the experience of being a day laborer.  Keeanga Taylor gave a historical overview of the racialized history of housing policy in urban America, and provided a background on the 20th-century policies that produced many of the racial disparities observed today in terms of foreclosures rates, loan servicing, etc. Kelli Dudley spoke about the minimal procedural protections extended to homeowners facing foreclosure; she also provided compelling evidence that sinister elements of the banking sector view housing precarity as socially desirable. "This is part of what the right has been fighting for for years," said Dudley.