You Are Never Too Old For Camp

Evidence can be an extremely difficult subject to get a grip on - especially without courtroom application. That's why the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution will be hosting an Evidence Boot Camp this summer. The Evidence Boot Camp will be held on five weeknights in either June or July (exact dates TBA). Seasoned trial team coach and Trial Advocacy adjunct professor Lance Northcutt, and the Honorable Claire E. McWilliams, Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, will be teaching Evidence through the Federal Rules and through practice problems. They will focus on key areas of difficulty and interest such as hearsay and relevance. This course will be open to any and all students who wish to learn more about this area of the law. This will be especially beneficial to those 1L's and 2L's who are interested in participating in trial teams on the upcoming school year.

...by Meredith Shane

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The Best Ten Days In Law School

The Hons. John W. Darrah, Arthur F. Hill, Jr., and Lawrence Flood discuss the impact the Accelerated Trial Advocacy course has on the student's performance in the classroom and in court.

“This is going to be the ten best days of your law school career,” said Prof. Susann MacLachlan, the Associate Director for the Center for Advocacy & Dispute Resolution, on the first day of Accelerated Trial Advocacy class.  We were, of course, skeptical.  After all, we were giving up ten precious days of our winter break to take the intensive course, while rest of the students slept in or were on vacations enjoying themselves.  Nonetheless, we knew we were in for a special experience once the distinguished group of instructors comprised of esteemed federal judges and experienced trial attorneys, introduced themselves.  Personally, I had decided to take Accelerated Trial Advocacy so that I could experience what real life litigators go through in preparation for a trial, e.g., days of intense preparation leading up to the actual trial.  What I didn’t expect was the fact that I could hone my trial skills under the guidance of such an outstanding group of instructors, and my experience participating in the program exceeded my expectations tenfold.  Moreover, because the course rotated instructors throughout the ten days, we were able to receive critiques and advice from various perspectives.  Nowhere else would I have been able to learn from federal judges and attorneys with decades of litigation experience.  Another aspect that I enjoyed very much was the bond that is created with my section mates.  Throughout the length of the course, we encouraged and helped each other out as we spent most of our waking hours together in class and preparing for the final trial at the Daley Center.  And even though many took this class as a way to get 3 credits out of the way in a short amount of time, by the end we were all enjoying ourselves (even the ones who were terrified of public speaking) and astonished at the improvement of our advocacy skills.  Yes, Professor MacLachlan, you were right; this was perhaps the most fun we had in a law school course. 

...by Jisoo Kim

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Externship: The Great Alternative

I’ve had the opportunity to do two externships while at John Marshall.  The summer after my first year I was an extern for a Magistrate Judge in Federal Court.  It was a great alternative to getting a more “traditional” summer job.  My summer externship had several components.  I attended my Judge’s motion calls three days a week.  After the motion call, the Judge would bring all his externs into chambers.  We usually discussed what had been going on that day, although we were allowed to and encouraged to ask virtually anything.  It was obvious that my Judge was very enthusiastic about interacting with his externs.  Additionally, this Judge arranged for each of his externs to observe at least one settlement conference.  Finally, the “hard” work of the externship involved drafting an opinion on a pending case.  The matter I was assigned involved a fairly complicated social security case that had been decided once, appealed, remanded, and worked its way back to the trial court - again.  The record was extensive and required that I sharpen my research skills.  I started working on it at the start of the externship and didn’t finish until the end of the summer semester.  I managed it though, with a lot of guidance from my clerk.  Overall, the experience of working for a judge was both fun and valuable, and it definitely looks great on my resume.            

My second internship was with the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at Chicago’s City Hall.  This externship was significantly faster paced than my judicial one.  I still worked three days a week, but this time I received a new assignment nearly every time I went into work.   Usually my boss wanted succinct memos as soon as possible.  The topics I researched and wrote on varied from environmental proposals the city was considering to whether the lobbying reform Congress had just passed would impact a reception Chicago was sponsoring in Washington D.C.   I also attended Chicago City Council meetings.  The City Hall externship was different than the judicial one, but was just as fun and valuable, and is also a nice addition to my resume.

I strongly encourage JMLS students to take full advantage of the opportunities our externship program can provide.

...by Nick Courson

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  Do Your Due Diligence

E-discovery has become an integral part of the legal profession as our society quickly adapts to the convenience of electronics.  Although many attorneys had been working with electronically stored information (“ESI”) long before the recent e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the focus will be on us as new legal graduates.  The legal profession expects recent graduates to know and be proficient with e-discovery, especially because more schools, including JMLS, are including e-discovery in the Civil Procedure curriculum and offer specific e-discovery courses.  Importantly, just as lawyers are learning how to conduct e-discovery effectively, judges are working to enforce the e-discovery rules. 

Click here for complete article

...by Gina Virgo and Melissa McCracken

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  Noted Animal Law Attorney To Speak At John Marshall

On Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 12:00 PM in Room 1200, animal law specialist and co-founder of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, California attorney Joyce Tischler will speak about the expanding field of animal law. Ms. Tischler will share insights into when and how animal law started, who initiated its formation, shaped its growth, and how the first lawsuits were selected.

 As one of the co-founders of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, almost thirty years ago, Joyce Tischler has helped shape the emerging field of animal law. She handled some of Animal Legal Defense Fund's earliest cases, including a 1981 lawsuit that halted the U.S. Navy's plan to kill 5,000 feral burros and a 1988 challenge to the U.S. Patent Office's rule allowing the patenting of genetically altered animals.  She has tackled such diverse topics as enforcement of the federal Animal Welfare Act, standing to sue, animal custody battles, the right to kill animals pursuant to will   provisions, landlord-tenant issues and damages and recovery for injury to or death of an animal. Joyce was the Animal Legal Defense Fund's Executive Director for 25   years and now serves as the agency's General Counsel, overseeing its civil Litigation Program.

This program is sponsored by The John Marshall Law School Animal Law Society and is open to all students, staff, and faculty. Refreshments will be available.

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