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August 12 - 18, 2007

Monahan Scholar Summer Extern Works for Illinois Appellate Judge

Richard Bixter, a second-year student at The John Marshall Law School, completed a summer judicial externship with Illinois Appellate Court Justice Patrick J. Quinn. Bixter was the fourth recipient of The Marie Adornetto Monahan Endowed Judicial Extern Scholarship.

The scholarship fund, named in memory of Marie Adornetto Monahan, a John Marshall Law School professor who died of cancer in 2004, was established by her husband, Peter, and their children, Matthew and Joseph. It allows John Marshall students to have the opportunity to work as Externs of Distinction. Monahan was director of the Judicial Externship Program, part of John Marshall's nationally-recognized Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. The award covers tuition for law school credit related to the externship.

For Bixter, the externship offered hands-on experience at reviewing the court records and writing draft opinions.

"The greatest thing to learn is how to sit and review the records and procedures to develop your argument. That takes time, but the original decision is the basis of the appeal," he said. "My writing classes prepared me for drafting the opinion, but the externship taught me how to review and develop the decision."

Bixter is a 2003 Purdue University graduate who spent several years developing a tutoring business in Hinsdale before enrolling in law school. Helping high school students master physics and English was rewarding, but Bixter decided on a career in law as a way to have a more profound impact on the world. The externship proved to him that law was the right career move.

A graduate of Hinsdale Central High School, Bixter is the son of Myra Bixter of Oak Brook.

Richard Bixter, a 2L student at The John Marshall Law School, worked with Illinois Appellate Court Justice Patrick Quinn (seated) during the summer. Bixter was the Monahan Scholar for the summer semester.

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Fair Housing for Veterans with Disabilities Discussed at The John Marshall Law School

The Fair Housing Legal Support Center at The John Marshall Law School is presenting, "Fair Housing for Persons With Disabilities: New Challenges Presented By Our Returning Veterans," Friday, Sept. 7, and Saturday, Sept. 8, at the law school, 315 S. Plymouth Ct. in Chicago.

Friday's program will begin at 8 a.m. with registration, followed by a welcome and keynote address delivered by Kim Kendrick, assistant secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Gordon Mansfield, deputy secretary of the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs, has been invited to deliver a second keynote address. After a break, a panel discussion will feature "Special Problems Faced by Returning Disabled Veterans."

A lunch will follow, featuring speaker L. Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.

The afternoon panel discussions will be "Reasonable Modifications and Accommodations _ How the Law Is Developing," and "Accommodating Persons with Disabilities in Land Use Planning Decisions."

Saturday's program will open with the panel discussion, "Enforcing Accessible Housing Requirements," followed by panel discussions, "Designs for a New Generation," and "Future Initiatives," which will close the two-day event.

The John Marshall Law School is an approved MCLE provider with the state bars of Illinois, California, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin. This program qualifies for approximately 10.75 hours, and the cost of registration is $425. For more information or to register for the program, call the Fair Housing Legal Support Center 312.987.2397.

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Faculty Activity and Publications

Professor John Ingram

Publication

His article, "The First `First Gentleman': The Role of President Jane Doe's Husband: A Sequel," has just been published by American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law.

Professor Jason Kilborn

Activities

He participated in the Law & Society Association Annual Meeting in Berlin, Germany, where he was a member of an international research collaborative, and presented the paper "Comparative Cause and Effect: Consumer Insolvency and the Eroding Social Safety Net." It is available online at http://ssrn.com/abstract=926203.

Publications

His latest article: "Out with the New, In with the Old: As Sweden Aggressively Streamlines Its Consumer Bankruptcy System, Have U.S. Reformers Fallen Off the Learning Curve?" was published in 80 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 435 (2007) [peer reviewed]. It is available online at http://ssrn.com/abstract=913096.

His latest book, Comparative Consumer Bankruptcy (Carolina Academic Press 2007), was published this month. Information is available at http://www.cap-press.com/books/1534.

Professor Kathryn J. Kennedy

Activities

She and Gary Mitchell, VCP coordinator for the IRS' Great Lakes Employee Plans Area, made a presentation at the 5^th Annual 412(i) Defined Benefit Pension Plan Summit on Aug. 1. Their topic included an assessment as to whether 412(i) plans are compliant under the Internal Revenue Code and if not, how to make the proper corrections under the Service's EPCRS program.

Beginning in August, she will chair the Employee Benefits Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. That committee will be offering a full day seminar on Sept. 11, 2007, that focuses on compliance with Code Section 409A. One of the authors of the 409A IRS regulations, Daniel Hogans, will be the keynote speaker at that seminar.

Professor Mark E. Wojcik

Activities

He was the organizer of a two-day leadership retreat for the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of International Law, for which he serves as the Publication Officer. The leadership retreat will take place on August 8-9, 2007, in advance of the 2007 ABA Annual Meeting.

Publications

He co-authored the article "Using Foreign and International Law in U.S. Courts," for the American Bar Association's International Law News, vol. 36, no. 3, (Summer 2007) (with Violeta I. Balan and Darrell E. Prescott). The article reviews the use of foreign and international law sources in U.S. judicial decisions, concluding that much of the political debate criticizing the citation of foreign and international law sources mischaracterizes how judges actually use those sources in judicial decisions. The article also includes some tips for practitioners on the appropriate use of foreign legal materials in domestic advocacy. The International Law News has more than 15,000 readers around the world and is the largest circulation of any print newsletter on international law.

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John Marshall Clinic Represents Jewish Couple on Appeal of Mezuzah Ruling

Professor F. Willis Caruso, clinical director of The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Clinic, continues to work on a case supporting the right of a Jewish family to display a Mezuzah on the outside doorpost of their condominium.

Caruso worked with supervising attorneys Tara M. Alhofen and James C. Whiteside of the clinic in drafting an appellate brief in Bloch v. Frischholz, and Shoreline Towers Condominium Association. The brief was filed on Aug. 6, 2007 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

On Sept. 16, 2005, the Blochs filed a complaint against the condominium association, as the defendant, for violating, among other laws, the Federal Fair Housing Act. The Blochs are observant Jews who adhere to the commandments of the Jewish religion mandated by the Torah. One of the rules mandates that Jews affix

Mezuzahs to the exterior doorposts of their homes. The condominium association implemented a rule prohibiting owners and residents from placing "mats, boots, shoes, carts, or objects of any sort outside unit entrance doors."

However, the complaint alleges that the association discriminatorily enforced this rule and began removing and confiscating Mezuzahs from the Blochs unit door entrances. Thus, the rule, as enforced, is alleged to have a discriminatory impact on Jewish residents at Shoreline Towers.

On Aug. 7, 2006, Judge George W. Lindberg, senior judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment; the clinic is appealing decision.

Additionally, an appellate brief in a companion case is being drafted by Much Shelist and an amicus brief is being drafted by DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP on behalf of the Decalogue Society.

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Calendar of Events

August 13

JD Orientation, Room 1200 and 200, 9 a.m.
Transfer Student Orientation, Room 503, 12 p.m.

August 14

JD Orientation, Room 1200 and 200, 9 a.m.
LLM.MS Orientation, Room 503, 4:45 p.m.
Domestic & Foreign Patent, Trademark, Trade Secret & Copyright Documentation, Room 413, 6 p.m.

August 15

JD Orientation, Room 1200 and 200, 9 a.m.
Deans' Meeting, Courtroom, 10 a.m.

August 16

JD Orientation, Room 1200 and 200, 9 a.m.

August 17

International Student Orientation, Room 503, 9:40 a.m.
John Marshall Sluggers Final Game, Grant Park, 5 p.m.

August 18

RIPL Orientation, Room 1200, 8 a.m.

August 21

Welcome Program for Chinese Delegates, Room 1200, 9 a.m.
Ice Cream Social, Room 3East, 3 p.m.
Domestic & Foreign Patent, Trademark, Trade Secret & Copyright Documentation, Room 413, 6 p.m.

August 22

Deans' Meeting, Courtroom, 10 a.m.
Phoenix Alumni Reception, McCormick & Schmick's, 5 p.m.

August 25

Law Review Orientation, Room 200, 12 p.m.

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Staff Activity

Virginia Russell

Associate Director, Center for International Business and Trade Law

She was honored by the International Visitors Center of Chicago for her work as president and a continuous supporter. She was toasted at the organization's summer fundraiser July 12 in recognition of her work with the center since 1990. She was the first person to chair the Advisory Board for the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Enrichment Program, and she served as the organization's president in 2005.

As part of the summer program, Russell moderated a program featuring nine young women lawyers and a businesswoman from the Middle East and North Africa who are completing internships in Chicago under the State Department program "Middle East Partnership Initiative."

The International Visitor Center of Chicago (IVCC) is a privately-funded, independently-operated membership organization that serves as a liaison between approximately 800 international visitors and their Chicago-area counterparts each year. A member of the National Council for International Visitors, the IVCC has served as Chicago's official host for U.S. government-sponsored visitors since 1952. Part of the IVCC's mission is also to promote Chicago and Illinois as important business and cultural centers.