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The John Marshall Law School of Chicago will again be the only law school in
the country doing fair housing work with financial assistance from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Prof. Michael Seng, executive director of the John Marshall Fair Housing
Legal Clinic, announced the $350,000 two-year grant from HUD for operation of
the clinic at 28 E. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago. The grant is for the 1999-2000
calendar years. This is the third continuous HUD Private Enforcement Initiative
grant the clinic has received.
The Fair Housing Legal Clinic, founded in 1993, serves as a training ground
for law students interested in fair housing law, while giving them the
opportunity to participate in federal and state court litigation and in
federal, state, county, city and village administrative proceedings. Students
learn how cases are investigated and prepared. They also may have the
opportunity to: interview clients, help draft pleadings, prepare motions and
hearings for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, conduct
discovery, and assist in trials and hearings and possible appeals.
The clinic accepts 16 students each semester.
"HUD's support enables us to continue doing work on behalf of our
clients who are struggling with housing discrimination issues based on age,
race, sexual preference, income level, disability or family status," Prof.
Seng explained. "We offer counseling and in many cases assist clients
through the court system. The clinic program offers John Marshall students
hands-on experience with clients, and teaches them how to litigate actual
cases." The clinic also provides a testing program to uncover housing and
construction violations.
The HUD grant primarily covers salaries for the two full-time staff members,
F. Willis Caruso, clinical director of the clinic, with Prof. Seng, and
adjunct professor,
J. Damian Ortiz, who work with part-time adjunct professors Joseph Butler,
Kirsten Mahlman and Lewis Powell, and with Lillian Seymore, an investigator for
the clinic.
The John Marshall Law School provides space and administrative support for
the clinic.
This past year, students and staff from the clinic successfully argued for a
zoning variance from Merrillville, Ind. Three women with multiple sclerosis are
living together in a townhouse in Merrillville. The town had argued they did
not constitute a family because they were not blood relatives, violating the
single-family residence requirements.
In another case, the clinic was awarded more than $14,000 in attorney fees
by the Illinois Appellate Court. The clinic argued on behalf of Robert Hall,
who is legally blind and has a seeing-eye dog. He responded to a newspaper ad
for an apartment, but the landlord insisted "no pets" were allowed. A
seeing-eye dog cannot legally be classified as a pet. To restrict Hall from
renting because of the dog was discriminatory. Hall settled his claim for
$2,750 in emotional distress and civil damages. The Fair Housing Legal Support
Clinic won its appeal for legal fees.
Also, testers from the clinic worked on behalf of the U.S. Justice
Department investigating accessibility violations in a condominium development
in Naperville, and new construction in Chicago's southwest suburbs.
 You can try
to throw Adjunct Professor Mike Kelly a curve ball question in the "Sports
Law" course he will be teaching during the spring semester. The course,
meeting from 4 to 6 p.m.Wednesdays, will be open to J.D. and L.L.M. students.
The course is offered by the Center for Intellectual Property Law.
Kelly promises to keep the course lively and current. His weekly
presentations will spotlight current incidents in the sports arena. Kelly also
will bring in classroom guests, including Jerry Venici, former general manager
for the Chicago Bears, and Lester Munson, an associate editor for Sports
Illustrated and a television commentator.
In 1998, Kelly represented the Chicago White Sox and owner Jerry Reinsdorf
in the most serious foul ball case in the history of the franchise. Kelly won
the case in which a fan sued for $600,000 after being hit in the eye by a foul
ball.
The adjunct professor is a partner and member of the executive committee of
Hinshaw & Culbertson, a 350-lawyer firm in Chicago. He has tried more than
90 civil cases to verdict. In 1991, he was inducted as a Fellow of The American
College of Trial Lawyers. He is a founding member of The Chicago Inn of Court.
Professor Michael L. Closen
Publications
His chapter "Dissolution and Liquidation of Partnerships"
(co-authored with JMLS alum Paul Coyle) in Partnership Practice (IICLE 1994)
has been cited several times by the U.S. District Court for Connecticut in
Pappas v. Arfaras, 1998 WL 720969, a case involving the liquidation of a
limited partnership.
His article about the cybernotary [15 John Marshall Journal of Computer
& Information Law 703 (1997), co-authored with JMLS alum Jason
Richards] has been cited several times in 38 Jurimetrics Journal 385
(1998).
Professor Ronald Z. Domsky
Activities
He has been named to the Audit Committee and the Community Centers Committee
of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. The Audit Committee oversees
and coordinates the audit of the Federation and the Community Centers Committee
reviews and makes recommendations for grants for special projects of the
various agencies of the Federation.
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