Yolanda Hancock Joins John Marshall Staff

Yolanda S. Hancock of Calumet City has been named Director of Development and Alumni Programs at The John Marshall Law School.

Hancock will be serving John Marshall's more than 10,000 alumni who practice law throughout the world. She will be responsible for assisting in the law school's fundraising efforts, and will manage alumni programs and events both in the Chicago area and across the United States.

"We are delighted to have Ms. Hancock joining our staff," said William K. Beach, assistant dean for development. "She possesses qualities that make her an asset to The John Marshall Law School. Yolanda understands and is committed to the mission of John Marshall and she possesses credibility with regard to `getting the job done. This will mean a great deal as she develops relationships with our alumni."

The Alumni Office is preparing for its annual Freedom Award Luncheon May 18 at the Palmer House Hilton. The Freedom Award will be presented to Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, a John Marshall alumnus.

Hancock comes to John Marshall after working as assistant director of development at Chicago State University. Hancock also had worked in the development office at The Ohio State University.

Volunteering within the Chicago community, Hancock served as co-chair of the Leadership Giving Committee, part of the African-American Community Initiative for United Way.

A graduate of Proviso East High School, Hancock went on to earn a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a master's degree in higher education administration at Ohio State University.

Hancock is the daughter of Gregory and Robin Hancock of Broadview.

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Illinois Federal Judge Forecasts Future of Intellectual Property Law

John Marshall Law School Dean Robert Gilbert Johnston (left) and James R. Sweeney (right), director of The John Marshall Law School Center for Intellectual Property Law welcomed Judge Marvin E. Aspen, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to the law school's 45^th Annual Conference on Developments in Intellectual Property Law. Aspen, the conference luncheon speaker, offered his forecast for intellectual property law cases in the federal courts in the next 50 years.

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Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits Hosts a Joint J.D./LL.M. Degree Day

Stop by Room 216 on Wednesday, April 11^th from 12 to 1 p.m. or from 5 to 6 p.m. and learn more about the graduate tax and employee benefits degree programs. Pizza and refreshments will be served. The directors of the tax and employee benefits will be available to answer questions and to inform you about the host of job opportunities available in these fields. Both these degrees may be earned while pursuing a J.D. or after graduation. Come by and discover why these fields of law provide so many opportunities!

For more information, contact Kathy Winiczay at 312.987.2380 or stop by the 16^th floor of the CBA building (right next door).

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Jenner and Block Associate Addresses Need for Affirmative Action in Education

As a guest of the Career Services Office, Jeffrey Silver, associate at Jenner & Block, addressed the question of whether or not affirmative action is necessary to ensure a diverse student body at a law school, citing the recent legal battle in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, in which two Caucasian students argued reverse discrimination after being denied admission to the University of Michigan Law School. Silver said Jenner & Block, along with several major corporations, including The Dow Chemical Co. and Intel Corp., filed amicus briefs in support of the university, stating, "The pursuit of diversity in higher education is a compelling state interest because it prepares all students to succeed in and enhance the global community."

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Student Activities

Monday, March 19^th

The Christian Legal Society meets each week in room 217 at 12:45 p.m.

Tuesday, March 20^th

A reminder: Associate Deans Meeting

Wednesday, March 21^st

The Intellectual Property Society will meet at 5:00 p.m.

The Student Bar Association is sponsoring a "Bar Passage" meeting at 5:00 p.m. in room 300. Dean Johnston, Associate Dean Corkery and Professor Frank Morrissey will be present to answer any questions that you have regarding the bar passage.

Friday, March 23^rd

The Latter-Day Saint Student Association will meet at 10:15 a.m. in room 428.

Miscellaneous

Phi Delta Phi certificates are available in Miss Criss's office, room 212.

The proof sheets from the Barrister's Ball are available for viewing in Miss Criss's office, room 212.

The Annual Spring Fling is on April 10^th and the JMLS Vocal Ensemble is looking for students who would like to join a choir or participate in an individual talent. If interested, please see Miss Criss in room 212.

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Status of the U.S. Patent System Discussed at The John Marshall Law School Markey Lecture

The John Marshall Law School Center for Intellectual Property Law is presenting the 2nd Annual Howard T. Markey Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property Law from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3, at the law school, 315 South Plymouth Court in Chicago.

The lecture is sponsored, in part, by the Chicago law firm of McAndrews, Held and Malloy, one of the premier intellectual property law firms in the United States.

This year's speaker, Professor Donald Chisum of Santa Clara University School of Law in Santa Clara, Calif., will present, "The Patent system in 2001: The Best of Times or the Worst of Times?"

Chisum, author of a 15-volume treatise, "Chisum on Patents," is a graduate of Stanford Law School. He also is co-author of "Understanding Intellectual Property Law," and "Principles of Patent Law: Cases and Materials." He has written a large number of law review and journal articles as well.

Chisum is an active member, and formerly served on the board of directors, of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), former editor and member of the AIPLA quarterly journal and former visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law in Munich, Germany.

He has served as a consultant and expert witness in major patent cases, and has authored a number of amicus curiae briefs filed in appellate courts.

The Howard T. Markey Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property Law was established in honor of John Marshall Dean Emeritus Howard T. Markey, who served as chief judge of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals from 1972 to 1982, and as the first chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 1982 through 1990.

Anyone interested in attending the free lecture should reserve a space by March 27 by calling the Department of Event Management at The John Marshall Law School at (312) 987-1420 ext. 578 or e-mail events@jmls.edu.

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Joint J.D./LL.M. Degree Day Scheduled

Stop by the Student Lounge on Thursday, April 5th from 12 - 1 p.m. and learn more about Joint J.D./LL.M. Degree Programs.

Center Directors and current Joint Degree students will be available to answer your questions.

Joint Degrees offered in: Employee Benefits, Information Technology, Intellectual Property, International Business and Trade, Real Estate and Tax.

If you cannot make it to the informational event and would like to learn more, please contact: Julia Beckman, Assistant Director Graduate Admission; 16^th Floor of the CBA (Room 1603); 312.360.2658; 6beckman@jmls.edu.

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Predatory Lending Practices Examined at The John Marshall Law School

The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center is presenting "Predatory Lending: How to Find It, How to Remedy It," April 6 and 7, 2001, at the law school, 315 South Plymouth Court, Chicago.

The conference, supported by a grant from the Fannie Mae Foundation, is bringing together experts to discuss what constitutes predatory lending, how it may be related to the Fair Housing Act and how it can be remedied.

Specific topics for the April 6 segment of the conference, scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., will include "Federal Review of Current Lending-Predatory Cases," "Predatory Lending: Class Action Cases in the Courts or Recently Settled," and "Identifying Predatory Practices."

Presenters include Zina G. Greene, with Lending Discrimination & Creative Financing in Washington D.C.; Carol Hemingway of the National Executive Board of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in Philadelphia, Penn.; Robert G. Schwemm, Ashland Oil Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky; John Seward, deputy chief of the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; Peggy Twohig, assistant director for financial practices at the Federal Trade commission in Washington, D.C.

Allison Bethel, assistant director of civil rights in the Office of the Attorney General of Florida; John P. Relman of Relman & Associates in Washington, D.C.; Howard Rothbloom, an attorney in private practice in Marietta, Ga.; William Butterfield of Thomson & Loughran in Washington, D.C.; F. Willis Caruso, co-director of The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center.

Steve Hebel, vice president and general manager of Consumer Information Services at Equifax in Atlanta, Ga.; Frank Raiter, managing director of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities at Standard and Poor's in New York; James H. Carr, senior vice president of the Fannie Mae Foundation in Washington, D.C.; Martin Eakes, CEO of the Self Help Credit Union in Durham, N.C.; and Cheryl Zeigler, director of the Housing & Community Development Project of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in New York.

Topics for the April 7 program, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., include, "Preventing Predatory Loans," and "Fixing Predatory Loans (and the Cost)."

Presenters will be Cheryl Zeigler; Ira Goldstein, director of Public Policy Program Assessment with The Reinvestment Fund in Philadelphia, Penn.; Lisa Donner; Kathleen C. Engel and Patricia McCoy, law professors at Cleveland Marshall College of Law, Zina G. Greene; Thomas P. FitzGibbon, Jr., senior vice president of Manufacturers Bank in Chicago; Ira A. Rheingold, supervisory attorney for Legal Assistance Foundation; and Pamela Sah, staff attorney for the Foreclosure Prevention Project for Seniors at South Brooklyn Legal Services in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The conference offers approximately 10.5 hours of CLE credit. The free program requires registration by March 22. For additional information, contact The Fair Housing Legal Support Center at The John Marshall Law School at (312) 987-2397.