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August 22 - 28, 2004 |
Phi Alpha Delta Chapter Wins National Awards
Phi Alpha Delta International Law Fraternity held its Biennial Convention in Los Angeles, California on August 4 - 8, 2004. At the Convention, The Abraham Lincoln Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta (The John Marshall Law School) won four awards: the Stanley H. Kohn Outstanding Chapter Competition – 1st Place over 187 other chapters; the award for Rushing The Greatest Number of Initiates This Year; the award for Increasing Its Membership By 100% Over the Previous Year; and the award for Initiating 100 Or More Members In A Year. The Lincoln Chapter (John Marshall) rushed 169 new members last year. Outgoing officer Kimberly Wisniewski, new Justice and Vice Justice, Stacie Lucas and Joshua Smith were in attendance to accept the awards on behalf of the Chapter.
From left to right:Jeff Hesser, Stacie Lucas, Amanda Stein, Kimberly Wisniewski, Joshua Smith, and Alan Zelkowitz.
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Fair Housing Center and Clinic
The staff of the Fair Housing Legal Support Center conducted a number of fair housing trainings this summer.
From June 14 to June 18, Professor Michael Seng participated in the National HUD FHIP/FHAP Conference in Washington, D.C. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week, he spoke on Predatory Home Lending Practices. His focus was on consumer education, and he discussed the ground-breaking Predatory Home Lending Course and Counseling Project at The John Marshall Law School, where students learn to recognize predatory home lending practices and then go out into the community to counsel borrowers about their loans. The John Marshall project is funded by grants from the Fannie Mae Foundation and the City of Chicago through its Community Development and Block Grant program. On Friday, he made a presentation on the enforcement problems created by the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education and the relevance of this experience to the fight against housing discrimination. Approximately 3,000 fair housing advocates from state and federal agencies and from private fair housing organizations attended the conference.
On July 8, Professor Seng conducted training in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Indiana Bar Association on Fair Housing Enforcement as part of their continuing legal education program. Professor Seng gave an overview of the Federal Fair Housing Act, a discussion of the fair housing laws as they relate to persons with disabilities, and moderated a panel that addressed the fair housing aspects of predatory home lending practices.
On August 5 to August 9, Professor Seng and Clinical Professors Joseph Butler and Damian Ortiz and Adjunct Professor Merilyn Brown conducted training for state hearing officers and human rights commissioners at the national convention for the International Association of Human Rights Agencies (IAOHRA) in Chicago. Their presentations focused on how to conduct an administrative hearing. They enacted mock initial and final pretrial conferences and the direct and cross examination of a witness on mental distress damages and then used those enactments to discuss various ethical and procedural problems that can come up in the course of an administrative proceeding.
The IAHORA Conference was opened with a plenary session held at the James Thompson Center in the form of a town meeting discussion moderated by John Marshall Dean Patricia Mell about Brown v. Board of Education: Fifty Years Later. The panel consisted of six public high school students who gave their perspectives on the Brown decision. These students had participated in the program conducted by The John Marshall Law School in April for students at Chicago Public High Schools to celebrate the Brown anniversary. The discussion of the students was followed by comments by educators who reacted to the perspectives of the students. The Fair Housing Clinic's Testing Coordinator Lillian Seymore organized the student participation.
The new Training Academy established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development has named Professors Seng and F. Willis Caruso, Adjunct Professors Butler and Ortiz, and Testing Coordinator Lillian Seymore to be part of its initial faculty. The Training Academy is located in a building on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. and will train state and federal fair housing investigators. On August 16, Professor Caruso taught a class on the history of fair housing and the ethics of a fair housing investigator. On August 19 and 20, Professor Seng taught a class on Clear Writing Through Critical Thinking.
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Schedule of Events
August 23
- Classes Convene - Fall Semester
August 24
- SBA Used Book Sale, Student Lounge, 11:00 a.m.
- Alumni Meeting, Room 1101, 12:00 p.m.
- Welcome Back Students, Student Lounge and 3East, 12:00 p.m.
- Moot Court Council Meeting, Room 529, 5:00 p.m.
- Welcome Back Students, Student Lounge and 3East, 5:00 p.m.
August 25
- Alumni Association Executive Board Meeting, Room 1101, 11:00 a.m.
- Alumni Board Meeting, Room 3East, 12:00 p.m.
- Career Services Program, Room 1200, 12:45 p.m.
August 26
- IPLAC Seminar on Intellectual Property Law Careers, Room 3East, 12:00 p.m.
August 27
- Staff Meeting with the Dean, Room 1200, 12:00 p.m.
August 28
- Legal Essay Exam Writing Skills (LEEWS) Program, Room 1200, 8:30 a.m.
- ACE Exam, Room 200, 9:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
August 29
- ACE Exam, Room 200, 9:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
- Alumni Association Outing at Arlington Race Course, 12:00 p.m.
August 30
- Career Services - Interviewing Skills Program, Room 1200, 12:45 p.m.
September 1
- Career Services - Panel Discussion on Fall OCI, Room 1200, 12:45 p.m.
- Careers Services - Interviewing Skills, Room 201, 5:00 p.m.
- Zimmerman Scholarship Reception, Room 3East, 5:00 p.m.
September 2
- LS Civil Litigation Instructors Meeting, Room 402, 12:00 p.m.
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Faculty Activity and Publications
Professor Mark E. Wojcik
Activities
He was selected to serve as Co-Chair of the International Criminal Law Committee of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section. He has previously served as a Vice Chair of that Criminal Justice Section Committee and is teaching International Criminal Law this semester at John Marshall.