News

U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Speaks at Public Interest Law Week

October 27, 2005

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, will deliver the keynote address to kick off Northwestern Law's 13th Annual Public Interest Law Week, Nov. 7-10.

Fitzgerald will discuss his career in public service in a speech at noon on Monday, Nov. 7, in Lincoln Hall. The lecture is open to members of the Northwestern Law community, including students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Since his appointment in 2001, Fitzgerald has played a role in several high-profile cases involving terrorism financing, public corruption, corporate fraud, and violent crime, including narcotics and gang prosecutions. Most recently, he was named in 2003 as special counsel to investigate the alleged disclosure of the identity of a CIA operative.

In Chicago, Fitzgerald has supervised "Operation Safe Road," an ongoing public corruption investigation that resulted in the convictions of more than 70 defendants, including more than 30 public employees and officials. Since January 2004, he has also overseen an investigation of the City of Chicago's Hired Truck Program in which three dozen defendants have been charged and two dozen defendants have been convicted. Fitzgerald has also committed himself to the implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods as part of a concerted effort with the Chicago Police Department and other state and federal law enforcement agencies to reduce gun violence.

The student-run Public Interest Law Group has hosted Public Interest Law Week (PILW) each year since 1992. The event has grown to become a seminal annual celebration of Chicago 's public interest activists and their work in public service. The purpose of the week is to introduce students to the opportunities for and challenges of public service. The week involves a series of panels on substantive legal issues featuring some of Chicago 's top public interest practitioners.

The week concludes with an auction organized by the Student Funded Public Interest Fellowship to raise funding for law students who work in unpaid positions at public interest organizations during the summer.

The week's events are sponsored by Jenner & Block, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Sachnoff & Weaver, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Schiff Hardin.

Next: Northwestern Law Hosts Federal Circuit Oral Arguments