News

Dear Students:

I hope you are enjoying your summer. Northwestern Law students, faculty, and staff are increasingly active on a year-round basis teaching summer courses, planning orientation, preparing for On-Campus Interviewing, welcoming new faculty, and improving campus facilities. Below are links to key updates:

Graduation | Summer Courses | Summer Conferences | Orientation Planning | Fall OCI | New Faculty | New Fall Courses | Facilities Improvements

I hope you enjoy this update on our summer activities and projects. I look forward to seeing you in August!

David E. Van Zandt

GRADUATION

The 2004-05 academic year ended with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois delivering the commencement address to the 429 graduates of the class of 2005. David Sajous (JD '03) spoke on behalf of alumni, and Steven McFarlane (JD '05) and Yi Lu (LLM '05) spoke for the graduating class. Pictures from the ceremony can be viewed online.

We are also pleased to announce that, based on preliminary data, more than 95 percent of our 2005 JD and JD-MBA graduates had accepted positions by graduation. Forty-three Northwestern Law graduates will serve as law clerks for the 2005 term. In addition, we now know that approximately 99 percent of the JD and JD-MBA Class of 2004 was employed nine months out. More than half have taken jobs outside the Midwest. To see more employment statistics, click here.

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SUMMER COURSES
This year we have 129 JD, JD-MBA, and LLM/Kellogg students enrolled in our summer courses, which include Business Associations, Directed Reading and Research, Managing Corporate Assets, Negotiation, and three practica. As well, 36 students are working with centers in the Bluhm Legal Clinic.

In addition, emerging second year JD-MBA students are taking the Kellogg portion of their curriculum this summer, which includes Finance I, Accounting for Decision Making, and Math Methods.

Northwestern Law also welcomed 24 accomplished international attorneys from 10 different countries as part of the Graduate Program in Law and Business (LLM/Kellogg) Class of 2006. They bring professional and cultural perspectives from Brazil, India, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand.

These students arrived for orientation on June 15, and began the summer taking Business Associations (taught by Albert Yoon) and Common Law Reasoning (taught by Elizabeth Inglehart). They will also take Math Methods for Management Decisions and Accounting for Decision Making from Kellogg faculty.

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SUMMER CONFERENCES
In addition to summer classes for law students, the Law School offers conferences and seminars geared towards a range of audiences, including undergraduates, outside faculty, and executives and professionals in the legal community.

In June Northwestern Law and Northwestern University's School of Continuing Studies teamed up to offer a new Pre-Law Summer Institute to provide a preview of what it takes to survive law school and come out with the skills to succeed in the legal profession. Northwestern Law professors Grace Dodier, Lesley Kagan, and Judy Rosenbaum helped develop the program, and Professors Kagan and Rosenbaum taught the course.

Later this month we will be hosting the first national conference on "Teaching Contract Drafting," co-organized by Professor Rosenbaum, to provide law schools with effective tools and lessons to better train students in becoming effective business lawyers. The two-day conference will take place July 20 and 21. Following the contract drafting conference, we will also host the annual meeting of the Association of Legal Writing Directors here at the Law School on July 22 and 23.

Finally, the Honorable Ken Karas, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York, will deliver the keynote speech at Northwestern Law's annual Short Courses for Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys, which will take place July 25 through 28.

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ORIENTATION PLANNING

We look forward to welcoming the incoming classes for orientation on August 19. The Student Affairs team, including second-year JD students Daniel Gandert and Rebecca Stern, are planning a week of activities such as community service projects, diversity- and team-building workshops, and social events.

In addition, this year the Law School will host a “Welcome Back” reception on Thursday, September 1, for all new and returning students. Fall classes begin August 29.

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FALL OCI PREPARATION AND THE JUDICIAL CLERKSHIP PROCESS
Many second- and third-year JD students will return to the Law School in about a month to take part in on-campus interviewing (OCI), which begins August 15 (see OCI schedule). More than 230 employers are expected to participate in this year's OCI program.

In addition, clerkship applications and faculty recommendations will be mailed on September 6. Returning third-year students who are interested in clerkships should now be discussing the application strategy with a clerkship committee member and creating a list of judges. The June 15 deadline for notifying the Career Center with your list of recommenders has passed but if you are still interested in getting started in this process, you can contact Allison Heverin, Bill Chamberlain, or Kim Yuracko immediately. The next deadline is July 24 for lists of judges to be turned in to the Career Center. Due to the size and complexity of this process, we cannot accept lists that are turned in after July 24.

We strongly encourage all students to consider a post-graduate clerkship. The experience gained by working with a federal or state judge is beneficial for any career path - whether in transactional work, litigation, business, or public service - and will broaden career opportunities.

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NEW FACULTY
We continue to actively recruit talented scholars and teachers as we seek to carry out our strategic initiative to develop and retain an internationally renowned research and teaching faculty. We would like to announce that the following scholars will join Northwestern Law. We have begun to welcome some already while others will join us in the near future.

New Research Faculty

Albert Alschuler will permanently join the Northwestern Law faculty as a professor of law in September 2006. He served as the Jack N. Pritzker Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law in spring 2005. He was formerly the Julius Kreeger Professor of Law and Criminology at the University of Chicago.

Kenworthey Bilz, who specializes in criminal law and social psychology, permanently joins the Northwestern Law faculty as an assistant professor of law. She first came to Northwestern Law as a visiting assistant professor in 2004-05.

Dan Fischel, an expert in corporate law and the regulation of financial markets, will permanently join Northwestern Law's faculty as a professor in law and business in spring 2006. He is currently the Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law and Business at the University of Chicago.

Kathryn Spier, an economist who studies the strategy behind legal contracts, joins the Northwestern Law faculty as a professor of law. She continues a joint appointment as a professor of management and strategy at the Kellogg School of Management and a courtesy appointment with the Economics Department.

New Clinical Faculty

Simmie Baer joins the Children and Family Justice Center as a clinical assistant professor. She is a nationally-renowned juvenile defender and served as attorney-supervisor of the Juvenile Division of The Defender Association in Seattle for 16 years. Her work has garnered her several awards, including the American Bar Association's Livingston Hall Award and the William O. Douglas Award of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Esther Barron, an entrepreneur who co-founded start-up handbag company Elezar, LLC, is also a Northwestern Law alum (JD '95). She joins the Small Business Opportunity Center as a clinical assistant professor. She has worked as an associate at Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom & Moritz and at Peterson & Ross.

Sheila Maloney will join the clinic's faculty as a clinical assistant professor after serving as an adjunct professor and the assistant director of the Program on Negotiation and Mediation in 2004-05. She teaches courses in Negotiation as well as modules in the "Lawyer as Problem Solver" program focusing on dispute resolution skills.

Stephen Reed was most recently an attorney at Proskauer Rose LLP in Los Angeles where he worked with public, private, and non-profit companies of varying sizes on a variety of legal issues, including contracts, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital transactions, and licensing. He joins us as a clinical assistant professor in the Small Business and Opportunity Center.

Sam Tenenbaum, who was previously visiting the Law School, joins the faculty as a clinical assistant professor and will direct the clinic's new Investor Protection Center. He is an expert in the field of litigation.

Jeffrey Urdangen, who was also previously visiting the Law School, joins the faculty as a clinical assistant professor with the Center on Wrongful Convictions. He visited in 2003. His teaching focuses on representation, both at trial and post-conviction stages, of persons accused of a wide range of criminal conduct.

New to the Communication and Legal Reasoning Program

John Haberstroh, who previously taught English at Lakeland College, Wisconsin, and its branch in Toyko, joins us as a clinical assistant professor and ESL coordinator for 2005-06.

Sue Payne previously taught legal writing at John Marshall Law School and Loyola University Law School. She joins us as a clinical assistant professor.

Christy Rothchild, a previous partner at Jenner & Block in Chicago, will join Northwestern Law as a clinical assistant professor.

Visiting Faculty
Sam Donaldson, director of the graduate program in taxation at the University of Washington, is the Harry R. Horrow Visiting Professor of International Law for fall 2005. He will teach International Taxation.

Lee Epstein, from Washington University, will be the Jack N. Pritzker Distinguished Visiting Professor for fall 2005. She will be teaching a course on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nancy Staudt joins us from Washington University as a visiting professor for fall 2005. She will teach Tax Policy.

Jeffrey Kwall, the Kathleen and Bernard Beazley Research Professor at Loyola University School of Law, will join us as the Harry R. Horrow Visiting Professor of International Law for spring 2006. He will teach Advanced International Taxation.

Tobias Wolff, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis, will join us as a visiting professor for fall 2005 and will be teaching civil procedure and complex litigation.

Erin O'Hara, an expert in choice of law and conflicts of law from Vanderbilt University, will be a visiting professor for fall 2005 and will be teaching Contracts.

Kathryn Zeiler is an associate professor of law at Georgetown University joining us as a visiting professor for fall 2005. Her primary research interests are in health care law, law and economics, and experimental economics.

Visiting Clinical Faculty

Sandra Babcock, the director of the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, which assists Mexican nationals facing capital punishment in the United States, joins us as a visiting clinical professor in the Center for International Human Rights for spring 2006.

Michael Davis, who most recently held the Robert and Marion Short Visiting Chair in Law in the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the Notre Dame Law School, joins us as a visiting clinical professor in the Center for International Human Rights for 2005-06.

David J. Scheffer, who served as the senior vice president of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) and as the ambassador for war crimes and U.S. negotiator on the International Criminal Court, also joins the Center for International Human Rights as a visiting clinical professor for 2005-06.

Visiting Assistant Professors (VAP) and Fellows

>Alexia Brunet, a 2005 JD graduate of Northwestern Law, will teach International Trade in the fall.

Paul Rose, who holds a JD from the University of California, Los Angeles, will teach a section of Securities Regulation in the fall.

Charleton Copeland, who earned his JD from Yale University, will teach Federal Jurisdiction in the spring.

Adam Rosenzweig, who earned his JD from Georgetown University and LLM from New York University, joins our Tax Program as a visiting assistant professor for 2005-07.

Nita Ghei joins us as the 2005-06 Searle Fellow and will teach Comparative Law in the spring.

Kathryn Watts, a 2001 JD graduate of Northwestern Law, will be teaching Federal Jurisdiction in the fall and a new course on Constitutional and Administrative State in the spring.

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CURRICULUM
This fall students will have more flexibility in pursuing academic research through independent study. Through the new Directed Reading and Research course students can delve into an area of study under the supervision of resident faculty. Three semester hours of credit can be earned by completion of two drafts of a research paper, the first draft subject to the critical comments and direction of the faculty member. Four credits may be earned, by faculty member agreement, by completion of a manuscript which has gone through a minimum of three drafts (including final submission), with two drafts having been reviewed critically by the supervising faculty member.

In addition, some of our new or visiting faculty members will be teaching new courses this fall. View the Current Course Listing to find out more about these classes.

Advanced Administrative Law (Victor Rosenblum)
The seminar will focus on particular interactions of constitutional and political components of the administrative process as they relate to whether notice and hearing are invariably required by administrative agencies or whether they may be truncated or bypassed when traditional requirements of due process arguably place an undue burden on government officials in dangerous or emergency circumstances.

Animal Subjects (Leigh Bienen)
The course will produce a final report that will overview endangered species and statutes and regulations regarding wild animals; regulation of the animal food industry, meat packing, and animal husbandry; laws and regulations regarding the use of animals in scientific and private laboratories; and the various regulations affecting private domestic animals.

Beyond Labor Law Basics (Jules Chrystal)
Students will serve as legal advisors to both owners and employees of small to midsize privately-held companies. They will give advice regarding the various labor law issues that arise as the business undergoes rapid changes in the makeup of its workforce, resulting in owner and employee challenges to the changing working conditions.

Commercial Law: Payment Systems (Benjamin Geva)
This course offers a study of major legal and regulatory issues in the contemporary, predominantly electronic payment system in the U.S. The course will cover American uniform state law (UCC Articles 3-4-4A) and federal legislation and regulation.

Internet Fraud (Steve Wernikoff)
This seminar examines fraud and crimes committed over the Internet, including deceptive advertising, auction fraud, "high tech" schemes, privacy related matters and illegal e-mail practices.

Intellectual Property Litigation (Joe Berhammer)
This class is designed to teach both analytical and practical skills for handling intellectual property disputes, using an imaginary fact pattern that takes the student-attorneys from the beginning of the case when the client first walks through the door up through a summary judgment motion.

The U.S. Supreme Court (Lee Epstein)
This seminar introduces students to the state of the art in legal and social-scientific studies of the U.S. Supreme Court with an emphasis on controversial topics, such as nominations and appointments to the Court; "agenda control;” the internal deliberative processes of the justices in reaching their decisions; relations between and among the Court and the elected branches of government; the role of law clerks, interest groups, and attorneys; and the impact of judicial decisions.

Torture: Paradigms and Practice (Bernardine Dohrn)
This small seminar will explore the ethical, practical, and political consequences of constitutional and international law prohibiting torture in the contemporary world.

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FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS
We've made several improvements to our campus and have many more in the works.

New Classroom
In an effort to accommodate small seminar classes, Levy Mayer 212 will become a 25 seat seminar room. The administrative offices which formerly occupied that space will be relocated to the first floor and mezzanine of Coon and Gary following the moving of books to the fourth floor of the Library.

Pritzker Legal Research Center
We have developed a new closed stack shelving facility in the basement of the Rubloff building. This summer the library will move approximately 8 miles of books with the result that the collections are now better arranged and easier to use and the most frequently used materials are easily accessible in open stacks. Please be sure to consult new library floor plans as much of the collection has moved over the summer.

Bluhm Legal Clinic Space
The Center on Wrongful Convictions has followed other clinic centers, including the Small Business Opportunity Center, Center for International Human Rights, and the Negotiation and Mediation Program, and relocated to the fifth floor of the Rubloff building.

Atrium
The Law School received a donation of a stained glass window similar to the Kellogg window displayed on the first floor of Wieboldt. Our window has been hung at the north end of the Teigler bridge in the Atrium. In addition, the Atrium was closed off for most of May and the first part of June for painting and other general upkeep.

Computing
We continue to improve upon the computing and audio-visual infrastructure to provide the best service for students, faculty, and staff. Some of the improvements that have taken place this summer or will take place soon include:

• Student and faculty discussion boards will be online in the fall and can be used to chat about a wide range of topics with each other or various departments such as Student Affairs, Career Strategy, and the Registrar.
• Wireless network coverage is expanding to cover the Rare Book Room and Bluhm Legal Clinic centers on the 5th floor of the Rubloff building.Updated maps of wireless availability are now posted on the IT Web site.
• Students can purchase new 2005-06 model notebooks at a significant discount through our Notebook Program with Dell.
• IT now has an electronic equipment check-in and check-out system for all loaner equipment.
• Students can purchase Microsoft Office 2003 at a discounted rate through the Northwestern University Software Center.

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