News

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Welcome back for spring semester! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday break and is ready for an active and productive new term. As I do each semester, I write to bring you up to date on the latest news and upcoming events at Northwestern Law.

News | Upcoming Law School Events | Speakers Series | Upcoming Student Organization Events

 

NEWS

Strategic Plan Working Group Update
As I mentioned in my fall letter, Northwestern Law has established a Working Group to engage in an effort to go beyond our current Strategic Plan.

In November, we concluded our focus groups sessions. Since April, we have conducted 17 focus group sessions in 5 cities (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, London, and Washington, D.C.) with a total of almost 200 participants, including Law Board members, faculty members, current students, young alumni, law firm senior managing partners, general counsels, and government and nonprofit leaders.

The Working Group is now drafting a report of the focus group findings and recommendations.

Facilities Update
The Communications and Legal Reasoning faculty have moved into their new offices on the second and third floors of McCormick. The Alumni Relations and Development offices will be relocating to the vacated space on the fourth floor of Levy Mayer. Other office moves scheduled for this spring include Marketing and Communications (to the third floor of McCormick) and Professional Education (to the fifth floor of Rubloff).

Executive LLM Students Arrive from Seoul and Madrid
Please join me in welcoming 10 of our Executive LLM (Seoul) students who arrive this week from South Korea to take classes as part of the degree program's Spring Option. Over spring break in March, they will be joined by the rest of their class, 15 students, to take the final course and attend their graduation ceremony on March 28.

We also have 6 students from the Executive LLM Program (Madrid) who will be participating in the program's Residential Option, in which students enroll in courses at Northwestern Law during the spring semester. They will be joined by 6 of their classmates in May, who will come to our campus to complete their final course and attend the Law School's convocation ceremony in May.

 

UPCOMING LAW SCHOOL EVENTS

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 21
There is much to look forward to this spring beginning with the Chicago campus Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration on Monday, January 21. The year’s celebration will include panel events as well as a mock Supreme Court oral argument Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District. The celebration also incorporates a public service component, with a series of activities immediately preceding or following the actual holiday, including last year’s successful Tax Assistance Project, and work in a soup kitchen and shelter.

Aric Press, Editor in Chief, American Lawyer, January 28
Aric Press will discuss the role of American Lawyer in the legal marketplace and offer his views on law firm recruitment and associate development.

Winter 2008 On-Campus Interview (OCI) Program, January and February
The Center for Career Strategy and Advancement is sponsoring its Winter OCI program, open to all Northwestern Law students, which will take place January 28, 29, 30 and February 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13. Bidding for Winter 2008 OCI opens on Monday, January 7 at 12:00pm and closes at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, January 14.

Also, in early March the Career Strategy Center will host the annual Meet the Employers Night. This is a great opportunity for first-year JD students to learn about employers who recruit on campus prior to bidding for on-campus interviews. Stay posted for information on exact date and time.

Lawyer as Problem Solver, January 17 and 31
First-year JD, JD-MBA, and LLM students will finish the last two sessions of Lawyer as Problem Solver on January 17 (5-9 p.m.) and 31 (3:30 - 5:30 p.m.). The final session will conclude with a reception for sponsors and students from 5:30 to 7 p.m. View more details on the offered courses.

Global Village, February 1
Join the Northwestern Law community in a celebration of culture, which includes home-cooked food from all over the world, international music, presentations, national dresses, and drinks! Global Village will take place in the atrium from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, February 1. Presented by International Programs, Diversity Coalition, SBA, APALSA, BLSA, LLSA, SALSA.

Diverse Admit Day, February 29
The Admissions team and the Office of Diversity Education and Outreach, along with a student committee chaired by Tameka Beckford-Young (JD ’08) and Steven Cade (JD ’08), have planned a special day to introduce diverse admitted students to the Law School.

45th Annual Julius H. Miner Moot Court Competition, January–March
Preliminary rounds for the 45th Annual Julius H. Miner Moot Court Competition will take place February 5, 7, 12, and 19. More than 80 second-year students are expected to compete in this prestigious competition. The final round will take place March 7.

International Team Projects (ITP)
Students involved in ITP gain firsthand experience in international legal and business environments through a combination of semester-long research, an intense two-week field study abroad, and a final group project. This year's ITP groups will be researching abroad March 10-25 in the following countries

• Brazil
• Ethopia
• India
• New Zealand
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Vietnam

Day at Northwestern Law, April 4-5
We will welcome more than 100 admitted students to a Day at Northwestern Law on April 4-5. The student admissions committee, chaired by Leslie Arnould (JD ’09) and John Palmer (JD ’09), has worked with the Admissions team to plan special events to introduce admitted students to the Law School. We hope that after spending some time as part of the Northwestern Law community these admitted students choose to join us next fall.

Leadership Retreat, April 11-13
SBA Executive Board members and interested student organization leaders will take part in the fourth annual Leadership Retreat at the Illinois Beach Resort Conference Center in Zion. The weekend’s activities include outdoor challenge courses, team building workshops, event planning sessions, and more.

Endowed Chair Ceremony, April 11
An appointment to an endowed chair is the highlight of an academic career, and these important positions help us attract and retain faculty who set Northwestern Law apart. This spring we will honor, with a ceremony and reception, the installation of

• Lee Epstein as the Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law
• Andrew Koppelman as the John Paul Stevens Professor of Law
• Steven Lubet as the Edna B. and Ednyfed H. Williams Professor of Law
• David J. Scheffer as the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law.

Alumni, faculty, students, and staff are invited to attend the ceremony, which will take place in Lincoln Hall on Friday, April 11, at noon.

Spring Law Board Meeting, April 11-12
The Law Board will meet for the second time this year in April. The board is comprises graduates and friends of the Law School who are distinguished members of the bar, the corporate world, and the government and not-for-profit sectors. The Law Board serves to advise the faculty and administration on the future course of the Law School and helps monitor the implementation of our Strategic Plan.

2008 Graduation Week, May 12-16
The graduation committee, chaired by third-year JD students Hector Bove and Vanessa Lewinter, is busy working with the Student Affairs team to plan this year's Graduation Convocation, which will take place Friday, May 16. The graduation committee will have additional activities planned throughout the week, including a barbecue, the Last Lecture, and a dinner and dance.

SPEAKER SERIES

This spring we will welcome two prominent guest lecturers to Northwestern Law, as part of our public lecture series:

Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar Program, February 28-29
Stephen F. Williams, senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, will visit the Law School as the Howard J. Trienens Visiting Judicial Scholar for 2007-2008. As part of his visit, Williams will deliver a lecture to the Northwestern Law community on February 28.

Rosenthal Lecture Series, April 16-18
Robert C. Post, David Boies Professor of Law at Yale, will deliver the spring 2008 Julius Rosenthal Foundation Lecture Series.

UPCOMING STUDENT ORGANIZATION EVENTS

Comparative Law Society Week, January 7–11
Student Affairs First Friday, January 11
Intellectual Property Law Society Week, January 14–18
International Law Society Week, January 21–25
SALSA Week, January 28–February 1
Student Affairs First Friday, February 1
Black History Month (BLSA), February 4-15
Women’s Leadership Coalition Week, February 18–22
Sports Law Society Week, February 25–29
APALSA Heritage Weeks, March 3–14
Student Affairs First Friday, March 7
JLSA Week, March 31–April 4
Wigmore Follies, April 4–5
Journal of Law and Social Policy Symposium, April 4
American Constitution Society Week, April 7–11
SFPIF Benefit Dinner, April 10
Entrepreneurship/Business Law Week, April 14–18

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