News

Public Interest Law Group Kicks Off a Week of Events

January 12, 2015

Public Interest Law Group, a student organization dedicated to providing information about substantive issues and professional opportunities related to public interest law, has organized a week of panels and discussions January 12-16.  Experts in areas ranging from the minimum wage to juvenile justice, including several Northwestern Law alumni, will convene to discuss recent developments in the field.

The week’s schedule is below.

Monday, January 12: Public Interest and Poverty Law—Raising the Minimum Wage (Co-sponsored by Northwestern University Democrats)
Noon; Rubloff 180

Two experienced public interest employment attorneys will speak about their work, especially as it relates to the fight to raise the minimum wage in Illinois and nationally.

  • Wendy Pollack, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
  • Karen Doran, Legal Assistance Foundation 

Tuesday, January 13: Children are Different—Juvenile Criminal Defense in Light of Miller v. Alabama (Co-sponsored by the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology)
Noon; Rubloff 150  

A panel for a discussion on juvenile sentencing and all of the recent developments in the fight to transform the juvenile justice system.

  • Shobha Mahadev (JD ’99),Children and Family Justice Center
  • Xavier McElrath-Bey, incarcerated for 13 years for crime that occurred when he was 13; now with the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
  • Jeff Howard (JD ’80), formerly one of the leading attorneys for the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender, now Litigation Director for the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
  • Julie Anderson, mother of individual serving a juvenile life without parole sentence and coordinator of Communities and Relatives of Illinois Incarcerated Children (CRIIC)

Thursday, January 15: Human Trafficking—Legal and Legislative Remedies for a Global Crisis
Noon; Rubloff 150

The FBI lists human trafficking as the fastest-growing business of organized crime and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world. Listen to an experienced group of professionals working to end this form of modern-day slavery. 

  • The Hon. Virginia Kendall, Northern District of Illinois
  • Christine Evans (JD ’03; LLM IHR ’11), Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
  • Hannah Jurowicz (JD ’14), Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP
  • Amy Martin, Legal Assistance Foundation
  • Miguel Keberlein, Legal Assistance Foundation

Friday, January 16: High Impact Pro Bono Panel
Noon; Rubloff 180

Interested in big law, but still want to serve public interest needs?  Want to know what types of pro bono opportunities you'd have at a firm?  Come hear from these attorneys as they answer those questions and more.

  • Chip Peters (JD ’86),Schiff Hardin LLP
  • Esther King (JD-LLM Tax ’13),Kirkland & Ellis LLP
  • Charles DeVore (JD ’11),Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
  • Andrew McKay (JD ’12), Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Events are open to the Northwestern Law community.