A Day in the Life

Another Clinic Project Making Good Things Happen!

Recently the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship finished a major project they had been working on for several months.  Self-Help Inspired People LLC (SHIP) came to the IJ Clinic last year with a compelling idea for bringing employment and stability to the lives of ex-offenders through entrepreneurship. They had tough questions about how a sustainable and profitable business arrangement could be successfully accomplished. Their goal was to set up a business for local farms on the South Side of Chicago. SHIP stakeholders were very enthusiastic but were hesitant to make investments in this urban farmers’ market venture because they didn’t have a model for the governance and operations of such an entity.

This is where the IJ Clinic stepped in to fill in this missing piece. Two of our IJ Clinic students, Laura Ebberson, '09, and George Houhanisin, '10, spent months working with SHIP counseling, researching and drafting the necessary corporate documents to make this dream a reality. SHIP’s LLC operating agreement has been signed and they have taken the first steps towards executing their business plan for setting up these urban farms and bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to the area from these local farms. It will be great to have an apple or tomato that has been grown just blocks away. The IJ Clinic experienced firsthand how the positive force of entrepreneurship to empower under-served communities can be unleashed through zealous and creative transactional legal representation.

Here is a photo from the triumphant day when the agreement was signed.

News from our Clinics: The Federal Criminal Justice Project!

Professor Alison Siegler, who is the newest member of our legal clinic, is in charge of the Federal Criminal Justice Project. The FCJP is a terrific opportunity for students to gain experience practicing in federal courts while representing indigent defendants who have been charged with federal crimes.  Two of our 3L students, Kristin Greer Love and James Burnham, recently filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit dealing with the "fast track" sentencing disparity, a cutting-edge legal issue.  Kristin, James, and two other 3Ls, Emma Mittelstaedt and Stephanie Holmes, also recently helped a draft a petition for a writ of certiorari on this issue, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a current division among the Circuits over the correct answer. Both briefs were quoted on the “Sentencing Law & Policy” blog, the premier sentencing blog in the country and  the first blog ever to be cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Here is a copy of the amicus brief and here is a copy of the cert petition -- both with the students' names listed.

The students are very excited about having filed their first briefs and cert petition. As Professor Siegler explains, “My goal is for my students to get lots of practical experience working with clients and in federal court, and also to get them involved in the most contested legal issues of the day.” And as Kristin relates, this first year of the clinic has been very successful: “It is very exciting to both get direct litigation experience and to work on one of the most interesting and controversial issues in sentencing law today.” “We are spending more time practicing in federal court through the clinic than most law firm associates,” said Stephanie.  Emma notes that “I have always been interested in criminal law, and the clinic provides an opportunity to make a real difference.” Finally, James adds: “The fast-track disparity is likely to end up before the Supreme Court soon, and our clinic may be lucky enough to take it there.  We just filed our own fast-track appeal in the Seventh Circuit.  If the Supreme Court doesn’t grant cert on the Eleventh Circuit case, there’s a chance they’ll take ours.”  Congratulations Kristin, James, Stephanie, and Emma, and good luck with your cases!

International Press come to Chicago to look at the Credit Crisis!

Law and Philosophy have always intersected and a Dutch TV station came to campus in January to do a documentary featuring our faculty and students discussing the human and ethical issues emerging from current economic crisis.  For the most part, what has happened and continues to happen in the financial markets is legal but is the outcome fair?   The Dutch TV station felt it would be interesting to explore this issue from the University of Chicago as it is the academic community where both economist Milton Friedman, staunch promoter of free market capitalism, and President Barack Obama taught.

About ten of our law students will explore new ways and solutions to "repair" any possible injustice caused by the current financial crisis.  They will do this by taking a moral perspective rather than going down the more conventional road of financial and corporate legislation.  The sessions are hosted by philosopher and Law School professor Martha Nussbaum and the students will collect evidence and advice from other professors from the University of Chicago including Douglas Baird, David Weisbach, Brian Leiter, Eric Posner and Todd Henderson.  Law Students featured are Pier Petersen, Brett Reynolds, Katy Welter, Eric Gyasi, Gretchen Helfrich, Alex Kolod, Chris Trendler, and Ruben Rodrigues.    

The program recently aired is primarily in English with Dutch subtitles, although it begins with a few minutes of mostly Dutch. To launch it, you may need to select the media player option that works with your system, listed to the right of the video.  Very interesting!