A Day in the Life

Squawk Box was here this Morning!!

Today was a very early start for me.  I arrived at the Law School around 4:30 am to watch the live broadcast of the CNBC show “Squawk Box”.   It was exciting as I was pulling up in the parking lot one of the other cars in the lot was a very large satellite truck with a bunch of wires leading up to the Reading Room of the library!  When I arrived on the second floor there were about a dozen technicians working the lights, cameras and microphones to make the show work remotely.  Then there was our host for the morning, Becky Quick, sitting and preparing for the broadcast.  There were a couple of checks to make sure the feed was getting back and forth between Chicago and New York and then at 5:00 am the show started.  The show’s theme was the “Midwest Wing” and a look at how President-Elect Obama got his start in Chicago.  

The first guest was our very own, Professor Douglas Baird, who hired President-Elect Obama to teach at the Law School. Here is a link to his interview http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=994477926&play=1.  He did a great job and offered some interesting tidbits.   Then there were a couple more interviews including Dan Hynes the Comptroller for the State of Illinois, Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, and the State of Illinois treasure, Alexi Giannoulias .  If you are interested, here is a link to these interviews http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838368.  Becky of course had to ask each of the guests some questions concerning our current governor and each provided their own insights.  The show was over at 8:00 am and by 9:15 all of the equipments was being wheeled onto the trucks and our guests from New York were on their way home.  About 20 students were able to watch the show live from the third floor balcony and they even got some tv time plus a special CNBC/Squawk Box scarf!   I have to say this was not an ordinary Monday morning at the Law School!  Now back to reading applications!!!    

The Law School in the News and on the Air!

It has been exciting to watch all of the University of Chicago connections who are joining the Barack Administration.  A recent appointment included Professor Cass Sunstein to be the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Here is a link to the story.   

Also, if you get up early on Monday, January 12 you can watch the live broadcast from the Law School of CNBC's "Squawk Box" (it airs from 5-8 am CST).  The show will include interviews of several individuals including our own Professor Douglas Baird and Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes (high school classmate of mine).  It should be exciting and our students get to be in the audience! 

 

Happy 2009!

This week, we were eager to welcome our students back from break for the start of a new quarter. We are on the quarter system here at Chicago, which means that our students are able to take three sets of classes each academic year. Our students often find that the quarter system allows them to take more courses over the duration of their legal education, but fewer courses each quarter than under a semester system. This quarter, our first year students will continue with important core classes that are part of their required first year curriculum. Our second and third year students, however, have a diverse range of interesting courses and seminars from which to choose. Some of our elective offerings this winter include Climate Change, Sports Law, Health Law and Policy, Law of the European Union, Law of E-Commerce, and International Environmental Law (just to name a few). In addition, our faculty is offering seminars that are particularly relevant to the current market conditions and financial crisis, such as a seminar on Evolving Regulation of Financial Institutions and Markets and a seminar on Bailouts. You can check out the full list of course offerings this winter on our course schedule.

In addition to starting classes, our students also jumped back into extracurricular life with auditions for the Law School Musical, a coffee mess hosted by the Black Law Students Association, and a Law and Economics workshop. Next week, among other things, the ACLU will be presenting "Torture Corrupts: A History of the Jon Burge Police Scandal" and there will be a panel discussion with a representative from Lawyers for the Creative Arts.

Finally, in the Admissions Office, we have started the year with reading files and planning our admitted student events – we are well on our way to putting together a fantastic Class of 2012!

We hope that 2009 is off to a wonderful start for everyone!

Some light reading for the long weekend ahead!

I am in the office today catching up on a few things before the long weekend.  As I am clearing out my inbox, I wanted to share with you a couple of articles about Hyde Park, the Chicago neighborhood where the Law School is located.  As you probably know, Hyde Park has become very popular with the election of Barack Obama.  Yes, I have driven by his home a couple of times since it is only 10 blocks from the Law School.  So if you have a chance and are interested in learning more about Hyde Park, take a look at these articles:

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/features/58991/pride-barack-stroll

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/explore/chi-obama-tour-1113nov13,0,2599878.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/15/AR2008101503728.html?sub=new&sid=ST2008101503923&s_pos=

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/feature-articles/2008/november/Hyde-Park-A-Love-Affair-with-Obamas-Neighborhood.html

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20081116/news_1t16obama.html

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/travel/21surfacing.html?ref=travel

Happy Holidays!

The fall quarter is officially over!!!  Faculty and students are on break with classes resuming on Monday, January 5.  We here in admissions, though, are busy processing and reviewing applications.  Soon we will also start sending out decisions.   We will continue to write on this blog during break but there isn’t exactly a lot going on since there are no students or faculty around!  I know we have written a couple of times about the building renovations that were recently completed at the Law School.  We have taken this one step further as our own Professor Douglas Baird hosts a short tour that is available to watch on line.  Here is the link  http://www.uchicago.edu/features/20081215_lawschool.shtml

Happy Holidays!!

Skadden Fellowships Awarded to Two U of C Students!

As you may already know if you have been following our blog, we often discuss the broad range of career resources, services, and opportunities available to our students as they pursue summer and long-term legal employment.  On that note, I am writing today with some very exciting news to share with you.  We are happy to announce that two of our third-year law students have been awarded two-year public interest fellowships from the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, recently described by Lois Casaleggi, our Senior Director of Career Services, as “one of the premier post-graduate public interest fellowship programs”.

Kristen Greer Love will be working at a center for migrant rights in Mexico, where she will focus on transnational workers’ rights law and protecting the rights of guest workers who come to the United States.  Kent Qian will be working in Northern California with the National Housing Law Project assisting tenants in foreclosed properties.  Please read the press release to learn more about the inspiring projects that Kristen and Kent will be pursuing, the Skadden Fellowship, and to read Dean Saul Levmore's thoughts.

The public interest job search for law students is a very individualized process (particularly in comparison to the private sector job search) and requires applications, essays, and other targeted efforts. The Office of Career Services provides comprehensive assistance and support to students pursuing careers in public interest law, including work with domestic and international nonprofit organizations and government agencies.  Please review our recent blog post about funding for students who work in public interest positions following their first year of law school (approximately one third of our students work in the public sector during their first-year summer) and look for an upcoming discussion about our Hormel Public Interest Program on this blog.

Summer Funding for Public Interest or Government Work

Last week, we posted a story about a new International Human Rights Program here at Chicago. Students will not only be able to work in places such as New Delhi, Sydney, and London, but the Law School will also provide funding for them to do so. Our Heerey Summer Public Interest Fellowships are one such source of that funding. The great thing about our program is that students can work in a wide variety of jobs - from one of these new positions abroad to the AG's office in New York. In fact, any position that involves legal work for the public interest, a non profit, or governmental organization could qualify for funding. The only caveats are that students need to work full-time for at least 4 weeks in their qualifying position and they need to make less than $1200 per week. In return, students receive a $6,000 partially forgiveable loan: $3,000 of it is forgiven when they complete their 1L summer work and the remaining $3,000 balance is payable over a year later, after they have had a chance to make serious cash at a firm their 2L summer. For 2Ls who decide to work in the public interest again their second summer, they could have the entire $6,000 forgiven. A large number of Chicago students use this funding each summer to pursue the summer job of their dreams. We have funded students working abroad and in states from Alaska to California and New York. As you research law schools, I encourage you to think about your employment prospects and the financial support that different schools provide. In future posts, I will also provide information on our Hormel Public Interest Program - another great source of support for our graduates who want to go into public service and government work.

What Are We Reading?

Ever wonder what the faculty here at U of C read whilst curled up by the fire (yes, the winter season has already kicked in!)? Ranging from law and history to fiction novels, this What Are We Reading section details the latest books that our faculty have read and enjoyed. Take a crack at To Kill A Mockingbird (recommended by Professor Emily Buss) or Stalin: A Biography (one of Professor Brian Leiter's picks).

Law school applicants are always asking for that great summer reading list before school starts. So, here is your chance to start becoming as well read as our faculty!

Recent workshop at the Law School

As I was reviewing some of the recenting happenings at the Law School, I thought you would be interested in the post one of our students, Lindsey Weiss, recently wrote:

When it Comes to Legal Opinions, Does Name-Dropping Work?

The debate is over.  It is empirically settled: Cantwell v Connecticut is the most influential United States Supreme Court case of all time; Branzburg v Hayes is the most well-grounded. So says a recent paper by Professor James F. Spriggs II and his coauthors entitled Network Analysis and Law: Measuring the Legal Importance of Precedent at the U.S. Supreme Court.  Spriggs addressed the Workshop on Judicial Behavior Wednesday evening to discuss the paper in which he and his coauthors apply network analysis (typically used for computer science and sociology) to legal opinions.  Their aim: to identify “the most legally central” Supreme Court cases. 

To continue reading, please click on this link to go to our faculty blog (I am sure there will be additional posts you may want to read!!!)

The debate is over.  It is empirically settled: Cantwell v Connecticut is the most influential United States Supreme Court case of all time; Branzburg v Hayes is the most well-grounded. So says a recent paper by Professor James F. Spriggs II and his coauthors entitled Network Analysis and Law: Measuring the Legal Importance of Precedent at the U.S. Supreme Court.  Spriggs addressed the Workshop on Judicial Behavior Wednesday evening to discuss the paper in which he and his coauthors apply network analysis (typically used for computer science and sociology) to legal opinions.  Their aim: to identify “the most legally central” Supreme Court cases. 

To continue reading, please click on this link to go to our faculty blog (I am sure there will be additional posts you may want to read!!!)

Diversity Week at U of C!

I often tell prospective students that there is always something going on at the Law School and that U of C students have no shortage of lectures, panels, or discussions to attend (in fact, students often have to choose between multiple programs). The last week of October was Diversity Week at the Law School. Many of our more than 50 student organizations sponsored a wide range of events, all of which were well attended. Early in the week, the Black Law Students Association presented "How Judges Decide Cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act" and the Law Women’s Caucus presented a faculty discussion on how international armed conflicts affect women called "Women in War Zones". The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and the South Asian Law Students Association presented a program called "Building a Better Legal Academy" and the Federalist Society presented a faculty discussion on ideological diversity. Wrapping up the week, OutLaw presented a discussion on sexual orientation and constitutional law called "From Disgust to Humanity", which you can listen to on our Open Minds podcast. Finally, the Latino Law Students Association presented a talk on immigration.

Our own faculty members were active contributors to Diversity Week. Participating professors and lecturers included Mary Anne Case, Anupam Chander, Rosalind Dixon, Mary Anne Franks, Todd Henderson, Thomas Miles, Adam Mortara, Jennifer Nagda, Martha Nussbaum, Lior Strahilivetz, Madhavi Sunder, and Maria Woltjen.

In addition to these lunch time programs, the LLM students hosted international tables at our weekly Wednesday morning Coffee Mess and BLSA sponsored our Diversity Week Wine Mess. We will do our best to keep you updated on other fun and thought-provoking events at the Law School throughout the academic year!