Grant to SIU Law School helps represent veterans

A $100,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs on July 23 will support implementation of a new program at the Southern Illinois University School of Law.

John F. Lynn, assistant dean for administration, said he would act as "a senior partner" to a group of four to six volunteer second- and third-year law students and two paid students who would function as paralegals.

The group will meet every Friday to review the progress of cases that involve assistance to veterans who can't afford or don't have access to legal representation in disability claim appeals.

"This program is critical and will provide Illinois veterans with quality legal services to ensure that they get the benefits they have rightfully earned," said state veterans' affairs director Tammy Duckworth at the grant presentation.

She noted that the funds consist of 100 percent of proceeds from the sale of scratch-off lottery tickets designated for veterans.

The SIU law school is one of several not-for-profit organizations that will receive grants to help veterans with health care, post-traumatic stress disorder treatment, disability benefit claims, and housing assistance.

U.I. Homecoming events announced

A speech by former U.S. defense secretary William S. Cohen tops a schedule of Homecoming weekend events at the University of Illinois College of Law in October.

Cohen will deliver the Vacketta-DLA Piper Lecture on the Role of Government and Law at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, in the Max Rowe Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Peer and Sarah Pedersen Pavilion.

The biannual meeting of the College of Law Board of Visitors will be conducted Friday at the Illini Union.

The law school will present Distinguished Alumni Awards during a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, in the main ballroom of the iHotel and Conference Center, near Memorial Stadium.

Reunion dinners will follow in the hotel for the classes of '63, '68, '73, '78, '83 and '88. Recent alumni from '93, '98 and '03 will attend a reunion party at 8 p.m. at Jupiter's at the Crossing in Champaign.

A breakfast with the dean is scheduled at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, in the faculty lounge. A pre-game tent party, also with breakfast, will take place from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Cribbet Field.

The varsity football game between Illinois and Minnesota is expected to begin at 11 a.m. Alternatives include a campus walking tour. A reception at 4 p.m. in Pedersen Pavilion will conclude Homecoming weekend activities.

For information about hotel accommodations and other details, access http://www.law.uiuc.edu/homecoming.

Markey remembered

"The Legacy of Howard Markey," a program in memory of the former federal judge and dean of The John Marshall Law School, will take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16.

It is being sponsored by the law school's Center for Intellectual Property Law. Call Michele Bridges at (312) 427-2737, ext. 581, for details.

Kent students excel

Brian Emfinger, a third-year student at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, is the recipient of the 2008 Dolores K. Hanna Trademark Prize. He is a J.D. candidate in the certificate program in intellectual property law.

Named in honor of retired special trademarks counsel Dolores Hanna, a Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers who graduated from the law school, the prize was established in 2006 by her firm, Bell, Boyd & Lloyd.

Emfinger is associate editor and webmaster of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law, a student editorial board member of the Center for Access to Justice and Technology, and webmaster for the Intellectual Property Law Society and International Law Student Association.

One other Chicago-Kent student, Gwynne Kizer, and a May 2008 graduate, Meghan J. Paulus, received awards in July.

Kizer, a first-year student, earned the SmithAmundsen Excellence in Legal Writing Award for brief writing and adding diversity to the legal community. She has supervised Chicago Public Schools mentoring programs and volunteered in a literacy program for disabled adults.

The award is funded by SmithAmundsen to support law school diversity initiatives through 2012.

Paulus, who received a J.D. in public interest law, is the recipient of the inaugural Fleischman Family Award for Excellence in Criminal Clinic. She has completed two internships with the Cook County public defender's office.

The award was established by Kent alumni Jack A. and Sidney Z. Fleischman as a tribute to their father, Marshall A. Fleischman, and grandfather, Phillip A. Fleischman.