Southern Illinois University
SCHOOL OF LAW
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Southern Illinois University School of Law. The decision to attend law school is an important one. You are preparing to make a significant investment of your time, money, energy and passion. At SIU, we are prepared to help you make the most of that investment. Let me tell you briefly about why I believe this is so, and then I invite you to read more about our program in the pages that follow. First, SIU Law emphasizes excellence in academics. You will learn from faculty members who are nationally recognized in their fields and who have earned prestigious honors for their teaching and scholarship. Second, SIU Law will help you master legal skills as well as legal doctrine. Our students take advantage of opportunities to study abroad, to engage in interdisciplinary studies, to gain practical legal skills by working in our clinic or as an extern, and to participate in a wide variety of extracurricular organizations, teams and journals. Indeed, we were recognized by National Jurist magazine as a “Best School for Practical Training.� Third, SIU Law provides a rigorous legal education in a supportive environment. We will challenge you and provide the tools and support that you need to meet and make the most of those challenges. You will receive individual attention from professors and administrators who genuinely care about your success. We have an exceptional student development system that includes nationally recognized programs in Lawyering Skills, Professionalism and Academic Success. Most importantly, SIU Law offers a community of students with a desire to change the world. I am truly inspired by the passion and determination with which our students embrace complex social, commercial and global challenges. They come to us with these ambitions, and we give them the knowledge, skills and support to help turn their passions into actions. I invite you to visit our law school, sit in on a class, meet our students and faculty, and explore the intellectually vibrant community that awaits you at Southern Illinois University School of Law. With best regards,
Cynthia L. Fountaine Dean and Professor of Law
1
www.law.siu.edu
WE GET STUDENTS CLOSER TO WHAT MATTERS MOST THE OPPORTUNITY TO USE THEIR DEGREES TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT. Through relationships to professors and connections to the profession, we open doors for our students so they can navigate their careers on their terms. Whatever their career goals, we give them the experiences they need to be successful from day one. Even as massive changes reshape the legal profession, our students have the ability and determination to work with, and through, change. And when they graduate, they enter their careers with real momentum.
www.law.siu.edu
2
WE NEVER STOP RETHINKING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A LAWYER. AND NEITHER DO OUR STUDENTS. As the legal profession has changed and society has become increasingly globally connected, SIU Law has stayed ahead of the curve. Our graduates are equipped to do more than react to change—they become change agents themselves, with a fundamental understanding of what legal skills are needed most now while never losing sight of what it means to be a lawyer.
3
www.law.siu.edu
THE FIRST YEAR Our first-year program integrates fundamental legal theory with the development of the basic skills and professional traits required of a successful law practice. As a first-year (1L) law student, you will receive a solid foundation in the basic principles of the law. In our nationally recognized Lawyering Skills Program, you will participate in small classes designed for active learning in which you will practice a range of skills, including legal research and writing, client interviewing, client counseling, advocacy and negotiation. In our Professionalism and the Law course, you will learn about the core values of the legal profession and your responsibilities as a member. You will participate with your class in the drafting of a “Declaration of Professional Commitment,” which you will recite during your induction as a lawyer-in-training during a ceremony presided over by an Illinois Supreme Court justice.
FIRST YEAR COURSES Civil Procedure Contracts I & II Criminal Law Lawyering Skills I & II Legislative and Administrative Process Professionalism and the Law Property I & II Torts
Pictured Left: Tania Linares, Class of 2015. Before law school, Linares volunteered as an interpreter for the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) in Chicago, where she saw “the tremendous impact NIJC had on the lives of low-income immigrants.” This experience was one of the things that motivated Linares to attend law school. After completing her first year at SIU Law, she returned to NIJC as an intern, where she gained hands-on experience working alongside some of the best immigration lawyers in the country and learning about novel issues in the field. She said that her Lawyering Skills class served her very well and allowed her to “hit the ground running” as soon as she arrived at NIJC.
www.law.siu.edu
4
UPPER LEVEL COURSES 2L REQUIRED COURSES
BUSINESS/CORPORATIONS
CRIMINAL LAW
Civil Procedure II Constitutional Law Evidence Legal Profession
Advanced Real Estate Transactions Agency and Partnership Administrative Law Alternative Dispute Resolution Antitrust Bankruptcy Business Planning Consumer Protection Corporations Corporate Taxation Current Developments in American Law: Accounting for Lawyers Federal Business Taxation Federal Income Taxation Insurance Law Intellectual Property International Business Transactions Introduction to Commercial Law Introduction to Transactional Skills Securities Regulation Partnership Taxation Not-For-Profit Corporations (Senior Seminar)
Criminal Procedure: Post Investigations Criminal Procedure: Pre-Trial International Criminal Law Pre-Trial Advocacy Semester in Practice Externship: Criminal Practice Advanced Criminal Procedure Topics (Senior Seminar) International White Collar Crime (Senior Seminar) Sentencing Law Trial Advocacy White Collar Crime
5
www.law.siu.edu
EMPLOYMENT/ LABOR LAW Alternative Dispute Resolution Employment Discrimination Employment Law Labor Law Workers’ Compensation
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Administrative Law Advanced Environmental Litigation Agricultural Law Environmental Law Land Use Planning Natural Resources Law Energy and Natural Resources (Senior Seminar) Water Law
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Civil Practice Clinic Domestic Violence Clinic Judicial Externship Juvenile Justice Clinic Public Interest Externship Semester in Practice: Criminal Practice Semester in Practice: Health Law & Policy Semester in Practice: Intellectual Property Semester in Practice: State & Local Government
FAMILY LAW AND ESTATE PLANNING Advanced Real Estate Transactions Alternative Dispute Resolution Basic Estate Planning Children and the Law Family Law Trusts and Estates
HEALTH LAW Administrative Law Advanced Torts Antitrust Bioethics and the Law Corporations Disability Law Elder Law Health Care Legislation Health Policy Law Health Reform Topics (Senior Seminar) Insurance Law Medical Malpractice Law Medical Malpractice Clinical Rotation Mental Health Law Public Health Law Regulation of Health Care Professionals Semester in Practice Externship: Health Law & Policy
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Antitrust Copyright Law Current Developments in American Law: Trade Secrets Intellectual Property Intellectual Property and Commercialization Patent Law Semester in Practice: Intellectual Property Trademarks and Unfair Competition
INTERNATIONAL LAW Current Developments in International Law: Human Rights Current Developments in International Law: International Intellectual Property and Economic Development Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Immigration Law Immigration Law Practice Experience International Business Transactions International Criminal Law International Law Legal Globalization and Comparative Law Comparative Law (Senior Seminar) International White Collar Crime (Senior Seminar)
LITIGATION AND ADVANCED SKILLS Administrative Law Advanced Appellate Advocacy Advanced Mock Trial Advanced Torts Advanced Trial Advocacy Alternative Dispute Resolution Client Interviewing and Counseling Conflict of Laws Criminal Procedure: Pre-Trial Criminal Procedure: Post Investigations Electronic Discovery (Senior Seminar) Federal Courts Introduction to Transactional Skills Law Practice Management Mediation Skills Negotiation Pre-Trial Advocacy Remedies Trial Advocacy
PUBLIC INTEREST LAW Administrative Law Alternative Dispute Resolution Civil Practice Clinic Civil Rights Client Interviewing and Counseling Constitutional Law: Advanced Topics - 14th Amendment Consumer Protection Domestic Violence Clinic Employment Discrimination Family Law First Amendment Rights Judicial Externship Juvenile Justice Clinic Privacy Law Public Interest Externship Public Interest Externship: Innocence Project State and Local Government Religion and the Law (Senior Seminar)
SEMINARS AND SPECIAL TOPICS Animal Law Business Boot Camp Firearms Law and the Second Amendment (Senior Seminar) Jurisprudence Military Law (Senior Seminar) Sports Law Supreme Court Decisions (Senior Seminar) Women in Leadership Workshop
www.law.siu.edu
6
CHART YOUR OWN PATH
In today’s changing legal profession, SIU Law supports the agility and determination of our students to chart educational and career paths that allow them to excel in the changing environment.
SPECIALIZATIONS SIU law students can pursue a specially designed course in several areas of law practice specialization. The course of study for each practice area includes core and elective courses, a writing project and an experiential learning component. Students who complete a specialization receive a transcript notation and certificate to help demonstrate their focus to potential employers. • Business & Transactional Law • Health Law & Policy • Intellectual Property
7
www.law.siu.edu
• International & Comparative Law • Litigation & Dispute Resolution
JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS In today’s competitive legal market, many students are taking advantage of opportunities to earn a joint degree. These interdisciplinary paths also allow students to apply their specific interests and passions to the profession of law. We offer seven dual degree programs through the SIUC Graduate School and the SIU School of Medicine that allow students to receive M.D. or master’s degrees while pursuing a law degree. Doctor of Medicine Master of Accountancy Master of Business Administration Master of Science in Education
Master of Public Administration Master of Social Work Master of Electrical and Computer Engineering
THE TWO YEAR HONORS JD PROGRAM The School of Law offers a program that allows eligible students to complete the JD degree in two years. Interested students must indicate their interest in this program at the time of their application to law school. Only students with outstanding academic credentials will be eligible for this program. Students who are admitted into the program must maintain a GPA that is at or above the median for their class to continue with the accelerated schedule. Students in SIU’s Two Year Honors Program will begin in the fall semester and follow the traditional first-year curriculum, thereby allowing them to build camaraderie with the rest of the first-year class – a hallmark of the first-year experience. At the conclusion of the first year, students in the Two Year Honors Program will continue on the accelerated schedule during the summer and finish at the conclusion of the following summer. Students can opt out of the Two Year Honors Program and resume a normal schedule at any time during their course of study.
THREE YEAR JD/LLM Students who complete the Two Year Honors Program and are interested in pursuing an LLM degree, may apply for, and, if accepted, complete SIU’s LL.M. program in their third year of study.
www.law.siu.edu
8
WE’RE POWERED BY RELATIONSHIPS. Our faculty members have strong relationships and deep connections to the legal profession. Our students take full advantage of the opportunities these relationships create; they jump into our semester in practice programs, excel in field placements, and take on interdisciplinary paths that allow them to apply their passion to their profession. Through these experiences, our students learn how to work with people at every level and build relationships of their own. That’s the SIU Law Advantage.
9
www.law.siu.edu
“A lot of the professors are helpful way beyond academic settings. I have received career insights and personal advice from my professors. I feel that a lot of that is attributable to the class size and personal relationships that are developed at this school. SIU Law has a lot more to offer than just low tuition. The school is filled with unique professors and students that make this place special.” – Michael Levy, J.D., ‘15
“I gained invaluable experience while participating on the trial team. Professor Behan (Christopher Behan) helped shape me into a confident, wellspoken advocate. As a member of the trial team, I have gained confidence while speaking in front of my peers, refined my evidence skills, learned how to effectively present a case to a jury and, most importantly, strengthened my desire to become a litigator.”
“Words cannot express how invaluable my judicial externship experience was. The relationships I formed with the judges and attorneys have become valuable resources for the future. The judges and staff at Williamson County are truly wonderful mentors and professionals. I not only learned about the profession but also about myself.” – Paula Roa, ‘14
– Danielle DeFranco, J.D., ‘14
www.law.siu.edu
10
CENTER FOR HEALTH LAW AND POLICY “I am proud of the wide variety of law and medicine courses which this school provides. In conjunction with one of them, Medical Malpractice Law, we offer an elective credit hour in which students are paired with Family Practice residents for a clinical rotation. The students make rounds, visit the ER, attend clinics, view surgery and witness deliveries with their assigned residents. It is one of the most unique educational experiences in the country, and truly gives the law student an intimate look at the medical profession and the way medical decisions are made.” – Marsha Garwin Ryan, M.D., J.D, Assistant Professor of General Surgery, School of Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of Law Developed nearly 30 years ago, SIU Law’s Center for Health Law and Policy advances education and research regarding critical issues in health law, public policy and medical ethics. The program helps students prepare for careers in health law and policy, in addition to expanding and enhancing educational, research and program activities within Illinois and the nation. The program offers numerous opportunities for students to participate and brings together some of the nation’s leading health law advocates and medical professionals for lectures and symposiums on critical health-related issues facing the nation.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS • Health Law & Policy Semester in Practice • Dr. Arthur Grayson Distinguished Lecture • Ryan Bioethicist-in-Residence • The Journal of Legal Medicine • National Health Law Moot Court Competition • Southern Illinois Healthcare/ SIU Health Policy Institute • J.D./M.D. concurrent degree program • SIH/Medical-Legal Partnership LL.M. Fellowship 11
www.law.siu.edu
INTERNATIONAL LAW
Our internationally engaged faculty has global ties that empower students to take their learning beyond borders and to another level. Students and faculty are involved in a number of international law-related activities, including a variety of international law courses, immigration law-related moot court competitions, an Immigration Detention Project, and an active student-run International Law Society that hosts speakers and programs related to international law. Each year, several SIU faculty members and students engage in international and comparative law research, conferences and other projects. SIU Law is a member of the International Association of Law Schools, and has linkage agreements with the University of Botswana and Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania. Our legal globalization course gives students the chance to travel abroad for an in-depth study of the impact globalization has on legal issues and culture. In addition to studying in another country for a portion of a semester, students will look at that country’s legal and political structure during the semester. Through this program, students have traveled to Germany, Australia and Cuba.
www.law.siu.edu
12
WE’RE FOCUSED ON TAKING THE THEORETICAL AND TURNING IT INTO WHAT WORKS. Our students master theory. But they understand that theory will only take them so far. To go the distance, they take on the hard work of developing as professionals with a skill set they never stop adapting—skills that are in short supply and great demand. Our students begin to grow into their roles as expert communicators, negotiators and advocates as participants in Public Interest Externships, our awardwinning Professionalism Program, and our First Year Program that emphasizes professional development from day one. It’s a style of leadership they’ll depend on for the rest of their professional lives. And that’s why, to go the distance, they come to SIU.
13
www.law.siu.edu
You will be able to immerse yourself in skills-building programs such as moot court, externships, Semester-in-Practice programs and legal clinic work. You will also have opportunities to collaborate with faculty members in their areas of research and pro bono service.
MOOT COURT
SEMESTER IN PRACTICE
Students begin to hone their advocacy skills in our appellate and trial moot court programs. They compete successfully in regional and national competitions, where they regularly earn team and individual awards.
Students earn a full semester credit through this substantial externship that combines courses related to a particular field of study with externship opportunities in locations including Chicago, Springfield, Illinois, and southeastern
LEGAL CLINICS Our award-winning clinics serve a 13-county area in Southern Illinois and offer students the opportunity to work with clinical faculty to represent clients in cases involving elder law, civil practice, domestic violence and juvenile justice.
EXTERNSHIPS Our Public Interest Externship program allows students to earn course credit for work in a publicly funded law office, or in a nonprofit organization that has in-house counsel, or in a federal, state or local agency that has attorneys on its staff. Students who are interested in working for a state or federal judge may enroll in a Judicial Externship.
Missouri.
PRO BONO PROJECTS Students provide much-needed pro bono services under the direction of faculty members who work with various projects. As part of its long-standing commitment to public service, SIU requires law students to complete 35 hours of approved pro bono work prior to graduation. Students are able to participate in pro bono opportunities that already exist, such as the Immigration Detention Project, the Illinois Innocence Project and the Self Help Legal Center, but they are also free to pursue law-related projects in their own areas of interest.
www.law.siu.edu
14
OUR GRADUATES ENTER THEIR CAREERS UNDAUNTED. They demonstrate the nimble thinking, versatility and savvy know-how that translates into professional longevity. Not only are they ready for anything—they’re ready to go anywhere. And they do.
15
www.law.siu.edu
SIU LAW ALUMNI ARE EVERYWHERE Our alumni are a testament to the success of the SIU School of Law. Since the first class graduated in 1976, our alumni network has grown to more than 4,000 graduates that includes more than 90 state and federal judges, and practitioners in 49 states and throughout the world. Our alumni are a supportive community willing to assist current students and recent graduates in a variety of ways, including externships, networking and employment opportunities.
“SIU’s biggest asset is its small size and personal attention. I highly doubt I would have stayed with a program at a larger school. I really felt like the faculty at SIU cared about my success.” – Kristen Johnson, ’08 Attorney-Advisor Division of Land and Water Resources Office of the Solicitor U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, DC
“In addition to receiving an outstanding legal education, I developed a statewide network of friends at SIU Law that enriched my law practice and judicial career.” – Honorable Ron Spears, ’77 Resident Circuit Judge Christian County 4th Judicial Circuit in Illinois Taylorville, Illinois Past President Illinois Judges Association
“The best advice I ever received was to go to SIU School of Law. I knew I wanted to remain in the area, and it was a great education at a great price.” – Honorable Nancy J. Rosenstengel, J.D. ‘93 U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois
Pictured left: Jordan Mathis, Class of 2013, now works as an assistant state’s attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago. During law school she participated in the Mock Trial Team program.
www.law.siu.edu
16
Southern Illinois University Carbondale is located in Carbondale, Illinois, a town of approximately 26,000. A classic university community, the population grows each fall with the addition of approximately 20,000 students. Students at the SIU School of Law enjoy the advantages that come with a university that is a major research institution – The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies SIU Carbondale among the top 5 percent of U.S. higher education institutions for research. There is also a variety of cultural, athletic, educational and recreational opportunities within the community and throughout Southern Illinois that will enhance your educational experience.
17
www.law.siu.edu
REGISTERED STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS (RSO) At SIU School of Law, our students are doers who participate in a wide range of extracurricular activities. We have 25 active registered student organizations (RSOs) students can join to enhance their law school experiences. The RSOs represent a variety of interests and diversity within the student body. The Student Bar Association (SBA) is the umbrella organization for all student groups within the law school.
STUDENT RECREATION CENTER Taking a break from studying is important, and the Student Recreation Center offers a wide variety of services and programs to help students keep their mental and physical edge. Offerings include intramural sports, sports clubs, personal trainers, therapeutic massage and aquatics, along with instructional programs such as yoga and pilates, dance, boxing and martial arts. Outdoor adventures, such as scuba diving, camping and boating packages, are also available.
SALUKI ATHLETICS A member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Southern Illinois University sponsors 18 intercollegiate sports. In football, the Salukis compete in the NCAA FCS (Football Championship Subdivision), formerly the Division 1-AA division. Since 2001, the Salukis have won 19 conference titles and appeared in 24 NCAA tournaments.
www.law.siu.edu
18
LAW.SIU.EDU
SIU School of Law Lesar Law Buliding - Mail Code 6804 Southern Illinois University 1150 Douglas Drive Carbondale, IL 62901 Phone: 800/739-9187
Printed by the authority of the State of Illinois 9/14 4K 142984