Clinics
Learning lawyering,
serving the community
The School of Law now offers
seven in-house clinical experiences
for students. These clinical programs
reflect the school’s social justice
mission, provide students with
vital practical experience under
close faculty supervision, and
help participants develop an
understanding of professionalism
and ethics.
Business Law Clinic
Under the supervision of Codirectors
Joe Stone and Shelley Dunck,
students in the fully transactional
Business Law Clinic counsel clients;
draft contracts; assist individuals
who wish to form business entities;
and communicate with the secre-
tary of state, Office of the Attorney
General, and IRS. During the spring
semester, 14 students assisted a
client roster of more than 125 active
for-profit and not-for-profit clients,
ranging from Ashley Can, an organi-
zation formed by a childhood cancer
survivor dedicated to raising aware-
ness, funding research, and assisting
families affected by pediatric cancer,
to Pyar & Co., a textiles company
founded by award-winning designer
Paula Queen.
Civitas Child and
Family Law Clinic
The Civitas Child and Family Law
Clinic represents children in cases
involving child protection (abuse and
neglect), child custody, and visitation,
and handles matters involving spe-
cial education, juvenile delinquency,
adoption, and child abduction.
This past semester, 18 students
under the supervision of Director
Bruce Boyer, Associate Director
Stacey Platt, and Postgraduate Fellow
Alexandra Fung assisted in the rep-
resentation of approximately 100
child clients, including interviews,
investigations, negotiations, legal
research, motion and trial practice,
and appeals. The clinic has also
continued its important work in the
area of international child abduction,
successfully litigating two cases in
federal court seeking the return of
abducted children to their home
countries, and submitting a friend of
the court brief in the child abduction
case of
Chafin v. Chafin
, decided
by the US Supreme Court earlier
this year.
ChildLaw Legislation
and Policy
Loyola’s ChildLaw Legislation and
Policy course has evolved into a
live client clinic. Professor Anita
Weinberg and Postgraduate Fellow
Amy Meek guide students in
legislation or policy projects that
may involve critiquing pending
bills or existing legislation, drafting
legislation, developing summaries
and fact sheets on potential bills,
or building and working with
coalitions to develop legislative
ideas and consensus.
Highlights this past year included
passage of an amendment to
the Abused and Neglected Child
Reporting Act, completion of a
study for the Illinois Juvenile Justice
Commission and the Illinois General
Assembly on youth identified as
sexually offending (the report will be
published in the fall), development of
a coalition working on amendments
to the Illinois Domestic Violence
Act, and critique of proposed rules
and regulations concerning recent
legislation on post-adoption
sibling contact.
Community Law Center
The Community Law Center is the
School of Law’s first clinic, where
students handle litigation cases
supervised by Professor Theresa
Ceko. During the 2012–13 academic
year, Community Law Center Fellow
Lindsey Johnson (JD ’12) and 30 law
student clinicians handled more than
75 cases, including a wide range of
family law matters with a particular
focus on the guardian ad litem rep-
resentation of children in contested
guardianship matters. The center
also handles collection cases, land-
lord-tenant issues, and other matters
involving litigation in the Circuit
Court of Cook County. Most clients
are low-income individuals from
the Chicago area.
Federal Tax Clinic
At the Federal Tax Clinic, students
represent low-income persons with
disputes with the Internal Revenue
Service in the US Tax Court or other
venues. Under the leadership of
Professors Michael Novy and Daniel
Pavlik, who retired in June after
13 years of outstanding service at
Loyola, 15 student clinicians closed
over 100 tax cases, worked more than
Today’s legal market requires students to be practice-ready at graduation. The School of
Law’s traditional classroom offerings are complemented by a broad, ever-expanding range
of experiential learning opportunities that help students mesh theory with application, and
build high-level practical skills they use the first day on the job.
Experiential
learning
Hands-on, real-world education for the next generation of lawyers
Just retired, Professor Daniel Pavlik served at
the Federal Tax Law Clinic for 13 years.
MASTER OF EDUCATION: FROM BIRTH TO BAR
Michael Kaufman,
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Kaufman, who focuses on education law and policy, securities regulation and litigation, civil procedure, and jurisprudence,
delivered bar examination review lectures to more than 30,000 law students across the country this summer. In the past 24
years, he has helped more than 1 million law students prepare for state bar exams. The United Nations has nominated Kaufman
to the Georgia Parliament to be the international expert leading development of the country’s preschool law.
85 controversy issues, and consulted
with an additional 30 taxpayers.
Health Justice Project
Student clinicians at the Health
Justice Project collaborate with
diverse partners to address the
health-related legal and social issues
of more than 1,200 low-income
patients in the Chicago area.
Since the project launched in
2010, students have obtained more
than $600,000 in medical debt
forgiveness for patients, as well as
$550,000 in Medicaid reimbursement
to Erie Family Health Center. Under
the supervision of Director Emily
Benfer and Staff Attorney and Fellow
Allyson Gold, students appealed
improper disability benefit denials by
the Social Security Administration,
resulting in a 100 percent success
rate in all cases with an appealable
issue, and nearly $200,000 in disability
benefits. The Health Justice Project
also reduced patients’ housing
expenses by more than $38,000 in
eviction cases. These experiential
learning opportunities are generously
supported by Curt Rodin (JD ’75) and
his wife, Linda, who have renewed
the Rodin Fellowship for a junior
attorney in the Health Justice Project.
Life After Innocence
Students in Life After Innocence
(LAI), founded and directed by
Laura Caldwell, help Illinois exonerees
reenter society and reclaim their
rights as citizens. The project
provides individualized legal and
support services and pursues wider-
reaching public policy initiatives.
Last year’s highlights include
the first annual Rock for Innocence
concert with the Exoneree Band, a
diverse mix of musicians who served
a combined 87 years in prison for
crimes they did not commit, and the
opening of Life After Justice, a West
Side 501(c)(3) community
and temporary housing center
for exonerees. The facility is
being renovated by LAI clients
Jarrett Adams, now a 2L at
Loyola, and Antoine Day. LAI also
facilitated legislation regarding
expungement upon receipt of a
Certificate of Innocence; partnered
with a new nonprofit organization,
Narrative 4; and sent exonerees and
students to the annual Innocence
Network Conference in Charlotte,
North Carolina.
FACULTY EXCELLENCE
The Exoneree Band kicked off the academic year with a Rock for Innocence concert at Loyola last fall, sponsored by the Life After Innocence project.
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