s | b | a CHICAGO-KENT STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION
*check out our SBA Instagram this week for your chance to win ONE of THREE $5.00 Starbucks gift cards!
2021 Diversity Week – Putting Words Into Action
See “Events for The Week” for more Details
Announcements
Congratulations to Chicago Kent’s Phi Alpha Delta – Blackstone Chapter’s Team Blackstone 1 for advancing to finals and ultimately placing fourth in the PAD 2021 Mock Trial Competition
this weekend. Team Blackstone includes Rigo Fernandez, Emily Motin, Madison Wheeler, and Patrick Bovie, coached by Professor Sheldon Solow.
Law Students Needed for You(th) Decide: ISCOTUS and the Constitutional Democracy Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law are seeking law student volunteers to help us
with You(th) Decide: A High School Student Forum on the U.S. Supreme Court. This real-time discussion of a current case before the Supreme Court of the United States will be held via ZOOM on Friday, March 5, 9:00 AM-1:30 PM.If you wish to participate or if you have any questions, please contact Dee Runaas (Project Director).
The ACLU is sponsoring a team for the Fifth Annual Notre Dame National Appellate Advocacy Tournament for Religious Freedom. This competition will be taking place from April 9th, 2021 through April 11, 2021. We are currently accepting applications! To be considered, please submit a writing sample and a brief statement of interest to aclu. Please see the attached flyer below to learn more. We look forward to seeing our university represented at this event!
Events for This Week
Events may be found on the SBA calendar. Please make sure you are accessing via your Kent email address.
Monday – March 1, 2021
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5:00-7:00 pm: Diversity Week Kick off event: “Can I Ask That?” Panel – Register
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Are there conversations you’d like to have with diverse colleagues but are unsure if you should bring it up or how to approach the situation? Are there questions you’re tired of answering? Build your cultural competence and learn about microaggressions in professional spaces and personal relationships. Please submit questions via this question submission form
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Tuesday – March 2, 2021
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2:15-3:00 pm: Diversity Week APALSA – A Conversation with Tammy Duckworth – Register
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A webinar on breaking the glass and bamboo ceiling with Sen. Duckworth
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5:00-7:00 pm: Diversity Week DALSA & Lambdas – LGBTQ+ Disability and Elder Justice in Action – Register
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A presentation on providing compassionate care to clients.
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Wednesday – March 3, 2021
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12:00 – 1:00: International Law Moot Court Honors Society will host an interest meeting via Zoom.
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3:00 – 4:00 pm: Diversity Week Career Services Office – Diversity Job Fairs & Affinity Groups: Chicago-Kent Alumni Speak – Register
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Hear from a group of successful Chicago-Kent alumni as they discuss how they navigated diversity job fairs, joined and led affinity student groups and bar associations, and now give back to support law students seeking to pave their way in the legal profession.
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4:00 – 5:00pm: Diversity Week First-Gen Panel- Navigating Law School & The Legal Profession – Register
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The Honorable Justice Jesse G. Reyes will speak regarding support systems and opportunities for diverse law students and about the importance of first-generation visibility in the profession. Law student panelists will provide personal insight into their experiences as first-gen law students.
Thursday – March 4, 2021
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1:00-2:00/2:30 pm:Diversity Week MLSA/APALSA – AAAJ/CAIR Bystander Intervention Workshop – Register
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“[A]n aggressive scaling up of locally-led bystander hate incident intervention training for community members.”
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5:00-6:30 pm: Diversity Week HLLSA – "Spanish for Lawyers” w/ Salvador Cicero – Register
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Topics include: creating a competent and compassionate experience for clients, language accessibility in the legal system, and tips on becoming a bilingual attorney.
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Friday – March 5, 2021
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12:00 p.m.: ACPLS Presents: Art Law Panel. Please join us for this unique opportunity to learn about how law and the creative arts intertwine. Panelists are Christopher Johson from Chicago’s Lawyers for the Creative Arts and Nicole Chimienti, a lawyer practicing trademark and design patent. Click here to Zoom to the event.
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2:00 – 3:00 pm: Diversity Week REAA – Never Fully Free: The Continuous Vice Grip of the Criminal Legal System
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A presentation demonstrating how criminal records and post conviction relief is racial justice work.
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Please look for the link in the SBA Newsletter
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- 4:00 – 5:00 pm: Diversity Week WIL – Reading Discussion with Prof. Batlan on Intersectional Feminism – Register
- A discussion of two short readings on feminism and intersectionality by Mari J. Matsuda, an American lawyer, activist, and law professor. The discussion will be facilitated by Professor Batlan.
- Event Link
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Writing Competitions
(we have so many that we now have a heading!)
Interested in submitting a paper to a competition? The law library has created a guide to student legal writing competitions. For more information, please see the library blog post about the guide.
The ACLU & ACPLS will be hosting a Creative Writing Contest! This will be an opportunity to engage in a more creative and enjoyable part of writing. The topic or guiding purpose of this contest is to write about freedom, fellowship, community, and the purpose of our work. We are also interested in hearing about helping others, the value in volunteering, and why we do the work we do. The theme of this contest is broad, such that you can write about what speaks to you most. To learn more about this contest, please see the flyer below! The deadline for submissions is March 17!
The Black Law Students Association and the Student Bar Association are pleased to announce the Nickolas Johnson Writing Competition. In 2018, we lost a fellow classmate and BLSA member. This writing prize in Nickolas Johnson’s memory is to encourage students to tackle issues of mental health on campus and propose an idea to be implemented by BLSA and SBA for the upcoming school year. Click here for the application. Students can download the application by clicking on the documents in the guide, or find it attached to this newsletter.. The competition funding is donation based, and if you would like to donate, there is information provided below on how to do so. The hope is to raise $1,000 each year, which will allow the student who wins to be awarded $500, with the other $500 going to implementing the student’s proposal. The writing prize will take place from March 1 to April 19. A panel of judges will read the proposals from April 19 to May 10 and announce the winner on the May 10.
If you would like to donate to the Nickolas Johnson Writing Competition, please go to arogers11.
Future Events
Tuesday, March 9
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12:00 – 1:30 p.m.: Bar Essay Basics – this program will be recorded and posted to the bar support web page. View the information and links to review sessions here. You may contact Professor Kari Johnson with questions.
Wednesday, March 10
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12:00 p.m.: Writing an Effective All-Purpose Cover Letter: A How-To Workshop; sign up here.
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4:30 p.m.: J.D. Certificate Programs Fair – Did you know that Chicago-Kent offers 12 different certificates? Are you curious about how a certificate could help you achieve your career goals? Join certificate program directors at a virtual fair on Wednesday, March 10, at 4:30 p.m. to learn more about these optional programs. Following a brief presentation from the directors, you will have an opportunity for Q&A in separate breakout rooms.
Please register in advance, indicating the breakout room you’d like to start in first (you can move between breakout rooms once the Q&A starts). We hope to see you there! Register here.
Friday, March 12
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3:00 – 5:00 p.m.: Case Western Reserve Law School presents via Zoom “New Models of Mental Health for the Legal Profession” featuring John Thor Cornelius, MD and Candela Bonaccorso, PsyD, with Makela Hayford, 2L at Case Western Reserve Law School. REGISTER TO ATTEND
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Do you have questions about how to stay sane in the face of the triple threat of challenges posed by COVID, social upheaval and work stress? Bring them, and your fellow law students and lawyers, to this two-hour panel discussion led by seasoned clinicians. Open to all, including legal professionals. CLEs for mental health/substance abuse will be offered.
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This is the first in a series of co-sponsored CLE webinars dedicated to addressing the questions legal professionals often have around mental health, but can be afraid to ask, including:
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How do I identify quality treatment, for myself and my clients? And how do I find it?
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Can I really afford the time to invest in my mental health? Can I really afford not to?
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Why do people “self-medicate?” How can they stop?
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How can therapies of depth, insight and relationship go beyond band-aid interventions and lead to better outcomes for my clients and myself?
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What makes for optimal collaboration between legal and mental health professionals?
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Tuesday, April 6
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12:00 – 1:30 p.m.: Bar Performance Test Basics – this program will be recorded and posted to the bar support web page. View the information and links to review sessions here. You may contact Professor Kari Johnson with questions.
Future Deadlines
Monday, March 15
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Judicial Externship – Fall Application Process: Applications for Fall 2021 Judicial Externships are now available online. They will also be available in the Symplicity Document Library which can be accessed by clicking on “Resources” on the left side of the student Symplicity homepage. Completed Fall applications should be submitted to Suzanne Blaz by Monday, March 15, 2021, no later than 12 p.m.
Resources
From ASP: How to improve second semester grades: Leveraging your first semester to fuel success.
From the Library: Improving your Internet Connection at Home.
American Bar Association: Did you know that you get a free ABA membership as a law school student? Sign up using this link for all the perks of membership, including networking opportunities and awesome discounts to study resources! If you have any questions, email your ABA Rep Daniel Kfoury.
Birthdays & Special Days – March:
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03/02 – Callie Folke, 1L |
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03/04 – Ashley Morris, 1L |
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03/06 – Patrick Boviei, 2L |
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03/07 -Brett Simon, 3L |
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03/17 – Annora Alfonso, 1L |
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03/21 – Spencer Davidson, 2L; Aylissa Ritterhoff, 1L |
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03/30 – Angelica Jalasco, 1L; Saynyenoh Warner, 1L |
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03/31 – Aaron Weiss, 2L |
*if you wish to share your special date with the student body, click here