DePaul Law News

Volunteers coach Legal Prep students to victory at mock trial competition

Center for Public Interest Law — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:32:00 -0500

DePaul College of Law Dean Mark serves as Legal Prep Charter School mock trial judge.

This past year, a team of DePaul College of Law volunteers worked with Legal Prep Charter Academy ninth graders to prepare them for their end of the year mock trial competition, which took place on Tuesday, May 13, 2013 at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse Building.

DePaul worked with two groups of Legal Prep students and both groups won their competitions. The case was a civil matter involving an allegation that a police officer used excessive force when arresting a teenage boy, who was the plaintiff. The DePaul teams represented the defense.

Several DePaul volunteers also served as judges for other teams, including College of Law Dean Greg Mark, alumna Linda Bryceland (JD '86), and Pro Bono Director Cheryl Price. Professor Mark Moller, alumna Jessica Schneider (JD '10), College of Law staff member Elizabeth Boe, and law student Beckee Birger coached the DePaul teams during the competition. Dean Mark was the only law school dean who volunteered to assist at the competition.

For many of the students, the mock trial program was their first in-depth study of our legal system and the components of a trial. The Legal Prep students prepared and delivered both opening and closing statements and called witnesses for direct and cross examination. DePaul volunteers, who have been working with Legal Prep students since September 2012, first taught lessons on these topics and then helped students prepare their parts for the mock trial.

DePaul alumna Jessica Schneider watches student perform after coaching her on trial techniques.

DePaul’s volunteer team was comprised of law students, faculty, staff, and alumni. They included Dean Gregory Mark, Professor Mark Moller, Elizabeth Boe, Associate Director of Recruiting, Law Career Services, Cheryl Price, Director of the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative, Alumni Linda Bryceland, Jessica Schneider, Andrea McKenna, and Michelle Miller, and law students Rebecca Birger, Sarah Gorham, Taylor Goulborn, Will Guardia, and Jacquita Richardson.

The volunteers really enjoyed working with and getting to know the students. According to alumna Jessica Schneider "Working with the students was really rewarding, especially as you saw them grasp new concepts and get excited about being part of a trial. It was hard for me to get away from work, but every time I began a teaching session with the students I was always happy to be there and it would truly brighten my day. We taught challenging concepts, but usually found a way to help the students relate to them in a way they would understand.

Despite the challenges it was great to see it all come together in the mock trial at the end of the school year. I was very proud of them!" DePaul’s Pro Bono Director, Cheryl Price, agrees, “The Legal Prep students were really fun to work with. They were excited and interested about the legal process and worked hard to prepare for the mock trial. We look forward to working with them next year.”

CPIL's Adrienne Packard contributes to ABA Equal Justice Conference

Center for Public Interest Law — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:47:41 -0500

Earlier this month, the Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL) and Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) staff participated in the Equal Justice Conference in St. Louis.

Adrienne Packard, assistant director of CPIL, was on the planning committee for the national gathering of law school pro bono and public service program directors.

Packard also moderated a panel discussion of New York's mandatory pro bono admission requirement and the national implications of the rule. She was joined by David Udell from the National Center for Access to Justice and Cordozo Law School, Thomas Maligno from Touro Law School, David Johnson from George Washington University Law School and Holly Eaton, formerly of Georgetown Law School.

Panelists discussed the implication of this rule for the law school community and the potential effects on law school curriculum and pro bono programs. The panel agreed that there are still many details of the rule that are unclear and much anticipation about evidence of a measurable impact from the rule. Several states, including New Jersey and California, are currently in the process of creating their own pro bono requirements for admission to the bar.

CPIL and PBCSI staff also participated in sessions concerning law student pro bono ethics, effective lawyering for law students, creating and improving law school pro bono programs, pro bono tracking and outcome measures, law school access to justice commission partnerships and fostering relationships with legal aid providers to create meaningful partnerships. CPIL and PBCSI staff met and networked with law school professionals in their field from across the country, sharing ideas and gaining support for future endeavors.

Professor Sarnoff weighs in on Supreme Court's DNA patent ruling

DePaul University College of Law — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:27:00 -0500

Professor Joshua Sarnoff, director of DePaul's Center for Intellectual Property Law, called yesterday's Supreme Court ruling against isolated DNA patenting "momentous."

"The decision will free researchers, clinicians, and the public to perform research and diagnosis without restriction to use of patent holders' laboratories," explained Sarnoff.

The case concerned patents held by Utah-based Myriad Genetics company, which identify genes that correlate with an increased risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The patent claimed to own isolated DNA molecules that have not been modified from natural genetic sequences by removing the non-coding DNA regions.

Sarnoff says the decision is also significant as the court categorically reaffirmed that products of nature “are not the kind of thing that Congress intended to be subject to private ownership through patent rights, and that mere isolation from nature is not sufficient to change the nature of those products into human 'inventions.'

"The ruling will also allow competition in diagnosis and promote additional research thorough the creation of a public database of information on mutations, which currently Myriad possesses as a trade-secret, access-restricted database that it was able to create from its ability to direct all genetic testing to its own laboratories."

After the ruling, three companies and two university labs said that they would begin offering genetic testing in the field of breast cancer, the New York Times reported.

Sarnoff takes issue with the court's additional ruling to authorize patenting of synthetically-created DNA, known as cDNA. He also expressed concern that the court may not have provided a sufficiently clear line to distinguish natural products from human inventions.

“However,” he states, “[the court] clearly rejected the asserted ‘reliance’ interests of the plaintiffs and others in investments made to seek these patents, given that the Patent Office has issued patents on isolated DNA sequences for many years. As the court stated, those concerns are for Congress, where we can now expect biotechnology and pharmaceutical and chemical patent owners to turn next.”

Professor Sarnoff joined with other intellectual property law and constitutional law professors to file an amicus brief in the case. He is currently the featured expert on DePaul's Newsroom.

Alumni selected for inaugural class of the Chicago Bar Foundation Justice Entrepreneurs Project

Center for Public Interest Law — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:46:19 -0500

DePaul law alumni Eleanor Endzel ('12), Neil Kelley ('11) and Trevor Clarke ('11) were accepted to the Chicago Bar Foundation's recently launched Justice Entrepreneurs Project.

The Justice Entrepreneurs Project (JEP) supports recent law graduates who are building their law practices with the goal of serving clients of modest means. The project also addresses two trends in the legal community: a surplus of law graduates and an increase in need for legal aid. This model is designed to serve the legal needs of populations who may not meet the criteria for traditional legal aid organizations, but also may not be able to afford private legal services.

The JEP will not only teach participants new skills to run a successful law practice, but also will provide a physical workspace, opportunities for peer collaboration, mentoring and business coaching. By participating in the JEP, DePaul alumni will continue to be at the forefront of effectuating change for underserved communities.

Professor Sarnoff takes helm of Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology

DePaul University College of Law — Thu, 30 May 2013 14:00:00 -0500

Appointed in February by Dean Mark, Professor Joshua Sarnoff is the new faculty director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology (CIPLIT).

Professor Sarnoff is a patent attorney, as well as an accomplished academic who has made great contributions to the intellectual property program since joining DePaul three years ago. Professor Sarnoff takes over CIPLIT for Professor Barbara Bressler, who, after directing CIPLIT for six and a half years, decided to step down in January. As director emeritus, she will continue to be heavily involved with CIPLIT students and programs alike.