Master feed: Clinic Blog

The Advocate: Abrams Environmental Law Clinic—Significant Accomplishments

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:16:03 +0000

September 29, 2015

In November 2014, the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic—led by students Andrew M. Adair, Joseph Harper, and Sara Hershman—filed an amicus brief in support of Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. With the Next Generation Energy Act, Minnesota restricted local utilities’ reliance on coal-fired electric power—a restriction that was challenged on constitutional grounds by the State of North Dakota and a coalition of coal interests. In its brief, which was filed on behalf of two attorneys long affiliated with state public-utility commissions, the Abrams clinic demonstrated that Minnesota’s law is a constitutional exercise of traditional state authority.

In February 2015, Abrams Environmental Law Clinic student Mark Rohan argued before the Appellate Court of Illinois in an important case challenging the state’s authorization of a sand mine next to Starved Rock State Park. Mr. Rohan was supported by the efforts of clinic students Andrew M. Adair, Joshua Kornfield, and Becca Smith.

In April 2015, the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic—led by students Andrew M. Adair, Caitlin Foley, Sara Hershman, and April Medley—asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the adequacy of Royal Dutch Shell’s financial disclosures regarding the company’s troubled exploration program in the Arctic Ocean. Since 2005, Shell has invested billions of dollars into a risky and fruitless effort to find oil reserves in the U.S. Arctic. Working with the international conservation organization Oceana, the Abrams clinic prepared a 56-page petition requesting that the SEC assess whether Shell has adequately disclosed the risks of its Arctic investments to investors.

The Advocate: Futterman on Chicago City Council's Police Accountability Measure

Wed, 19 Aug 2015 15:38:59 +0000

August 18, 2015

In the Chicago Sun-Times, Clinical Professor of Law and director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project Craig Futterman reacted to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s City Council measure to give subpoena power to Chicago police brass conducting internal-affairs investigations.

But while aldermen have been away from City Hall, opposition to the ordinance has grown even among many longtime activists for stronger measures against crooked cops, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and University of Chicago Law Professor Craig Futterman.

As founder and supervisor of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, Futterman has focused his career on police brutality and racial-discrimination cases and also won a landmark ruling last year forcing Chicago police to make misconduct files public.
He concedes police-accountability advocates typically bemoan the lack of greater subpoena power for agencies that investigate officer misconduct.

Still, Futterman said Tuesday, Emanuel’s proposal “raises a lot of red flags” with him now that he’s read the ordinance.

The measure would allow the police superintendent to issue subpoenas in investigations by the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs. For those who don’t want to comply, their recourse is to appeal to the very superintendent who issued the subpoena.

“That violates any fundamental notion of due process, of fairness,” Futterman said.

The Advocate: Futterman on Newly Uncovered Records about Homan Square

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 16:42:56 +0000

August 6, 2015

Clinical Professor of Law and director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project Craig Futterman reacted to new information from a FOIA request on Chicago's Homan Square interrogation facility.

Lawyers and former police officers say that lack of access to a lawyer after the arrest and before booking – particularly during any interrogation, and particularly people from poor minority communities – puts a suspect’s rights in jeopardy.

“In Chicago, the police do not provide people with attorneys at the police station at the times they most need them: when they’re subject to interrogation,” said Craig Futterman of the University of Chicago Law School. “That’s what the Miranda warning is all about: the right to counsel while interrogated by police.”

The Advocate: Futterman on ABA "Perspectives of Race, Communities and Policing" Panel

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 20:06:18 +0000

August 3, 2015

Clinical Professor of Law and director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project Craig Futterman participated in a panel discussion, “Perspectives of Race, Communities and Policing in Twenty-First Century America” on July 31 at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Law professor Futterman showed a powerful video of black boys and girls he interviewed at Chicago’s Hyde Park Academy, in which student and after student told of how they are stopped, questioned and frisked almost on a daily basis in their neighborhoods “just because they are the police,” said one male student.

“High school kids have taught us that accountability is a necessary component of righteous policing,” Futterman said. “Accountability is a necessary component for kids to see police as legitimate. Earning trust starts with honesty. When kids and their families start seeing police departments and the machinery of accountability working the way it is supposed to work, the confidence and trust grows. With that trust, comes cooperation and assistance. With that trust, comes a far more effective police department. That is what accountability looks like. And that is righteous policing. That is real fairness. That is legitimacy.”

The Advocate: Futterman: When There's No Faith in Police Discipline, Complaints Don't Get Filed

Tue, 16 Jun 2015 15:34:32 +0000

June 13, 2015

Clinical Professor of Law and director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project Craig Futterman was quoted in a Chicago Tribune piece about police officers accused of misconduct who escape punishment:

Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who has talked to hundreds of residents in neighborhoods with a deeply rooted distrust of police while studying misconduct by officers for years, said he believes even greater numbers of people don't bother with the initial step of filing a complaint because they have little faith that meaningful discipline will be imposed.

"I don't know what the complainant gets out of it at the end of the day," Futterman said. "... The complainant isn't going to get, 'Here's a medal for what you did for exposing this corruption' or anything like that. It's a hassle. ... It's a kind of second thought, like, 'Whoa, do I really want to sign an affidavit? Do I really want to go and follow up after this when there's little chance that anything's ever going to come of this?'"

The Advocate: Corporate Lab 2014-15 Academic Year-End Update

Fri, 29 May 2015 15:15:22 +0000

May 29, 2015

Naming Announcement

The Kirkland & Ellis Foundation, its partners, and Law School alumni have made a gift nearing $5.5 million to endow a fund to support the Law School’s Corporate Lab,* strengthening the Firm’s enduring ties with the Law School and underscoring a shared commitment to helping students build practical skills in transactional law. The Corporate Lab program has been renamed the Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab.

Thank You

The Corporate Lab thanks its clients and friends for their continued support and contribution of time toward the Lab. We especially appreciate Kirkland & Ellis and Microsoft's continued generosity since the Lab's inception.

Recent Notable Projects

The Lab completed in excess of 120 projects during the 2014-2015 academic year. As a sample, student teams notably:

Drafted memorandum on website accessibility for global technology company (which gave the Lab permission to provide a redacted version as a sample project);
Prepared form contracts including sales and license agreements for multinational consumer goods corporation;
Developed pre-litigation risk assessment for significant technology company;
Assessed risks within and across various real estate agreements, and proposed ways to mitigate such risks, for a large retail company;
Structured a long-term audit sharing agreement for a multi-billion dollar company as part of its planned spin-off transaction;
Researched and summarized newly enacted laws and principles related to corporate social responsibility for a global tech company;
Drafted a guidebook that explores potential visa options for a large not-for-profit company that is interested in partnering with foreign musicians on a temporary basis;
Advised a leading insurance company regarding the insurance-related provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, and the regulatory agencies which it established;
Reviewed trends and analyzed potential legal risks with respect to omni-channel marketing for a global tech company;
Simplified a standard NDA agreement for a large retail company;
Drafted numerous organizational documents for startup companies competing in the New Venture Challenge at Chicago Booth;
Examined laws limiting state campaign contributions by corporations and their officers when that company bids on government contracts for a global tech company;
Analyzed legal and business issues with respect to ticket resale restrictions for a professional sports team;
Advised global tech company on the enforceability of limitation on liability provisions in key commercial jurisdictions;
Drafted a master services agreement for a newly acquired business of a global waste management company;
Assisted a rapidly growing startup company in developing its FCPA compliance program;
Created a comprehensive data breach limitation of liability guide for a leading technology firm; and
Created a drafting manual for international trade association, providing a legal roadmap for international firms seeking to enter the U.S. market.

The Corporate Lab will begin taking full-time assignments again in the fall, and we are available with a small group of talented students over the summer for any pressing matters. For assistance, please contact Professor Zarfes, Professor Kramer, or Professor Finkelstein.

Speaker Series

The Lab has been fortunate to host prominent speakers throughout the past year who addressed substantive legal topics, including:

Kamran Bajwa (Partner at Kirkland & Ellis) on cross-border transactions with the Middle East markets;
Chris Ekren (Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Sony) on technology law trends and the evolving regulatory environment;
Scott Falk (Partner at Kirkland & Ellis) on public company mergers & acquisitions;
Marc Kieselstein and Ryan Dahl (Partners at Kirkland & Ellis) on bankruptcy and restructuring;
Brian C. Van Klompenberg (Partner at Kirkland & Ellis) on venture capital and startups;
Michael Mullican (Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Meijer) on in-house legal challenges and opportunities;
Linda and Dennis Myers (Partners at Kirkland & Ellis) on debt finance and capital markets;
Joel Neuman (VP and Senior Managing Counsel, Coca Cola Foodservice and On-Premise) on branding and protecting intellectual property rights;
William Ridgway (Assistant U.S. Attorney, speaking in his personal capacity) on corporate cybercrime: threats and countermeasures;
Stephen Ritchie and Jon Ballis (Partners at Kirkland & Ellis) on important trends in private equity law;
Neal Stern (VP and Assistant General Counsel at NBA) and Seth McNary (CEO at Verbatim) on labor law and global compliance; and
Liisa Thomas (Partner at Winston & Strawn) on corporate crisis management following data breach/cyber crime.

Corporate Social Responsibility Conference

In September 2014, the Corporate Lab convened leading experts in the field to discuss the economic, legal, and practical impact of corporate social responsibility.

External Perspectives

We highly value the development of practical skills and wanted to support that aspect of the University of Chicago Law School curriculum.

- Stephen Ritchie; Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

One of the most refreshing aspects of the Lab is the continuity of the students, many of whom remain for a full year or longer. It has been remarkable to watch the students’ contract drafting and interpretation skills progress, and I am confident that these students will outperform their peers upon entering firms after graduation. I truly wish that there had been a program such as the Lab while I was in law school, but I am happy to function on this end of the spectrum, being the recipient of such great students and legal work.

- Michel Gahard; General Manager, Microsoft Corporation

Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab Awards of Excellence

The Lab recently awarded its first Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab Awards of Excellence to four talented Class of 2015 graduating students: Blair Bradford, Caroline Henry, L.T. Edwards, and Alex Rosenfield. We have included below biographies of these students. We greatly appreciate their important contributions to the Lab.

Blair Bradford is a class of 2015 graduating student at the Law School. After law school, Blair will be joining Sidley Austin LLP. Blair graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and holds a B.B.A. with high honors in International Business and a B.A. with highest honors in Hispanic Studies with a minor in Finance and a certificate in European Studies.

L.T. Edwards is a class of 2015 graduating student at the Law School. After law school, L.T. will be clerking for a federal district court judge and then a federal court of appeals judge in hopes of preparing an application to a U.S. Attorney's office to become a federal prosecutor. L.T. graduated from Haverford College and holds a B.S. in Psychology with a concentration in Neural and Behavioral Sciences.

Caroline Henry is a class of 2015 graduating student at the Law School. After law school, Caroline will be joining Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Prior to law school, Caroline worked for Financial Times Live, the global conferences and events arm of the Financial Times newspaper. Caroline graduated from Williams College and holds a B.A. in English Literature and Asian Studies.

Alex Rosenfield is a class of 2015 graduating student at the Law School. After law school, Alex will be joining Davis Polk & Wardwell. Prior to law school, Alex worked as the Special Projects Manager to the CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, home of EBONY and JET magazines and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. Alex graduated with honors from The NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Student Testimonials

The Corporate Lab provides an unmatched opportunity to engage with leading practitioners at Fortune 100 corporations. As a result, I have been fortunate to critically expand both my legal and business skills through participation in the Corporate Lab.

- Brice Lipman; University of Chicago, JD/MBA Class of 2016 (summering at Millstein & Co. during Summer 2015).

The Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab is one of the best courses I have taken at the Law School and has been one of the highlights of my law school career. It provided me the opportunity to develop practical transactional skills, which I otherwise would not have developed in law school. The faculty members foster interpersonal skills by arranging one-on-one meetings and conference calls with executives at Fortune 100 companies. Corporate clients also benefit from students' valuable work product. For example, my team's memoranda have been circulated to client offices in France, Germany, and Italy.

- Shahrzad Daneshvar; University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2016 (Managing Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review and summering at Sullivan & Cromwell during Summer 2015).

Client Alerts

The Lab has a practice of producing client alerts on topical commercial legal issues. Class of 2015 students Alex Rosenfield, LT Edwards, and Class of 2016 students Hayden Miller and Jordan Hughes, recently detailed shifting FCPA legal standards in a new client alert.

The Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab thanks you for your continued support. We look forward to working with you this summer and next academic year.

* The Lab was established in 2009 by Professor Zarfes and Lecturer Sean Z. Kramer. Each year, 70-80 students assist Fortune 500 corporations, including Allstate, Amazon, Baxter, Honeywell, IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, Nike, Northern Trust, and Sony. In addition, the Lab participates in the University of Chicago Booth School of Business’ New Venture Challenge, serving the legal needs of leading start-up companies.

The Advocate: Civil Rights & Police Accountability Project Goes to Trial

Tue, 12 May 2015 21:19:05 +0000

May 12, 2015

Students and faculty in the Civil Rights & Police Accountability Project are taking a case to trial this week. The federal civil rights trial opens with jury selection on Wednesday, May 12th, with opening statements scheduled for May 13th. All proceedings will be held in Judge Thomas Durkin’s courtroom (Room 1441) in the Dirksen Federal building, 210 S. Dearborn.

The Clinic represents Travles Lane, a single dad and journalist in his mid ‘50s who worked for a small community paper on the West side of Chicago. As he and his 12-year-old son were walking home from the library, he saw a police officer forcefully take a woman face down to the street. After Mr. Lane began to take photographs of the incident, the officer who tackled the woman rushed him, snatched his camera, and handcuffed him in front of his son. The officer then falsely charged him with a crime and stole his memory card with his photos to prevent Mr. Lane from publishing them. Mr. Lane was thrown in jail, not knowing what would become of his son.

The trial will focus on the charged violation of Mr. Lane’s First and Fourth Amendment rights.

Students are welcome to attend the opening statements and subsequent proceedings to see their colleagues in action!

The Advocate: Futterman: "Hiding a Potential Execution is the Kind of Thing that Destroys Trust"

Thu, 23 Apr 2015 19:18:08 +0000

April 23, 2015

Clinical Professor of Law and director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project Craig Futterman was quoted in a recent Huffington Post article about the unreleased video of the shooting of Laquan McDonald:

Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who has studied the city's police department, said videos like the one showing McDonald's death must be released if the department ever hopes to shed its reputation for excessive force, particularly in black neighborhoods.

"Regaining the trust of the community, particularly the black community, starts with honesty and hiding a potential execution is the kind of thing that destroys trust," Futterman said.

Futterman is the faculty organizer of the Youth/Police Conference, which starts Friday, April 24.

The Advocate: WTTW Profiles Youth/Police Project, Upcoming Conference

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 15:07:42 +0000

April 22, 2015

WTTW's program Chicago Tonight delved into the details of The Invisible Institute's Youth/Police Project and this weekend's Youth/Police Conference:

In Chicago, The Invisible Institute launched the Youth/Police Project to help generate conversations about how the countless interactions between teenagers and police in urban America shape kids. Now the police along with the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic of The University of Chicago Law School and youths from the Invisible Institute are expanding that conversation with a Youth/Police Conference. We hear more about how students are challenging the thinking of accepted police practices.

Watch the video.

The Advocate: Futterman: Chicago Police Must Release McDonald Video, Rebuild Trust

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 18:08:38 +0000

March 13, 2015

Clinical Professor of Law and director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project Craig Futterman was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times about the unreleased video of the shooting of Laquan McDonald:

Groups advocating for police accountability continue to be denied access to a videotape that may show McDonald’s death was the result of an unjustified police shooting.

[...]

“[There’s been] no progress whatsoever,” Futterman said when I asked if the city had relented in light of the recent events in North Charleston, S.C.

Last week, Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer, was charged with murder after a video surfaced showing him firing multiple rounds at an unarmed black man who was trying to flee.

Walter Scott, 50, was fatally shot in the back. The police officer was charged with murder and is behind bars.

Futterman noted that without the video, Slager might still be on the street.

“[But] the city [of Chicago] won’t release the video because it’s afraid of exposing the truth. It’s too ugly. The video may reveal a police officer unloading his clip into a boy laying on the ground, writhing in pain,” Futterman said.

“The city would prefer to keep it under wraps. However, the only way to rebuild trust is to stop denying the reality of the experiences of so many black folks in this city. Even if the reality is ugly, we can’t build trust without first being honest with one another.”