By Hojn Yabrad

Valparaiso University received horrible news last week when it was discovered that one of their own Forum writers was placed into a mental institute after he finished writing his 100th article for this month’s edition. Several members of the paper were questioned on why this promising and incredibly attractive individual would snap like that.
“I just didn’t see this coming” said Jenelo Caniewkis. “I thought he liked writing an endless amount of articles about seemingly random topics with short deadlines and limited contact information.
Nda Habrlleg was more skeptical. “Frankly, I saw this coming a mile away” he said. “I would watch him at his computer each day. He was like a machine, a machine typing at another machine to be precise. I once asked him where the stapler was. Instead of telling me where it was he simply wrote down the directions. Now that’s some skill.”
Sadly, the poor writer couldn’t take the pressure anymore. Authorities found the young man at his desk one morning after having written down the lines from every 80’s sitcom for the upcoming edition of the Forum Flashback. The police report noted that when they found him he was singing “Believe it or Not” from “The Greatest American Hero”.
When the news reached the Director of Students Relations, he simply opened up his notebook and made another slash. “This makes eight so far this year that have lost their minds. One more and the law school get a free foot long sub.”
For the man’s well-being he was placed in the writer’s wing of the local mental institute and forced to spend his time with frustrated novelists, song writers, and about a dozen students working on their law review notes.
“It’s not all bad” the interned student noted. On the plus side I get to write the food review for the institute’s cafeteria.” The interned student had to be subdued after he found out that they put pineapples in their potato salad. “Who’s the crazy one now” he said.
When asked about his future plans, the student stated that once he got out he would start his own radio program so he would never have to write another news article again.

By “The Tax Man Cometh”

Finding a way to make tax funny seems like it would be an arduous task since most people do not find anything funny about the Internal Revenue Code or the Internal Revenue Service.  However, there is an entire online gag industry developed around the idea of making tax related pranks.  Websites offering these services are too numerous to mention individually, and this article merely tries summarize the most commonly used types tax related pranks.  Please do not try any of these tax pranks. The law punishes tax crimes with great severity, and attempting any pranks listed in this article may lead to serious consequences.

The first and most common type of tax prank is called the phony or fake letter tax.  How these sites work is for a small fee ranging from $4.00 to $25.00 users may enter the name and address of whoever is to be pranked, and then the site administrators send that person a demand letter and statement of overdue taxes on what appears to be on official IRS letterhead and envelope.  For an additional fee, one site gives users the option to include a fake audit statement containing a supposed accounting record of that person’s finances.  Another site offers to send a fake looking federal refund check for a few cents.  The majority of these sites claim they will later send another letter explaining the joke or state in small print somewhere on the documents that they are a joke.  Two of the most common sites offering this service are: familyfun.go.com/crafts/april-fools-prank-phony-tax-letter-for-parents-667611 and www.funnypracticaljokes.com/fake-tax-letter-prank.

The next category involves erroneous taxes.  These websites generate fake documents purporting to tax people for items or services that are currently untaxed.  For example, residents of Illinois, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania can visit several sites purporting to generate fake department of revenue letters for unpaid pet taxes.  See www.seyoh.com/april-fools-2010-google-topeka-and-illinois-pet-tax-prank/4064 or www.april-fools.us/pet-tax-philadelphia.htm.  Other websites offer to send out fake documents purporting to tax one for swearing, buying prostitutes, having a penis, being a vegetarian, being too fat, having breasts, and for having too much sexual intercourse.

The final and most advanced form of tax pranking is the fake tax call.  These sites usually allow users to call someone from an unidentified number and leave a standard message claiming they are subject to a large IRS debt.  Some of these sites list a number which callers dial to respond to the allegations and dial it back to find out about the prank.  Another service offers a callback feature in the form of a downloadable ringtone which claims to leave the same types of past due tax messages for unsuspecting callers.  Some sites offer a variation to this theme by leaving messages involving erroneous taxes,  the following site purports that it allows users to call others to inform them they are currently past due on their “street tax” http://www.mytinyphone.com/ringtone/721860.

Given the widespread use, it is safe to say that tax pranking is at least popular if not legal.  In fact, tax pranking made its way to Hollywood at least once when the series Punk’d got Justin Timberlake to shed tears as actors posing as IRS agents seized his dogs.  Perhaps it was this form of tax pranking that inspired Mr. Timberlake to write the hit song Cry Me a River.  Regardless, time will tell whether tax pranking websites will actually last.  Some of these sites advertise that their services are simply a form of family fun.  For their sake, I hope the government shares this view, because if not the administrators of these sites may end up laughing themselves into a federal penitentiary.

SBA Receives Disciplinary Sanctions
John Bayard
Executive Editor

In the aftermath of the Student Bar Association’s (SBA) disciplinary sanctions, I sat down with both current SBA President Carter Alleman and Director of Student Relations Dr. Joseph Baruffi.
I first talked to SBA President Carter Alleman. So explain how the matter began.
Alleman: The week after Barrister’s Ball, we received an email from Joseph Baruffi about a violation of the alcohol policy. The problems that had been reported from Barrister’s include the Bar being left open beyond the hours designated, people were entering and leaving the area, alcohol was brought into the event, and several people were let into the event who did not have wristbands. The SBA agreed to write its own sanctions.
Why didn’t anybody in the SBA notice such actions or try to prevent them from happening?
Alleman: The details about the bar and bracelets had been approved by the administration. Matthew Sutter had the final say for the event and as President my role was to make sure everything was going accordingly. What we noted in our own sanction included the lack of adequate number of sober monitors. Because of the fact that buses had arrived late, Sutter had decided to re-open the bar. The SBA decided to take responsibility for the event as a whole and not individually.
How will the sanctions change next semester’s events?
Alleman: While the SBA wanted just eight weeks for the sanction period, the whole semester was eventually decided. The change in the policy is more reflective to what is already happening on the undergraduate side of the campus and I feel we are heading in that direction. The main impact will be felt on the Halloween party next semester as compared to the other SBA events. The idea is now to make Barrister’s Ball a real “formal”. I don’t see mass effect in terms of how events are planned since events run by organizations don’t have alcohol at them to begin with.
I then talked to the Director of Student Relations Dr. Joseph Baruffi. How did the administration first hear about the matter?
Baruffi: Let me first say that the general response from students was that Barrister’s Ball went very well. That being said, various students came to the administration and noted the lack of sober mentors and how the bar was left open. There was also the concern that the policy only allows funds to be spent on beer and wine, not hard liquor. When SBA gave us their plan for the event, it was similar to last year’s Black and White Ball. At the time we had decided to take the plan as a gentleman’s agreement.
What was your view of the SBA’s decision to writing their sanctions?
Baruffi: I thought it was very professional that they agreed to take it as a team and did not let the ball drop on any one individual. SBA knew the policy had been violated and fully admitted they dropped the ball.
Are there any changes you would like to see in place?
Baruffi: One way to prevent this sort of problem in the future is too cap events at a certain number. The ballroom was planning on 280 people and instead there were 330. I have been very proud of how over the past couple of years, the SBA has gone from simply being an event planning committee, to dealing more with student concerns. The fact that we now have Valparaiso students who are Circuit Governors and National ABA Committee members shows this fact.
With the new sanctions, there has been talk about students going to Duffy’s or Past Times after next year’s Halloween party. What is your view on the matter?
Baruffi: Going to Duffy’s after a school event is fine. It’s the students own time once the event has ended.

John Bayard is a 3L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu

Congratulations to the 2011 AAJ Trial Advocacy Team who competed in civil trial competitions in Atlanta and Indianapolis over spring break.  The Indianapolis team consisting of: George Bruggenthies, Daniel Ford, Steve McClure, Kim Schultz, and Michelle Teems tied for 4th place out of 18 other teams/schools throughout the region, which was also the highest placement out of all law schools in Indiana.  The success of the Trial Advocacy team marks the school’s highest finish since 2007.  Congrats to all Trial Advocacy Team members who were actively involved in this competition and all other spring competitions, and to all members who continue to foster the success of the team.

Look at How Big my GDP is!

There is a man who goes to a gym.  He works out, every day, four to five hours a day.  He takes supplements.  He grunts, and heaves, sweats and spittles through set after set, rep after rep.  Truth be told, he is not a pretty sight to behold.  Mindful that he may be an amazing soul, intelligent, compassionate—I can’t help but qualify him as grotesque.  His physical attributes appear disproportionate.  He is lopsided.

I cannot help but think of this man when I hear thinkers, leaders and pundits talk about the United States and the economy, especially as measured by the stock exchanges.

Is strength an end in itself, or is it one component of health?  Is health itself even an end, or is it best understood as a means to other goods?  It certainly feels good to be healthy.  It is nice to wake up without a sniffle-nose, free from aches, clear headed and vibrant.   The benefits of health are many; with health, we can more easily enjoy our friends, play sports, think clearly, take walks, and play Monopoly.  Without health, our focus and positive disposition are harder to maintain.

But strength is not the only measure or component of healthy functioning.  Agility, speed, flexibility, and a t-cell count are all other important factors with which to measure health.  Increasingly, mental and emotional stress is being found to have a huge impact on health.  We know that people with friends, pets and even plants live longer than those are more isolated and lonely.  We are social creatures.

So why is it that we consider ourselves the best country in the world based upon our GDP?  Why is it that we look to the stock exchanges as if it’s all a big Texas Hold’em game and we’re all in?  If you don’t think this is a true assessment, ask yourself if we are intimidated by China because of its freedom (or even its military).  Of course, one could make the same argument about our military—it, like our emphasis on the GDP, is grotesquely out of proportion to what is really healthy.

Maybe the same could be said about our entitlement programs, but it would not be an accurate comparison.  The grotesqueness of the muscle man is the disproportionateness.  While unfunded liabilities are a huge problem moving into the future, no one can in good faith argue that the nation’s poor have a disproportionate amount of the nation’s wealth.  The real issue with entitlements seems to be about how they are funded and how they are managed.  Technology and innovation can cut down drastically on transaction costs (like monitoring costs, billing, waste, etc.).

If the economy is the prime indicator of a nation’s health, then maybe we should let portfolio managers on Wall Street manipulate huge amounts of money.  It doesn’t matter that this money isn’t really wealth, that it is a store of wealth and medium of exchange; it doesn’t matter that exotic instruments don’t really produce something tangible, something of value.  It doesn’t matter that wealth manipulation led to the great recession.  It doesn’t matter that our kids are not being educated.  It doesn’t matter that we have the highest incarceration rate in the world and nearly a quarter of all the world’s prisoners.  Forget that when measured by life expectancy, infant mortality and homicide rates, we don’t even make the top thirty.  What matters is that the United States has the world’s largest economy (not the world’s large GDP per capita), the most Fortune 500 companies, two of the three richest people in the world, the biggest muscles, can lift the most, and has the biggest bulging veins.

Consider that we are one of the most medicated nations, we seem to always be at war, and our children are drugged at an alarming rate because of their “disabilities” and then consider that the side effects of steroids include:  depression, aggression and birth defects.

Consider what it is we are doing here.  What is the point of being American?  What is our collective goal?  What is our identity?  Once, we embraced space as a frontier, but now we have all but given up on that.  Some of us are fighting the evil of terrorism, but most of us haven’t been asked to sacrifice in this war against “evil.”  If terrorism is really an evil bent on our destruction, shouldn’t we all be sacrificing?  Shouldn’t we be using less oil?  If terrorism threatens the American way of life, what is the American way of life?  Alexis de Tocqueville showed America to be a nation of commerce and religion in the 1830s.  Today, we are no different.  So, I guess we should just worry about commerce and continuing our really important religious-centered debates about helping people.  We can worry about living longer, staying out of prison, learning, getting off drugs, the disappearing middle class and our children later.

FROM THE LAW LIBRARY

By Sally Holterhoff, Government Information/Reference Librarian

Project Runway Meets Law & Order: Spotlight on Fashion Law

Whether you’re a fashionista or just sick of winter clothes, spring offers the welcome prospect of a new wardrobe season. As you anticipate heading to class in shorts and sandals instead of jeans and boots, be aware that a new area of legal study is emerging from the world of wearing apparel. The fast-growing fashion industry, which generates over a trillion dollars of global economic activity each year, has developed its own spin on a number of legal issues. Recognition of fashion law as a valid legal topic has been assisted by the 2010 launching of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School (supported by a donation of $50,000 from designer Diane Von Furstenberg). The institute is focusing attention on “the legal substance of style, including the issues that may arise throughout the life of a garment, from the designer’s original idea to the consumer’s closet.” Topics involved in the emerging field of fashion law include intellectual property, finance, ethics, and retail law. An intensive summer program is also offered. Fordham law students are also helping provide pro bono legal services for the fashion community, particularly for emerging designers or smaller fashion houses unable to afford their own legal counsel.

Despite Valpo’s distance from New York City and other fashion capitals of the world, you can learn more about this evolving legal area by taking a look at the following sources.

BOOKS IN THE LAW LIBRARY COLLECTION

Guillermo C. Jimenez & Barbara Kolsun, eds., Fashion Law: A Guide for Designers, Fashion Executives, and Attorneys.

KF 3086.F37 2010

Co-edited by a professor who teaches fashion law at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and the general counsel for designer shoe company Stuart Weitzman LLC, this reference text addresses (from a fashion industry perspective) such issues as defining and protecting intellectual property, knockoffs, licensing, counterfeiting, franchising agreements, import and customs issues, and creative copyright infringement. The contributors, who serve as in-house counsel for fashion companies or who practice with firms that represent fashion vendors, offer advice on avoiding legal disputes and protecting the rights of fashion executives, managers, and designers. Case studies highlight issues that arise when law meets design.

Judith A. Roth & David Jacoby, Copyright Protection and Fashion Design, in Advanced Seiminar on Copyright Law 2009.

KF 2995.A3 2009

Written by two attorneys at Schiff Hardin LLP, this Practicing Law Institute seminar presentation addresses the very limited copyright protection presently available for fashion design in the U.S. and the need to broaden such protection to combat the growing problem of copying and counterfeiting. Also discussed are non-copyright protections for fashion designs that are available to creators and different approaches taken by several European countries.

Susan Scafidi, Who Owns Culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law.

KF 2979.S28 2005

To what extent should the law protect cultural customs and cultural products? Focusing on that issue, the author analyzes the ownership and authenticity of various cultural products, including fashion design. She is a Fordham Law School professor who is widely recognized for her expertise in fashion law.

Craig A. Stewart, Anthony J. Franze, & Evelina Norwinski, eds., Brand Integrity: Strategies for Fighting Contraband and Counterfeit Goods.

KF 3197.5 .B73  2011

This book addresses the problem of “contraband” activities—efforts to make profits illegally by selling counterfeit goods, diverting genuine products, or misusing distribution channels. The fashion industry is a principal target of counterfeiters, but consumers often view this crime as a victimless one. Chapters focus on various products that have become a part of the global counterfeiting problem and explore strategies to combat unlawful trafficking in consumer goods. Each contributor is a partner in an office of Arnold & Porter LLP, involved in some way in IP work.

LAW JOURNAL ARTICLES

Fashion law issues are also being addressed by law journal authors. Many articles focus on proposals to give copyright protection to clothing designs under consideration by the U.S. Congress in recent years (although no legislation has been enacted so far). Here is a selected list of articles, all available at the Law School via HeinOnline:

C. Scott E. Hemphill & Jeannie Suk, The Law, Culture, and Economics of Fashion, 61 Stan. L. Rev. 1147 (2009).

Lauren Howard, Note, An Uningenious Paradox: Intellectual Property Protections for Fashion Designs, 32 Columb. J.L. & Arts 333 (2009).

Kal Raustiala & Christopher Sprigman, The Piracy Paradox: Innovation and Intellectual Property in Fashion Design, 92 Va. L. Rev. 1687 (2006).

Susan Scafidi, F.I.T.: Fashion as Information Technology, 59 Syracuse L. Rev. 69 (2008).

Irene Tan, Note, Knock It Off, Forever 21! The Fashion Industry’s Battle Against Design Piracy, 18 J.L. & Policy 893 (2010).

Kevin V. Tu, Counterfeit Fashion: The Interplay Between Copyright and Trademark Law in Original Fashion Designs and Designer Knockoffs, 18 Tex. Intell. Prop. LJ. 419 (2010).

ON THE WEB

Case Clothesed.com http://www.caseclothesed.com/

Created and run by a group of law students at New York Law School, in connection with the school’s Institute for Information Law & Policy, this clever blog that began last year is touted as the only student-run fashion blog with a legal emphasis. Recent entries have covered the Truth in Fur Labeling Act of 2010 (Pub. L. No. 111-313) and the latest copyright infringement disputes regarding tee-shirts sold by various retailers that feature Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama “HOPE” image (based on an uncredited AP photo). And here is something especially cool: a March 23 posting features the “Catwalk for the Cure Charity Fashion Show” that Valparaiso law students are hosting on April 6 as a fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. The post ends with a nice shout-out to Valpo Law: “Great to hear that some fellow law students are using their knowledge about the fashion industry to spread awareness.”

Counterfeit Chic www.counterfeitchic.com

This witty blog, written by Susan Scafidi, faculty member at Fordham Law School, was listed by the ABA Journal as one of its top 100 blawgs (legal blogs) in 2009. Entries range from serious reports on IP disputes in the fashion and advertising worlds to photos of fake designer goods.  Professor Scafidi is acclaimed for her role in developing the fashion law field and is credited for creating the first U.S. law school course in fashion law. She is Director of Fordham’s Fashion Law Institute and has testified in Congress regarding proposals to extend legal protection to fashion designs. In a helpful entry from September 2008 (archived on the blog) she offers advice on getting started in the fashion law field, complete with a link to a YouTube clip from the first Sex and the City movie to illustrate remarks to avoid when interviewing for a job related to the fashion industry.

International Moot Court Members Compete in Oxford, England
John Bayard
Executive Editor

From March 30th to April 2nd, members of the International Moot Court Team will be competing in the International Media Law Moot Court in Oxford, England as part of the Price Moot Court Competition. As part of the competition, members will have the chance to meet leading experts in International Media Law and will have an informal discussion with Jennifer Robison, who is working as part of the defense team for Julian Assange, the founder of wiki leaks. I had a discussion with George Catanzarite, the captain of the team that is heading to Oxford.
How many teams will be competing in this year’s competition and how were the teams selected?
Catanzarite: We don’t know many teams will be there at this year’s competition. We will get our itinerary when the competition begins on March 30th. Last year there were over 25 teams that competed in the written round and only 8 advanced to the oral arguments round in Oxford. These teams were from all over the world and last year only one team came from the United States.
What do you hope to achieve (besides winning) during this competition, whether it be for the team, International Moot Court, or the Law School in general?
Catanzarite: First off, as a team we are hoping to win. Going to an international competition is a great thing for both the International Moot Court and the Law School. We have sent other competitions to Chicago, Miami, and even Niagara, but this is the first competition we have gone to that is overseas so it’s huge to us and everyone else. The competition also has an award for the best oralist, so I think everyone is reaching for that.
How did the team prepare for the competition?
Catanzarite: We have weekly meetings on Tuesday, but also practice between 2-4 times a week. We work on content and style, but also need to think about timing since we give judges the amount of time we will be speaking before each round. The biggest thing we have been doing is research on our topic, which is Media Law. Our case is about a government dealing with a crisis within its own borders and attempts by the government to impose a licensing law to all broadcasters. All the broadcasters had to move their hosting sites. Our cases are important because the issues relate to what is happening right now with the protests in the Middle East as well as the crisis in Japan. It is applicable to both sides of the argument. In our research we have been looking at a variety of international sources including the BBC and Al Jazeera.
How will you use your experience in International Moot Court in your future career?
Catanzarite: It is an overall good experience both for International Law matters and the law in general. A lot of the panelists at our competition are leaders in their fields and wrote decisions on the cases we are arguing about. We are arguing for 25 minutes in front of very knowledgeable judges. If you are planning on doing work internationally, there are a lot of facets for you to meet practitioners in different areas of International Law.

by Jon Kohlscheen

In February, Borders filed for bankruptcy and announced that it plans to close about 200 of its 642 stores nationwide. Are Americans reading less during the Great Recession? It’s not likely. Publishers report overall book sales declining only slightly in the past year. Then why the collapse of a bookselling giant like Borders? The answer is that Borders, like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, could not see the writing on the wall. Similar to how Netflix and Redbox have made the movie rental store near obsolete, the trend towards e-books is clear and unambiguous. Last month, for the first time ever, e-book sales are higher than sales in hardback books. In the past year alone, e-book sales have risen 115.8%. The transition to an e-book world is no longer a question of if, but when. Such a transition should be welcomed, not resisted.

First and foremost, the size is reason enough to hasten the shift to the e-book era. For example, the Kindle can hold about 1500 non-illustrated books right now and with continued advances in computer memory that number will only keep rising. The ability to keep an entire library on a device that weighs less than a pound? Amazing. Think of what an e-book era could mean for law students. No more hauling around all 1,825 pages of Chemerinsky’s Constitutional Law. No more grabbing the wrong book either. Your entire law school library, supplements and all, could come with you wherever you go. The same goes for the recreational reader. Being able to access your favorite newspapers, magazines, and books , all in one device, is something we should embrace.

E-books are also more convenient than traditional books could ever be. No need to keep your highlighters and pens with you, your Nook will take care of that. Don’t worry about losing your place, your Kindle has got it taken care of. Your Torts professor calls on you out of the blue and wants the precise details of a case you read a month ago, now? iPad and its search function have got your back. Let’s not forget that you also have an entire bookstore, far more expansive than Borders ever was, at your fingertips. No more ordering books on Amazon, waiting for the seller to ship it to you, only to find out that the U.S. Postal Service lost it 2 weeks later when the package ripped open (Trust me, I speak from experience).

I understand that people have some trepidations about leaving behind something that has been the norm. But remember cassette tapes? And CD’s? After iTunes, would you ever want to go back to a world without it? The world is changing, and changing fast. It can be unnerving at times. But let’s not get too nostalgic and hold off on adopting the e-book. Future generations of law students will thank you.

by Emily Pattison

With Borders recently filing for bankruptcy and the impending e-book boom, people are beginning to give more credence to the notion of phasing out the use of traditional books.  What’s not to love about these handy e-book readers? They’re lightweight, you can download content in less than a minute, and hey, they even fixed the LCD display so your retinas won’t burn out from excessive reading. Plus, we’re saving trees, right?

But maybe it’s not that simple. Aside from the old-fashioned, romantic notion of possessing your very own library, traditional books insure against the transient nature of technology. Just because e-book readers are popular now doesn’t require everyone to run out and invest in one for each member of the family. Just like cassettes and CD players seemed like a novelty less than 30 years ago, there is a strong possibility technology will surpass itself and e-books will no longer reign over the book world.

Now guess what continues to withstand the changing world? That’s right, throughout wars, floods, famines, fires, and political shifts, books have tenaciously held their ground. Long before Johann Guttenburg’s printing press changed the world of literature, the Egyptians utilized papyrus to record their stories. At Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, an entire museum is dedicated to ONE book, The Book of Kells, created by Celtic monks circa 800 A.D. So why the amateur history lesson about a bunch of random pages and typeface? Because it so clearly emphasizes how important physical books are, and have been, to society. Which calls for an assessment of their significance among another demographic:  students.

As law students, we all employ different study and briefing techniques. Despite the differences, it’s a fair assumption that many students write, highlight, or mark in their casebooks. With an e-book reader, highlighting is an option, but no longer does the reader get the satisfaction of underlining key points, writing in the margins, and making the book their own. Part of the enjoyment of traditional books comes from pulling them off the shelf and looking back at your notes and seeing how much you learned. First, you feel relieved you’re no longer in that particular class. Then, you revel in the sense of accomplishment and pride it evokes. Not only did you make it through the class, but you look back at some of your notes and feel mildly impressed. E-books simply cannot generate the same emotions.

Saying that new technology always makes life better and easier is like saying Facebook makes you a better friend. Too often the population assumes that advancements in technology, while admittedly novel and enticing, should be accepted as if no other options exist. Just like how Facebook is convenient, it’s not the only option for keeping in contact with loved ones. Moving forward with technology certainly has its merits, but if traditional notions haven’t failed you yet, why turn your back on them?

On Tuesday, February 15, 2011, WLSA hosted the first annual Night with the Professionals.  The event was held at the Harre Union Ballroom and began with a networking session followed by a formal dinner and a discussion panel. The theme of this event was “Success and Strategy, Women in the Law.”

Guests of honor at the event were Geneva Brown, Katie Garza, Barbara Johnson, and Kathryn Kintzele.  These four female attorneys from various legal backgrounds shared their stories, offered advice and responded to student questions.  Also participating in the discussion panel were female Professors Whitton, Schmidt, Vance, Dooley, Levinson and Lind.

After the featured guests shared some information about themselves and their legal background, the discussion was opened  for questions.  The women answered a variety of questions relating to family, stress, balance, and empowerment.   Each woman stressed the importance of doing what you love, adding that they all know “many women and men who have left the legal field because they didn’t like what they were doing.”  The attorneys encouraged students to try new things and to always keep an open mind to new things.

The female professionals shared enlightening and empowering stories and provided a wonderful opportunity for female law students to gain perspective on the role of the woman in the legal world.  The students who attended the event regarded it as an eye-opening, inspirational experience and were grateful for the female professionals’ candid and inviting presence.