Professor Keith Hylton, Honorable Paul J. Lucas Professor of Law from the Boston University School of Law headlined this year’s Monsanto Lecture on Tort Jurisprudence on Thursday, April 23rd. His lecture entitled, “Intent in Tort Law,” focused on the objective theory of intent and its relation to positive theories of intent standards derived from common law principles set forth by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Professor Hylton was amicable and well-spoken as he discussed examples of his tort theory and entertained questions from both students and professors. The reception immediately following the lecture provided an opportunity for discussion about Professor Hylton’s other endeavors, such as his United States Supreme Court amicus brief filings involving State Farm and Philip Morris and his involvement with The Torts and Products Liability Abstracts Journal for the Social Science Research Network.

Jolene is a 1L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu.

This month’s focus is on how the law treats transgendered indi­viduals who allege workplace discrimination. Various transgendered individuals in Northwest Indiana have filed lawsuits because of alleged dis­crimination by their respective employ­er or school.

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For those of you that missed the 100 Day Celebration at Inman’s, you missed the party of the year! It had all the necessities for an all-out bash: pizza, wings, beer, door prizes, gift cards, bowling, bean bag games, and lots of beverage-induced revelry. Those people who were unable to drive home, for whatever reason, were of­fered taxi cab services at a discounted rate with the cabs right there waiting for patrons.

The moment you walked in you were greeted and given a raffle ticket for gift cards that were given away. Several draws were made throughout the night. Members of all classes came out in droves to celebrate the last 100 days of law school for the 3Ls. As the night progressed, people split up into teams for bowling. Even those who weren’t so great at bowling were having a good time, mingling with friends and playing other games.

The highest team score was 693, bowled by: Joel Funk, Jon Fay, Steve Olsen, Jon Morris, Steve Gage, and Josh Hood. The highest individual score was 199, bowled by Steve Olsen.

With everything going on before graduation this was a great way to re­lieve stress. If you missed all the fun, don’t fret because there are many more events to come before graduation.

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

Everyday, the world changes. We are becoming more dependent on technology in our jobs and in our lives. We are Facebookers, Blog­gers, Twitterers, E-mailers, compulsive news checkers, sports scores junkies, G-chatters, Fanatasy Ballers, and online shoppers, all while text messaging and taking notes in class.

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A beer recipe and a marketing plan to sell the jalapeno flavored beer were found on the computer of Sam Worker, an employee who quit his job at Spartan Brewing to work for triple his normal salary at another com­pany, Wolverine Brewing. Shortly af­ter beginning work for the competing company, Wolverine came out with a new, jalapeno flavored beer, bringing the company great success. Mix in ad­ditional facts that Wolverine Brewing had a bad year before the release of their new beer, and that Worker had breached a close relationship with his prior boss by ‘comforting’ his boss’s wife – and the 2008 Intraschool Trial Advocacy Competition facts were born.

The State of Sparta brought three charges against Worker, embezzlement, exceeding valid computer authoriza­tion, and use of a computer to commit a crime, all of which had to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In the final round, Worker was found not guilty on all three counts.

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The holiday season is tradition­ally a time to be generous in spirit, time, and practice, and as law students with finals quickly ap­proaching, it can be easy to forget about the problems of others within the local community. So when organizations like the Multicultural Law Student Associa­tion (MLSA) or Phi Delta Phi do events like the Thanksgiving Baskets, it helps to portray our school in a positive light, which reflects positively on us all.

This year MLSA continued its tra­dition of providing Thanksgiving bas­kets for underprivileged families in the Valparaiso area. This is MLSA’s largest event of the year, and many of its mem­bers feel that it’s the most meaningful.

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While many were already at home enjoying their Thanks­giving Break, others stayed to celebrate Thanksgiving early with their classmates, professors and staff. On Monday, November 24, 2008, the Valparaiso University School of Law held its 22nd annual Thanksgiving Lunch.

The event, which cost $6 for ad­vance tickets and $8 that day, provided a traditional Thanksgiving meal for more than 170 people alike. The proceeds went to local community organizations. President and Mrs. Heckler joined in the festivities of the day by attending the feast.

The lunch featured an outstand­ing assortment of food. Along with the traditional turkey and rolls, guest chose from a variety of side dishes, including: cranberry sauces, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole and corn soufflé, various types of jello and tossed salads, and a host of desserts including pump­kin and apple pies, cookies and cakes. Items that got high marks from lunch-goers included the rice crispie treats molded into the shape of a drumstick and the many side dish options. With the amount of food served, it was cer­tain no one left the lunch hungry.

The faculty and staff who put on the lunch deserve special credit. Dean Mary Persyn spearheaded the event while Library Circulation Desk Su­pervisor Debbie Blennerhassett was responsible for ticket sales. Persyn also bought and cooked the turkeys, ensuring there was plenty of meat for the hungry guests. Assistant Registrar Linda Canada took the lunch tickets and tracked the number of people attending the affair. Other staff and faculty con­tributed to the lunch by providing side dishes and desserts, decoration, and a clean-up crew.

The Thanksgiving Dinner is an event many look forward to during Fall semester. If you haven’t enjoyed Law School Thanksgiving feast before, you should plan to attend next year as it’s worth the extra time spent in Valpo.

Christy is a 2L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu.

[Editor’s Note: Would the person who makes the drumstick rice krispies please e-mail the recipe at sarah.crouch@val­po.edu. I won’t be here next year and would like to make them in a far away land known as New Jersey. I promise to take any secret ingredient included in them to the grave. Thanks.]

This month we’re focusing on how a person’s choice of clothing can find them in legal trouble. Fash­ion is a form of expression. However, today’s fashion issues have not had the legal impact as the Tinkers’ black arm­bands or Cohen’s jacket did during the 1970’s.

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First-year David Johnson spent a few minutes with Professor Ching: Read the rest of this entry »

Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit spoke at Valparaiso University School of Law on October 13 to a crowd of both law students and professors. Griffith presented his speech, “Was Bork Right: Can Federal Judges be Neutral?”, re­ferring to Robert Bork, who was best known as the failed 1987 conserva­tive Supreme Court nominee, a distin­guished scholar of anti-trust law and a former D.C. Circuit Court judge.

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