The Forum

In a ceremony observed by hundreds of Valparaiso University students, alumni, and friends in the Chapel of the Resurrection, Mark A. Heckler was installed Friday, October, 18, 2008 as VU’s 18th President.

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Valparaiso University School of Law’s Sports Law Clinic (valpo.edu/law/sportsclinic) was founded in 2005 and provides need-based pro bono legal assistance to amateur athletes and coaches. The clinic has handled numerous national, state and local cases and operated on-site at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.

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In 2008 the Valparaiso University School of Law Student Bar Assicia­tion Alcohol Policy was created. It prohibited hard alcohol at SBA spon­sored events, decreased the available use of SBA funds for alcohol, and re­quired sober monitors at events where SBA funds were expended. Will it spur professionalism amongst students, will it spawn a responsible, healthy atmo­sphere, and will it lead away from the abuse of alcohol as a form of release for Valparaiso University School of Law students? While only time will answer those questions, a short inquiry into the history, creation and passage of the Alcohol Policy revealed the efforts of SBA to promote the prudent use of student activity dollars.

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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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Every year a diligent group of stu­dents assemble to distribute fund­ing to all of Valpo Law’s student organizations. The Budget committee consisted of the SBA Treasurer Andrew Freiheit and six non-SBA members: two students from each class year. Over the course of three days, these students spent nearly twelve hours determining how to distribute this year’s funds. Af­ter the committee made its recommen­dations, Freiheit and SBA President Laura Wishart spent an additional four hours going over the decisions with a fine-toothed comb. The budgeting deci­sions were then put to a final review and vote after two more hours of demanding deliberations by the entire SBA.

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TRAVEL: FATAL TO PREJUDICE

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Megan Hannah spent a large part of this past summer per­forming pro bono work for Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS), which is the only comprehensive legal services program in the Memphis, Ten­nessee area. MALS is committed to equal justice for all people and serves nearly 8,000 individuals per year. Han­nah volunteered nearly one hundred hours and assisted elderly clientele in the Senior Services Division of MALS. I recently sat down with Megan and talked with her about her pro bono experi­ence.

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A panel of twelve prominent law­yers who teach film or are con­nected to the business chose what they regard as the best movies ever made about lawyers and the law in the August 2008 issue of the ABA Journal. The films represent thirty-one Oscar winners and another eighty-five nominations. The titles include not only the obvious, such as To Kill a Mocking­bird (1962), My Cousin Vinny (1992), A Few Good Men (1992) and Amistad (1997), but also some older titles, such as And Justice for All (1979), Judg­ment at Nuremberg (1961), Young Mr. Lincoln(1939), Compulsion (1959) and even the musical Chicago (2002). 

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

Are you looking for a chance to experience what your life as a lawyer might be like? Do you want to know what practicing law re­ally feels like? The perfect opportunity is right across the yard. The Civil Law Clinic at Valparaiso University School of Law gives you the opportunity to represent clients who need help and do not have the means to afford legal representation. 

You can enroll to take this two-credit class during your third year or even halfway through your second year of law school. The range of cases students handle go from divorces, adoptions and visitation disputes to debt collection defenses, foreclosures and tort cases.

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