News

03/23/2017 - Law Students Spend Spring Break Making a Difference at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center

A devoted cadre of twelve law students volunteered for the College of Law’s annual Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Spring Service Break Project from March 13-17, 2017. The project was organized by DePaul’s Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, Center for Public Interest Law, and University Ministry in the Loop. Throughout spring break week, the students worked in small...

03/01/2017 - International Women’s Day Film Screening & Panel Discussion

The Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center & SHALVA are partnering to host a film screening and panel discussion of NO WAY OUT BUT ONE. This award-winning independent documentary tells the remarkable story of Holly Collins, an American woman who kidnapped her children to save them from a life of abuse at the hands of their father. Holly went on the run and...

02/28/2017 - DePaul College of Law partners with Illinois Legal Aid Online to host legal answers pro bono clinic housing and family law

DePaul’s Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, Center for Public Interest Law, and Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative joined forces with Illinois Legal Aid Online to host a Legal Answers pro bono clinic in family and housing law. The clinic took place on Friday, February 24th at DePaul College of Law.  Fifteen pro bono attorneys, many of who are DePaul alumni, and...

02/16/2017 - Family Law Center Hosts Distinguished Lecture on Child Welfare Reform

DePaul’s Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center recently held a Distinguished Lecture featuring guest speaker George H. Sheldon, Director of the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS). The lecture focused on Sheldon and the agency’s reform efforts of improving outcomes for children and families. Sheldon began his presentation by explaining that for much of its...

12/08/2016 - Family Law Center events focus on child custody and collaborative divorce

DePaul's Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center hosted two Learn-N-Learn events in November. The first featured James Pritikin, a DePaul Law alumnus and partner at Beermann Pritikin Mirabelli & Swerdlove LLP, examining Chicago Bulls player Dwayne Wade's child custody case. As Wade's attorney throughout his divorce, as well as during the child custody case,...

12/02/2016 - Family Law Center hosts annual panel on practicing family law

DePaul University College of Law’s Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center held its annual panel on the practice of family law featuring attorneys from the public and private sector. Its participants were Laura Ashmore, partner at Davis Friedman; Dave Zwaska, associate at Dussias Skallas Wittenberg; Alexis Mansfield, supervising attorney of CLAIM at Cabrini Green Legal Aid and...

11/01/2016 - Family law center teaches students about public service and child advocacy work

DePaul University College of Law's Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center joined with the Center for Public Interest Law and the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative to host a discussion on public service and child advocacy work. Professor Allison Ortlieb moderated the panel, which featured the Honorable Patrick T. Murphy of the Circuit Court of Cook County’s...

10/25/2016 - Alumna Jochner discusses fee shifting in marital dissolution cases

The Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center's October Lunch-N-Learn program focused on fee shifting in marital dissolution cases in Illinois. Alumna Michele Jochner, a partner at Schiller DuCanto & Fleck and an active member of the center’s advisory board, examined the history of fee shifting in the divorce context.  She discussed the doctrine’s common law origin in 1917 and...

10/06/2016 - Family law center helps students understand new Illinois Parentage Act

Family law attorney and alumna Colleen Hurley (JD ’14) presented on interpreting the newly revised Illinois Parentage Act during a lunch-and-learn event sponsored by the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center. Hurley explained many of the changes found in the new act’s provisions by contrasting them with the language in the former law. While Hurley acknowledges that there are...

09/24/2016 - Alumnus Roger White inspires students to make a difference in family law

DePaul’s Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center hosted Roger White from White Scott & White, for an informal discussion on life as a family law attorney. White provided nearly 20 students with practical advice on the best courses to enroll in during law school, tactics when interviewing for family law jobs, and other methods for obtaining success, such as working hard and...

09/09/2016 - DePaul welcomes family law focused students and professionals

DePaul University College of Law's Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center and the Child & Family Law Association combined to host a welcome reception for incoming and returning family law students. The event's crowd consisted of a significant number of law students, alumni, faculty, staff, and members of the Family Law Center’s Advisory Board, all of whom share a connection to...

04/18/2016 - Attorney panel offers advice on career path in family law

Family law attorneys shared career experiences, advice on practicing family law and tips on leveraging legal education during a panel discussion for students at DePaul's College of Law in April.  Panelists included attorneys from both the private and public sectors: Michael Alvarado, partner, Davis Friedman; Michelle Cass,...

04/08/2016 - DePaul students team up for service project at detention center

DePaul law and graduate counseling students spent five days at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) working directly with residents and staff as part of the Spring Break of Service in Chicago Project.  DePaul law students and College of Education counseling students worked in small teams to teach lessons on civics, juvenile...

03/11/2016 - ​​​​​Family Law Center Hot Topic speaker Professor Shari Motro discusses new article

DePaul's Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center invited Professor Shari Motro from the University of Richmond School of Law to explain the concept behind her article "Preglimony" at the February Hot Topic event. Under preglimony, Motro said, men in unmarried relationships would financially support their partners before a child’s birth. Men would help...

03/09/2016 - Family law symposium highlights experts in alternative dispute resolution

The Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center​ hosted a series of expert panels on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for its first annual family law symposium, “Making Non-Adversarial Proceedings a Reality: The Evolution and Impact of ADR in Child and Family Law Cases.”​  For a room filled to capacity, panelists discussed the challenges and successes of mediation and...

01/25/2016 - Professor Martin Shelby inspires at January Lunch-n-Learn

Assistant Professor Cary Martin Shelby shared her experience growing up in foster care at the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center's January 14 Lunch-n-Learn. From a teen growing up in Illinois’ foster care system to a lawyer and law school professor, Professor Martin Shelby has surmounted many obstacles. Yet she cites the constant movement from one foster home to another as a top...

11/03/2015 - Family law practitioners panel draws a large crowd

The Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center hosted a panel event on Thursday, October 29 during the lunch hour, featuring practitioners in family law. The event was co-sponsored by Law Career Services, the Center for Public Interest Law, and the Child & Family Law Association, and drew a large audience of interested law students. Practitioners on the...

09/28/2015 - Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center Kicks Off Lunch & Learn Series with Presentation on Assisted Reproductive Technology Law

The College of Law’s Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center hosted its first Lunch & Learn event of the year on Thursday, September 24. The Center was pleased to host Dean Rosato Perea as the speaker for the inaugural Lunch & Learn, which focused on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Law.  The dean started out by giving a quick primer on ART, including statistics on...

05/28/2015 - CPIL hosts panel discussion on gender and pregnancy discrimination

When it comes to comparing maternity leave and paid-time off with other countries, the United States ranks close to last. The Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL) gathered students, practitioners and faculty together on Wednesday, March 18 to discuss gender and pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.  Attorneys Amy Meek, Mike Persoon and Sarah Baum shared their knowledge, advice...

10/01/2014 - PBCSI organizes first Donate-A-Day of the school year

The Pro Bono and Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) teamed up with DePaul College of Law’s Child and Family Law Association to host the first Donate-A-Day of the school year on Saturday, September 27. The service day took place at A.N. Pritzker Elementary School, a Chicago Public School in Wicker Park and one of PBCSI’s partner organizations. Thirty three students joined together...

05/08/2014 - Juvenile law leaders share career advice

Students interested in juvenile law learned about careers in this area during a recent Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL) event. Practitioners Betsy Clarke, of the Juvenile Justice Initiative, Peter Newman, of the Cook County Court, and Elizabeth Vastine, of Stone Vastine Group, discussed their work and the range of opportunities available in juvenile law. Clarke (JD '77) is founder and...

05/05/2014 - Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer to discuss new book on shaken baby syndrome

For decades, attorneys have used shaken baby syndrome, or SBS, as proof that a caretaker murdered a child. However, the medical community’s understanding of these symptoms has evolved, calling to question the justice of many convictions. DePaul College of Law Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer’s new book, "Flawed Convictions: 'Shaken Baby Syndrome' and the Inertia of Injustice"...

03/18/2014 - Professor Tuerkheimer weighs in on exonerations for TIME magazine

In opinion piece "The Changing Face of Exonerations" for TIME magazine online, Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer said, "If we are to make meaningful progress towards freeing innocent people now serving time—a population some now place at more than 100,000—we need new laws designed to target miscarriages of justice that lack DNA evidence." Her op-ed reacts to...

12/20/2013 - Center for Legal Justice: Building a new model

Rose Rivera (JD ’09) built the Center for Legal Justice from a model she’d been quietly hatching for years. Rivera entered law school intending to eventually join a well-established nonprofit in Chicago, such as LAF (formerly the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago), and settle into the city. When that didn’t pan out, she turned to a world of possibilities. She took the...

12/11/2013 - Legal service representatives highlight benefits of pro bono work

The Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative, joined by the Center for Public Interest Law, the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, the Asian Pacific-American Law Student Association, and the Public Interest Law Association, closed out Pro Bono Week in November with a lunchtime panel discussion on the benefits of pro bono work. Panelists included representatives from the Legal Aid...

12/03/2013 - DePaul students help homeless prepare for winter, share in Thanksgiving luncheon at St. Vincent de Paul Center

In mid-November, DePaul law students and the Pro Bono Community Service Initiative (PBCSI) joined nearly 1,000 other regional volunteers to serve approximately 600 of Chicago’s homeless at the St. Vincent de Paul Center’s Homeless Outreach Luncheon in Lincoln Park. The service day was one of PBCSI’s monthly Donate-A-Day community service projects for law students. College of Law Chaplain Tom...

10/29/2013 - From convicted youth gang member to having conviction

Xavier McElrath-Bey has a remarkable story to tell. Imprisoned for first degree murder at age 13, he's now in his 30s with a master's degree and is working to make the world a better place.  On Friday, November 1, 2013, the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center will welcome McElrath-Bey to talk about his traumatic childhood experiences in foster care, in a gang and...

10/16/2013 - Summer Public Interest Jobs and Funding Information Session Gives Students a Head Start on Summer Jobs

On Wednesday, October 9, 2013, the Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL), the Public Interest Law Association (PILA) and Law Career Services (LCS) hosted a lunchtime information session on how to find a summer public interest law job and secure funding.  During the presentation, Elizabeth Boe, assistant director of recruiting, LCS, Shaye Loughlin, CPIL director and Robin Wagner, a third year...

09/26/2013 - Service fair helps law students learn about volunteer opportunities

DePaul law students are known for their commitment to service and public interest work so it was no surprise that the Fall Student Service Fair drew a large crowd of students who were excited and ready to start volunteering. The fair, held September 10 and organized by the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative (PBCSI), is one example of the many ways PBCSI works to engage law students in...

09/19/2013 - Raphael discusses new book on acquaintance rape

Jody Raphael, author, national researcher and senior research fellow at the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, met law students, faculty and staff to discuss her new book, “Rape is Rape: How Denial, Distortion, and Victim Blaming are Fueling a Hidden Acquaintance Rape Crisis.”  She offered information on the causes of rape denial and its effects on those who report rape. The...

05/14/2013 - Alumna named Lawyer of the Year by DuPage County Bar Association

Wendy Musielak (BUS '99, JD '03) was named DuPage County Bar Association's Lawyer of the Year in recognition of her long-standing commitment to the DuPage County Bar Association (DCBA) and DuPage Association of Women Lawyers. Musielak is a partner at Esp Kreuzer Cores LLP where she concentrates her practice in family law. Musielak received the award at the 2013...

04/29/2013 - CPIL works with restorative justice leaders for final skills series

The Center for Public Interest Law concluded the yearlong Public Interest Legal Skills Series with a three session restorative justice series. Adjunct Professors Elizabeth Vastine and Peter Newman taught the series this April during the lunch hour. Vastine and Newman held each session in a restoratve justice circle, to help students gain a basic understanding of the practice, as well as how it...

04/25/2013 - Jody Raphael honored with 2013 Gertz award

DePaul College of Law's Jody Raphael has been named the 2013 recipient of the Illinois State Bar Association's Human Rights Section's Gertz Award. The award honors the long-standing, continuing and exceptional commitment to the protection and advancement of human rights. Raphael, a senior research fellow with the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center, will recieve the...

03/21/2013 - Senior Research Fellow Jody Raphael opens discussion on acquaintance rape

DePaul University Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center Senior Research Fellow Jody Raphael's new book "Rape is Rape: How Denial, Distortion, and Victim Blaming Are Fueling a Hidden Acquaintance Rape Crisis" (Chicago Review Press 2013) argues that “the time has come for rape denial to become as unacceptable as Holocaust denial.” Drawing on research and firsthand...

02/08/2013 - Family law hosts 10th anniversary lecture with Sheriff Tom Dart

On Wednesday, February 13, the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary with the 10th annual Valentine’s Day Family Violence Distinguished Lecture. "Dismantling the Exploitative Sex Trade Industry in Cook County: Barriers, Issues and Challenges" will cover myths and disinformation as well as how cultural supports, including the media,...