Family Law Center’s 2018 Spring Semester Programs

The Family Law Center organized a variety of programs and service projects for students as well as the legal community over the course of the 2018 Spring Semester (see below). The Center’s dynamic programs explored a wide array of topics ranging from hot topics focused on emerging law and cases to career preparation. Additionally, the Center’s service projects brought our law students into the community to serve children and families in need.

• January 25, 2018 – ‘Meet Family Law Attorneys Interested in Summer Interns’ Career Panel: This program included the following speakers who gave a brief talk about their firm / legal organization and then met with students for roughly 20 minutes and collected resumes, which resulted in several interviews and summer internships: Rae Kryitsi (Center for Conflict Resolution), Rachel Johnson (Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation), Líadan Donnelly (Family Defense Center), Diana López (López Law Group, PC), Bryan Wilson (Kogut & Wilson, LLC), and Erin M. Wilson (O’Connor Family Law, PC).
• February 12, 2018-February 16, 2018 - Violence Awareness Week
• February 12, 2018 – ‘Love Shouldn’t Hurt’ Lunch & Learn: Kathleen Doherty, the former Executive Director of Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network, started the Center’s Domestic Violence Awareness Week by talking about what is domestic violence, its impact in our society, and legal remedies for victims of domestic violence.
• February 13, 2018 – Self-Defense Class: DePaul students attended a self-defense class to learn how to protect themselves in potential vulnerable situations.
• February 15, 2018 – Distinguished Lecture Series – ‘Changing the Culture to End Gender-Based Violence’: Lynn Rosenthal, the former White House Advisor on Violence Against Women under the Obama Administration, flew in from Washington D.C. to discuss the history of gender-based violence, ideas on how we can change our culture to stop this type of violence, and the new and emerging policy and cultural issues surrounding gender-based violence.
• February 16, 2018 – Domestic Violence Shelter Service Project: Law students spent an evening making Valentine’s arts and crafts projects with the children and had a pizza dinner with the women and children at the shelter. Additionally, the Center held a toiletry drive and was able to donate two (2) full boxes of toiletries to the Rosenthal Domestic Violence Shelter along with art supplies for the children. This service project was done in collaboration with DePaul’s Center for Public Interest Law and University Ministry in the Loop.
• February 22, 2018 – ‘Careers in Elder Law Panel’ Lunch & Learn: The Hon. Susan Kennedy Sullivan, Wendy Cappelletto (Office of the Cook County Public Guardian Adult Guardianship Division), Mallory Moreno (Delaney & Voorn, Ltd), and Emily Seaholm (3L Kott Scholar at the Center for Disability & Elder Law) discussed the growing field of elder law and their day-to-day elder law experiences in their practice.
• March 2, 2018 – DePaul Alumni & Student Legal Answers Pro Bono Clinic Day with Illinois Legal Aid Online: The Center partnered with the Center for Public Interest Law and the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative to host its second Alumni & Student Family Law Legal Answers Pro Bono Clinic with Illinois Legal Aid Online (“ILAO”). Thirteen (13) students and six (6) family law attorneys volunteered in the clinic day. The students and attorneys worked in teams to research and answer family law questions posted on ILAO’s Legal Answers website. By the end of the clinic, the attorney/student pro bono teams answered over twenty-five (25) family law questions, which comprised all of the family law questions on the Legal Answers website at that time. The students enjoyed working closely with the attorneys and gained invaluable hands-on experience in family law, as well as advice and tips for breaking into the field. The attorneys enjoyed the experience because they were able to engage in pro bono work while at the same time mentoring and supporting aspiring family law students.
• March 7, 2018 – ‘Mental Health Within the Legal Profession: Dispelling Myths and Addressing Facts’ Lunch & Learn: In collaboration with DePaul’s Center for Public Interest Law and Mary and Michael Jaharis Health Law Institute, the Center put on this important program with Jonathan Beitner (President of the Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program Associate Board and Associate at Jenner & Block LLP) and Chelsy Castro (Director of Outreach and Clinical Programming at the Lawyers’ Assistance Program) discussing the importance of mental health within our profession.
• March 12, 2018-March 16, 2018: Spring Break Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Service Project: The Family Law Center partnered with the Center for Public Interest Law, University Ministry in the Loop, and the Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative to host its annual community service project at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center over spring break. Seventeen (17) law student volunteered to work in teams to teach lessons in juvenile justice to incarcerated youth. In addition to teaching, the students met with a juvenile court judge, attorneys from the Public Defender’s and State’s Attorney’s Offices, and Probation Officers. Students also had an opportunity to talk with a formerly detained youth.
• March 22, 2018 – ‘Why Legalizing Prostitution Promotes Sex Trafficking’ Lunch & Learn: Jody Raphael (DePaul Senior Research Fellow) and Kaethe Morris Hoffer (Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation) discussed Prof. Raphael’s newest article “Decriminalization of Prostitution: The Soros Effect.” This program was done in collaboration with Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, DePaul’s Center for Public Interest Law, and University Ministry in the Loop.
• April 2, 2018 – ‘Pet Custody: Who Gets the Pet in a Divorce?’ Lunch & Learn: In collaboration with DePaul’s Center for Animal Law, the Center put on this timely topic with Erika Wyatt (Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP) addressing the recent change in the Illinois statute to reflect the division of pets in divorces.