Law School Briefs – 3/27/13

Law School Briefs highlights news from law schools in Indiana. While Indiana Lawyer has always covered law school news and continues to keep up with law school websites and press releases for updates, we gladly accept submissions for this section from law students, professors, alumni, and others who want to share law school-related news. If you’d like to submit news or a photo from an event, please email it to Marilyn Odendahl at [email protected], along with contact information for any follow-up questions at least two weeks prior to the issue date.

IU McKinney financial event bringing political standouts

A former Reagan administration official will join a group of academic, government and business leaders for Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law’s national symposium on the Law and Financial Crisis.

Peter J. Wallison, who formerly served as the general counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and later White House counsel during the Ronald Reagan administration, will participate on a panel examining the law’s role in causing the Great Recession.

Wallison, currently the Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, was tapped to serve on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created as part of the 2009 Fraud and Enforcement Recovery Act.

The symposium, sponsored by the Indiana Law Review, will be from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. April 5 in Inlow Hall. Attendees can earn continuing legal education credit.

Former U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh will give the keynote address at 8:30 a.m. He was chairman of the Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

For more details or to register, visit http://indylaw.indiana.edu/ilr/symposiumreg.htm.

IU McKinney adds to curriculum with criminal law certificate

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law is offering a new graduate certificate in criminal law. The certificate will serve as a gateway to practicing in the criminal law field.

McKinney associate professor Yvonne Dutton, who will oversee the program, stated in a press release, “It will enable students interested in careers in criminal law to focus their studies and obtain the expertise necessary to excel in their chosen field. It will also help them demonstrate their criminal law expertise to potential employers.”

The certificate will draw upon the law school’s upper-level criminal law courses, covering such areas as criminal sentencing, cybercrime and death penalty, as well as the many clinics and externships available in criminal law. In addition, the students will be able to connect with the McKinney alumni who work in criminal law.

Valpo Monsanto Lecture Series to welcome OSU law professor

The Monsanto Lecture Series will continue April 12 with a talk by Martha Chamallas, the Robert J. Lynn Chair of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Her presentation, “Institutional Responsibility for Sexual Exploitation: Can Tort Law Deliver Social Justice?” will concentrate on the need to reform tort law to address systemic sexual abuse by focusing on revamping the tort concept of vicarious liability.

Chamallas teaches torts, employment discrimination law, and gender and the law. She has written more than 40 book chapters, articles and essays.

The lecture will be from 4 to 5 p.m. in Wesemann Hall. It is open to the public but registration is required. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.valpo.edu/law/monsanto-lecture.

The Monsanto Lecture Series is endowed by a gift from the Monsanto Fund. The lecture series was made possible by 1953 graduate Richard Duesenberg who served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Monsanto Co.

2 Indiana schools in top 25 of US News law school rankings

Two of Indiana’s four law schools placed in the top 25 of the recently released U.S. News & World Report’s 2014 Best Law Schools rankings.

Of the 194 accredited law schools reviewed, the Notre Dame Law School was ranked No. 23, down from last year’s ranking at No. 22; Indiana University Maurer School of Law rose one spot to No. 25.

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law fell to No. 98 from No. 89 one year ago. However, the school ranked No. 10 in both the areas of health care law and legal writing.

Valparaiso University Law School was listed in the “rank not published” category. U.S. News uses this designation when a school’s numerical ranking falls below the cutoff point.

The methodology for calculating a school’s ranking was altered this year to include the schools’ success in helping graduates find legal jobs. U.S. News drew upon the more detailed jobs information that law schools are now required to report to the American Bar Association.

Data was collected in fall of 2012 and early 2013.

Valpo appoints Bodensteiner as interim dean of law school

Professor Ivan Bodensteiner has been appointed interim dean of the Valparaiso University Law School. He assumed his new duties March 13, following the resignation of longtime dean Jay Conison.

A 1968 graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, Bodensteiner joined the Valparaiso University faculty in 1972. He served as dean of the law school from 1985 to 1990, and he filled a one-year term as acting dean from 1997 to 1998.

Bodensteiner developed Valparaiso’s pro bono program and served as director of the school’s clinical program. He is a member of the Indiana and Colorado bars, and he remains active in civil rights litigation.•