The University of Chicago Law School Record

On May 23, 2007, nearly thirty Law School alumni gathered to honor one of their fellow classmates on one of the most momentous occasions of his life. Although it was an interest in the law that had first brought them together more than ten years earlier, the cause for this celebration was, surprisingly, not related to the world of law at all. On that spring day, with so many of his friends from Chicago present, Father Joseph Pius Pietrzyk, O.P., a 1997 graduate of the Law School, was ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church.

Politically appointed positions—they don’t pay terribly well, the hours are long, and the complaint factor is enormous, but these jobs provide unparalleled opportunities to make policy and effect change. Because so many graduates of the Law School have a keen interest in public service work, it is unsurprising that such positions in the federal government are well populated by University of Chicago Law School alumni. But as the Bush administration draws to a close, these attorneys are making every moment count.

Many public school districts in America require daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. At this point, school authorities know that they have to permit an exception for any child who conscientiously objects to participating. Moreover, Barnette by now commands not just grudging acceptance, but widespread approval. Most Americans think it very bad to force children to make statements that offend their conscience.

Convocation Address
June 13, 2008

Congratulations. Welcome. Welcome to the profession of law. Welcome also to the family and friends who have joined us today who have helped to make this day possible.

When David Currie passed away on October 15, 2007, the loss to the Law School community was immeasurable. David Currie joined our faculty in 1962 and, despite his “retirement” two years ago, remained a vibrant part of the faculty to the very end. He served on the faculty for longer than anyone except Edward Levi, and his impact on generations of students and colleagues cannot be overestimated.

“The answer to the question of how should a Clinic operate—to be of optimum value to students and clients—can be found by an alert, resourceful law school. I believe the answers will come only after some careful study and experimentation by a law school of national reputations. The Law School of the University of Chicago should be that institution.” — Junius Allison, Associate Director of the National Legal Aid Association, in a 1956 letter to the University.

The goals of the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic have long been to help those who need assistance and to teach students the practical ins and outs of legal practice at the same time. Over the past half century, the methods and models used to achieve these goals have changed, but the desire to instill in students an understanding of the value and need for public-assistance law never wavered.

The Mandel Legal Aid Clinic is noted for two things: the practical education it offers to the students who work there and the legal services it provides to the underserved. Thus, it is unsurprising that a social worker and a group of students from the School of Social Service Administration are essential elements of the clinic.

Helping inner-city entrepreneurs build lives, fortunes, and families through small business is the mission of the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship, a joint effort of the Law School and the Washington-based Institute for Justice. For ten years, the clinic has helped a diverse array of new enterprises to understand and meet the administrative and regulatory demands of their endeavors.

The career of Abner Mikva, ’51, is laid out on the walls of his Clinic office.

There he is shaking hands with Jimmy Carter, the President who appointed him to the DC Circuit, in a photo signed, “To my good friend Ab Mikva.” In another frame, he’s giving a press conference as White House Counsel, with then-President Bill Clinton smiling behind him. A little further down the wall is a picture of Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill swearing him in as a congressman from Illinois. There are portraits of Mikva’s role models—Justice Arthur Goldberg, Mikva’s former law partner, and Mahatma Gandhi, whom Mikva says was “someone who was able to effectuate change without drawing blood.”