12.31.2008

Need a Computer But Think You Can't Afford One?

Have you considered a netbook? These smaller, less powerful laptop computers have everything you need for law school: plenty of power for the Internet and Microsoft Word along with the Windows compatibility you need to sign up for computer exams. And at $300-400, they have a price tag that most law students can afford!

12.26.2008

Certificate in Animals, Community, and the Law: Starts Jan. 20

Lawyers In Defense of Animals, Inc. (LIDA) is pleased to announce that Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration is offering a Certificate in Animals, Community and the Law.

Taught by LIDA board members, the Certificate will require the completion of 3 online courses and a practicum and can be completed within one year. Courses which will cover topics ranging from limit laws and hoarding to cruelty and disaster planning may be taken on a non credit basis or for credit, with each course being 3 graduate credits. To review course descriptions and enroll please visit www.ncpp.us/certcourses.php and click on the Animals,Community and the Law Certificate option. Additional information is available by contacting Isabelle Strauss at anrtesq@aol.com, 732-255-4696 or Dean Kirchoff at jkirchho@newark.rutgers.edu, 973-353-1351

The first course, Animals, Disaster, Estate Planning and Litigation starts January 20, 2009 so please enroll early.

12.12.2008

Writing Competition: Domestic Violence

Law students are invited to submit articles addressing domestic violence and the law from a national or international perspective.

The winner’s paper will be published in the American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

All winners’ names and papers will also appear on the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence website.

The deadline is May 31, 2009, 5:00 p.m. EST via email at runger@staff.abanet.org. No exceptions. Winners will be notified in August 2009.

Submissions must further the legal needs of victims of domestic violence or domestic violence victims and their children, or advance efforts to address the incidence, causes and effects of intimate partner violence.

Submissions may be no longer than 7500 words (typically 20-25 pages), including footnotes and other text but excluding author identifying information, and must be double-spaced with one-inch margins. Any paper exceeding the 7500 word limit WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. Students are free to submit papers of shorter length as we are most concerned with quality and originality.

Authors must be enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school at the date of their submission or must have graduated in December 2008 or later.

Submissions may not have been previously accepted for publication and, if they have been submitted elsewhere for publication, the first place winner must certify that the first publication of the article will be in the Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law.

12.11.2008

Writing Competition: Redefining Critical Race Theory

Re-defining Critical Race Theory:
The Future of the Movement


The year 2009 marks the twentieth anniversary of the first Critical Race Theory (CRT) workshop. Twenty years ago, the founders of CRT met at a convent in Wisconsin to consider race and ethnicity and the manner in which these categories permeate every aspect of law and society. Although early CRT scholars were subjected to considerable skepticism, they bravely continued to write and speak about race, confident that their scholarship reflected an unacknowledged reality. Their scholarship entered the discourse of civil rights and constitutional law in the United States, but also influenced other doctrines, including criminal law, family law, and immigration law. CRT gave birth to other progressive, anti-subordination movements such as Latina/o Critical Theory, OutCrits, and ClassCrits. The academy has been enriched by the important contributions of CRT scholars.

On April 2-5, 2009, the University of Iowa College of Law will host a conference honoring the twentieth anniversary of the first Critical Race Theory Workshop. The conference, which is also co-sponsored by a consortium of schools,[1] will reflect on CRT’s earliest contributions, explore CRT’s influence on the law and the legal academy, and consider its future evolution and development. To this end, one of the conference panels will be organized around the theme, “Re-defining Critical Race Theory: The Future of the Movement.”

As part of this panel, two co-sponsors of the conference – the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman School of Law – are organizing a national law student writing competition. Students are invited to submit a paper reflecting upon the panel’s theme or engaging more general questions pertaining to critical race theory. The winner of the competition will be awarded the “Angela Harris Award for Outstanding Student Writing” in honor of Professor Harris’s contribution to CRT and her support of law students at Berkeley and throughout the academy. The winner of the Harris Prize also will receive $750.00. Honorable mention prizes of $500.00 will be awarded to two other papers. Authors of winning papers will be invited to attend the conference, and the reasonable costs (free conference registration, three nights lodging, and up to $600 airfare) of their registration and travel will be covered by the conference organizers. Finally, the winning paper will be published in the Berkeley Journal of African-American Law & Policy along with essays from a panel at the conference entitled “Reflections on CRT.” Confirmed speakers for this panel include Professors Robert Chang (Seattle University School of Law), Frank Rudy Cooper (Suffolk University Law School), Adrienne Davis (Washington University-St. Louis School of Law), Emily Houh (University of Cincinnati College of Law), Robin Lenhardt (Fordham University School of Law), and Adrien Wing (University of Iowa College of Law). Winning authors will also be invited to present their papers as part of a student panel during the conference.

Eligibility & Submission

Students who wish to submit an entry must be considered a student in good standing during the 2008-09 academic year at an accredited law degree program in the Americas and the Caribbean. All entries must be submitted in English.

The Selection Committee will consider all papers meeting the eligibility criteria and submitted by the deadline.

Papers must be submitted electronically to Professor D. Aaron Lacy, SMU Dedman School of Law, at dalacy@smu.edu.

Students must format their papers in Microsoft Word. The main text should be in 12-point font and double-spaced with 1-inch margins on all sides of each page. The paper should have footnotes, not endnotes, and the footnotes should be no smaller than 9-point font. Papers should be limited to no more than 15,000 words. Papers of a length not greater than 40 pages are preferred.

Only one paper per entrant will be considered.

Deadline & Review

Each entry will be reviewed by a group of legal scholars well-versed in CRT. To be considered, entries must be submitted by January 15, 2009. We anticipate that participants will be notified of the winning selection no later than February 16, 2009.