Volume 160, No. 42

BY JACK SILVERSTEINLaw Bulletin staff writer

It’s a Tuesday afternoon atThe John Marshall Law Schooland Nicholas Navarro is gettingready for a dogfight. Navarro, a third-year student,

stands in a courtroom on theschool’s 14th floor, practicing hisclosing argument for theupcoming National Animal LawCompetition in Chicago whichwas, at the time, 10 days away.He is defending the owner of a

golden retriever that tussledviolently with a pit bull, andthroughout the 20-minuteargument, he flips through largeplacards with his main pointsand circles key words in bluemarker.Watching him are professor

Susann M. MacLachlan, thedirector of the school’s Centerfor Advocacy and DisputeResolution and coach of itscompetitive trial teams, andCheyne E. Adam, a JohnMarshall graduate who won theevent in 2009.They watch Navarro silently,

taking notes on his performance.One of the main criticisms? Hecircled too many words.“The board is covered in

circles,” Adam says, clearlydisappointed.The three discuss the blue

circles, debate how many bluecircles are enough to help winand how many blue circles willdistract judges from thesubstance of the argument.Navarro listens and stores

away the notes: fewer bluecircles.It was the biggest conclusion

drawn in yet another intensive

practice session betweenNavarro, MacLachlan, Adam andJohn Marshall alumnus andformer two-time championAnthony M. Sam. SinceDecember, Navarro and hiscoaches had been meeting sixdays a week for anywhere fromone to 2½ hours, methodicallychipping away the imperfectionsin Navarro’s presentation.Navarro’s closing argument

competition is one of the manyhands-on legal opportunitiesavailable to John Marshallstudents. Here, the focus is“practice-ready” skills —ensuring students are set towork once they get their degree. At law schools across the

country, the key is experientiallearning. It’s a way, they believe,to prepare students to weatherthe economic storm facing thelegal industry.“That’s the buzzword,” Dean

John E. Corkery said. “And we’reall into that.”Building out A John Marshall graduate

visiting the school’s campus inthe Loop for the first time in fiveyears will be surprised by thechanges.Though its address is still offi-

cially 315 S. Plymouth Court, theschool’s true front door is now ablock east at 300 S. State St.,where the school expanded in2011 by not renewing its lease toa Walgreens store in that space.Around the same time, the

school had the chance topurchase the building at 19 W.Jackson Blvd., in between itsfacilities on State Street andPlymouth Court — creating asingle, three-building campus. “We decided to do (the

Walgreens expansion), and thenthis building next door cameavailable,” Corkery said. “Had we

saved the money we put into thenew facilities, I don’t think wewould have been as good a schoolor as attractive a school. (Themoney) is better reinvested intothe facilities.” The State Street expansion

includes a student lounge twiceas big as the old one, while theJackson Boulevard expansionincludes the school’s VeteransLegal Support Center and Clinic. That program, which provides

legal services for militaryveterans, is part of JohnMarshall’s growing clinicalofferings. While the 2009economic downturn led to anincrease in experiential learninginitiatives at law schools acrossthe country, Corkery said thatJohn Marshall — “Chicago’spractice-ready law school,” as it’sdubbed itself — largely had themin place already.“We were oriented to practice

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At JMLS, gettingstudents ready for worksometimes meanspushing new practices

CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014

Retired Lake County circuit judge Raymond J. McKoski presides over a courtroom simulation asMinya Coleman-Owens takes the witness stand under the questioning of law student Sara Stromduring a trial advocacy course at The John Marshall Law School. The 115-year-old institution aimsto make students “practice-ready” through hands-on experiences.

®

The Marshall plan

for a long time,” Corkery said. “Itgoes way, way back.” The list of such programs is

extensive. There’s the Business Enterprise Law Clinic, the

Chinese IP Resource Center, theFair Housing Legal Clinic andthe Patent Law Clinic.Then there’s the school’s six

education and research centers:Advocacy and DisputeResolution, InformationTechnology & Privacy Law,Intellectual Property Law,International Law, Real EstateLaw and Tax & EmployeeBenefits.And while the school has

always required students to takea course in trial advocacy, it alsoresponded to the changingmarketplace by implementing inAugust an experiential learningrequirement via externshipplacement, the first of its kind inIllinois.“What’s good about our law

school program is that it builds abasis for preparing our studentsto practice through either clinicsor externships,” said Anthony S.Niedwiecki, associate dean ofexperiential learning and assess-ment.“They have been designed to

provide (students) with all thenecessary skills includingwriting, research, oral communi-cation, negotiation, drafting legaldocuments and performing theskills necessary for a first-yearattorney.” Because John Marshall

requires students to participatein an externship or clinic, it hasenough space to ensure allstudents can work in one at somepoint during their three-yearprogram.Old school To John Marshall, “practice-

ready” doesn’t just mean beingable to get a job. It means beingable to make a career if no jobpresents itself.In late 2008, Corkery and his

associate deans began examiningthe school’s curriculum. The goalwas to find areas of law thatwere both expanding and under-served.That way, the school could

direct students toward practiceareas ripe with potential value,empowering students to starttheir own practices if they didn’tland with a firm or public office. Their answer? Elder law.The idea came in part because

of John Marshall’s Chinese IPResource Center and its relation-ship with the East ChinaUniversity of Political Scienceand Law in Shanghai.School officials there pointed

out that both the U.S. and Chinaare grappling with issues thatcome with a large aging popula-tion, namely more elderly indi-viduals than the next generationis able to care for.With that problem, John

Marshall officials saw opportu-nity — preparing young lawyersto create their own niche,helping senior citizens addresslegal issues that develop as theyage.John Marshall already offered

a two-credit elder law courseevery other semester, so Corkeryasked the course’s professor,Barry A. Kozak, if there wasenough substantive materialaround to build an entireprogram.There was, he said, and he

began building a program basedon similar ones at three otherlaw schools around the country.John Marshall offered its firstcertificate in elder law inJanuary 2010.“It just seems to be the right

time (and) the right place,”Kozak said. “It looks like moreand more deans are realizingthat with an aging populationthere’s a need for attorneys whounderstand the special needs ofelderly people.” So far, the school has had eight

students graduate with the elderlaw J.D. certificate. Kozakexpects those figures to increase,in part because of the school’sinvolvement with the creation ofthe Cook County Circuit Court’sElder Law Division, the firstmajor court system in thecountry to do so.“Word has gotten out,” Kozak

said. “At least two students whocame to John Marshall havecome because they want theelder law certificate.” One of those students is

Garrett Bonk, a first-year whograduated from Wabash Collegein Crawfordsville, Ind., in 2012.Bonk’s father is an elder law

attorney, and after graduating,he spent a year working with himprimarily on helping seniorcitizens with their personalfinances.“A lot of our clients had lost a

spouse, and that spouse was theone who balanced the check-books,” Bonk said. “It’s a simpletask, but a lot of elderly peoplelacked the capacity or capabilityto do it.” After that, he was hooked.“It was a very rewarding expe-

rience, helping these elderlycouples maintain their regularlifestyle while being able toafford nursing home carethrough Medicaid,” he said. “Ifelt like this was a path I wantedto go, so I looked for law schoolsthat offered elder law programs.” Bonk considered the schools

John Marshall’s program wasmodeled on. But because of CookCounty’s elder law court andJohn Marshall’s connection withit, Bonk chose to stay close tohome.“Chicago is pretty much the

first and only city that I know ofthat has an elder law circuitcourt,” he said. “None of the

other schools had a connectionto the community.” Now in his second semester,

Bonk hasn’t yet delved into theelder law program, but he hasmade connections in the elderlaw community through Kozak.That fulfills a goal Bonk had

when he applied to JohnMarshall: Reap the benefits of itsalumni network.“I come from northwest

Indiana, so there are quite a fewJohn Marshall grads by me,” hesaid. “The reputation they holdin my community as goodattorneys that can really articu-late themselves well and presentthemselves well was a skill that Inoticed and that I wanted tohave.” Dogged determinationNavarro also came to John

Marshall to benefit from itsalumni. Interested in criminallaw after studying law enforce-ment at Western IllinoisUniversity, he looked at severalschools, including another one inChicago. He chose John Marshall due to

a combination of its trial trainingand relationship with itsgraduates.“I heard that the alumni who

came out of Marshall were ofteninvolved in the state’s attorneyand public defense (offices). Ifigured that if I wanted to getmyself in a courtroom and givemyself the connections I neededto get involved in criminal law,that John Marshall was the bestplace to go.” One of the alumni he’s worked

with is MacLachlan, known to allas “Sunny” — she graduatedfrom the school in 1994 andbecame a faculty member in2002.The school’s personal touch

has always set it apart, she said.

Copyright © 2014 Law Bulletin Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Law Bulletin Publishing Company.

John Marshall Law School professor Robert Jay Nye hands adiploma to a recent graduate.

SCHOOL SNAPSHOTTHE JOHNMARSHALL LAW SCHOOL

Founded: 1899Located: Campus in the Loop based at 315. S. Plymouth CourtCurrent enrollment: 1,4662009 enrollment: 1,550Where 2012 graduates are employed, as of March 2013:• 48.31 percent in job requiring law license• 20.77 percent in job where J.D. is an advantage• 6.28 percent employed in other professional positionsGraduates tend to work in small to midsize firms or government,public interest, business or industry positions.

Source: John Marshall

“Having gone here and nowbeing here as an instructor, Ithink that’s what makes a differ-ence for our students,” she said.“They know we really care aboutthem.” Though a personal bond has

been formed, Navarro creditsMacLachlan with impartingplenty of professional lessons,too.“I feel that as someone who

wants to be a trial attorney, I canstep into a courtroom anywherein the state of Illinois and feel

comfortable and be able to dowhat needs to be done,” he said.“I feel that employers will knowthat someone from Marshall willbe ready to step into acourtroom and be prepared onany given day.” He ultimately finished in

second place at the animal lawcompetition held at NorthwesternUniversity School of Law thismonth. But he indeed feltprepared.His training process meant

ironing wrinkles one by one, over

and over, until the argumentflowed through him. That way, hewould be ready whenever thejudges tossed him a curveball.He’ll see plenty of those

throughout his career. Throughthe trial advocacy program, he’sgotten lots of practice swings inalready. “The problem with these mock

trials is that the more you look atthe problem, the more intricaciesyou notice,” he said. “Even when(an argument) is completelypolished, you always feel there is

more you could have done.”That was the mood in that 14th

floor courtroom at John Marshallas Navarro, MacLachlan andAdam poured over the argumentagain and again. When theyfinished their session with 10days to go, they left each otheracknowledging there was stillwork to be done.Navarro packed up his presen-

tation and lugged the materialaway. He would be backtomorrow, hopefully with fewerblue circles.

Copyright © 2014 Law Bulletin Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Law Bulletin Publishing Company.