Leading the Way Historic Gift from J.B
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THE MAGAZINE OF NORTHWESTERN PRITZKER SCHOOL OF LAW VOLUME V NUMBER 1 FALL 2016 Leading the Way Historic gift from J.B. and M.K. Pritzker ushers in a new era for the Law School NORTHWESTERN LAW REPORTER Fall 2016, Volume V, Number 1 DEAN AND HAROLD WASHINGTON PROFESSOR Daniel B. Rodriguez ASSOCIATE DEAN, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Donald L. Rebstock ASSOCIATE DEAN, DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS Daren Batke ASSOCIATE DEAN, MARKETING AND STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION Melissa Kaeser DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS Darnell Hines SENIOR DESIGNER Mary Kate Radelet CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Demetra Theoharis WRITER AND EDITOR Amy Weiss CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Hilary Hurd Anyaso Tom Gerrow Kirston Fortune Amanda Morris CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Randy Belice Sally Ryan Jasmin Shah The editor thanks the faculty, staff, students, and alumni of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law for their cooperation in this publication. Opinions expressed in the Northwestern Law Reporter do not necessarily reflect the views of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law or Northwestern University. Update Your Address EMAIL [email protected] WEB law.alumni.northwestern.edu PHONE 312.503.7609 US MAIL Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Office of Alumni Relations and Development 375 East Chicago Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611 Find us online at law.northwestern.edu Copyright ©2016. Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. All rights reserved. 9-16/14M VOLUME V NUMBER 1 FALL 2016 4 7 14 22 FEATURES 4 Alum Andrew Stroth Expands Access to Civil Rights Representation 12 After over a decade as a successful sports agent, Andrew Stroth (JD ’99) decided he wanted to move beyond the sports and entertainment worlds, and started a civil rights firm that is making a meaningful difference in the Chicagoland area. DEPARTMENTS 12 J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Make Unprecedented Gift 2 From the Dean The Pritzkers’ generous donation will support scholarships, public interest 3 Noteworthy initiatives, entrepreneurship, and multidisciplinary education. 20 Faculty Focus 14 New Curriculum to Address Technologically 26 Clinic News Driven Economy 42 Student Life Northwestern Law recently introduced the Technology, Innovation, and 42 Alumni Notes Entrepreneurship concentration and the Innovation Lab, multidisciplinary offerings designed to help graduates succeed in the technologically driven 56 Closing Remarks global economy. 22 Making a Murderer Lawyers Discuss Dassey’s Case and Wrongful Convictions Professors Steven Drizin (JD ’86) and Laura Nirider (JD ’08) offer their perspectives on their client’s case, the popular Netflix series, and the issue of juvenile false confessions. ood counselors lack no clients.” So says a character in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Indeed, educating our students to become “good counselors” is “Gat the core of our mission. We are building and refining our curriculum to ensure that all of our law students come out of Northwestern with the right mix of foundational legal knowledge, skills training, and interdisciplinary perspectives to thrive and to lead in a dynamic modern economy. Our strategic plan, available in all its glory on the Law School’s website (at www.law.northwestern.edu/about/leadership/strategy), speaks to this high priority. What exactly is that secret sauce? Our faculty and staff are how our ambitious law school is responding to our changing hard at work figuring this out. We know enough to know that professional world; there is much that we don’t know! Or, to put the point rather • We are fashioning first-class programs, some degree-fo- less elliptically, we are tactically developing data and engaging cused and others that are part of postgraduate professional with key alumni and other leaders of the profession in order to education, in order to leverage our strengths to model and better figure out what this new legal world wants and demands. promote adaptation and change. Our one-of-a-kind Master That we are building on a legacy of great teaching and innovative of Science in Law program has enrolled its third class, a programming gives us an incredible head start. group of STEM-trained individuals determined to think out- A few tidbits of how these strategies are being carried out side of the traditional grooves and silos in order to deploy within the walls of our beautiful campus, real and virtual: their legal training in business and technology sectors. We are also busy developing a cluster of initiatives I’ve taken to • We have been expanding and refining our programs in calling “law school for life.” These initiatives enable gradu- entrepreneurship, this to develop new ways of thinking and ates to stay current in matters of contemporary law and performing in our law students. Some of our graduates will legal skills, and also legal technology, ever more important themselves be entrepreneurs (inventing the next must-have in our wired world. This is a clear sign of our commitment to app, no doubt!); others will represent entrepreneurs in their supporting the professional objectives and progress of our capacity as lawyers; and still others will be entering what we esteemed graduates throughout their legal careers. might call traditional Biglaw. Wherever they go and whatever they do professionally, developing entrepreneurial skills and The management lingo of the age is “disruptive innovation,” inculcating the values and modalities of behavior that are this phrase referring to the idea of rapid change that disrupts or reflective of a world in which, for example, design think- displaces an existing market and value network. Technology and ing and business strategy are prized in lawyers, will be an globalization are key drivers of disruptive innovation, which, by important goal. And we are on it; hypothesis, represents an existential threat to business as usual. No matter at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, for we are • We are continuing the efforts of our Center on Practice educating students not for “as usual” business, but for a society Engagement and Innovation. Working with thoughtful, and an economy where there is truly no new normal, but where creative alumni and others, the CPEI is engaging in an the sheer fact and scope of change is all that is normal. Stay active dialogue with leaders in many different corners of the tuned for further reports of our efforts and, as always, I welcome profession— in law, in business, in law-tech, in talent man- your feedback and input. agement— in order to facilitate change not only in our law school curriculum, but also in these myriad professions. It is, after all, a two-way street: We can learn from those out in the proverbial real world, and they can, by engaging with law Daniel B. Rodriguez faculty and administrators, gain a greater appreciation for Dean and Harold Washington Professor NOTEWORTHY Law Professors Teach Engineers About Legal Ambiguities BY AMANDA MORRIS Every election cycle tends to be steeped in controversy. But this Pedraza-Fariña argued opposite sides of issues surrounding year’s US presidential campaign included a rare quandary— Ted Cruz’s citizenship. pundits and scholars hotly debated whether Senator Ted Cruz “The founding fathers were concerned about a foreign allegiant was eligible to run for president because he was not born in the taking over the United States because everything surrounding the United States. United States was foreign owned,” Dana said in an argument about During an interdisciplinary event held at the McCormick the purpose behind the Constitution’s restrictions on who can run School of Engineering during the Spring semester, Northwestern for president. Pritzker School of Law faculty used examples such as Cruz’s “‘Allegiant’ has a broader meaning,” Pedraza-Fariña countered. citizenship to teach Northwestern engineers about the haziness “Birthplace is certainly a criterion for allegiance. Cruz might have of law. “From Ted Cruz to Pizza Toppers: Ambiguity in Legal Interpretation” showed participants how these legal uncertainties can affect tech- nology and innovation. “Lawyers help scientists and engineers with intel- lectual property and making a company public,” said Julio M. Ottino, dean of Northwestern Engineering. “But there’s so much more than that. Scientists and engineers often chart new territory. In many areas, technology is ahead of the law, so we can’t always see the consequences.” Left: Law professor Peter DiCola talks about legal ambiguities and uncertainties. Right: Engineering professors debate the patent issues surrounding a plastic pizza topper. “It’s important for scien- tists and engineers to have a basic understanding of the legal and regulatory environments emotional ties to Canada, making it harder to cast a vote for in which their innovations will be realized,” said Dean Daniel the United States.” B. Rodriguez. “This was a terrific program and is an excellent The four presenters then discussed ambiguities in existing example of the types of law and technology innovations we are technology scenarios, including the constitutional soundness of the implementing.” Clean Power Plan, legal loopholes in non-compete agreements, and The event, which featured faculty teaching faculty, was a first of secondary liabilities in copyright law. its kind for Northwestern Engineering. Northwestern Law present- After the presentations, Northwestern Engineering faculty members ers included professors David Dana, Peter DiCola, Laura Pedraza- divided into two groups to discuss legal arguments for whether or not Fariña, and David Schwartz. a new pizza topper