Over $450 was raised at this year's Chili Cook-off, an event designed to celebrate the start of the 2008 UofL Cares Charitable Giving Campaign. The charities include Kosair Charities, Community Health Charities, United Way, Fund for the Arts, University of Louisville, and the WHAS Crusade for Children. Kudos to Jim Becker for providing the winning dish, Melinda Becker's Deer Chili (aka "Aunt Sarah's Moose Chili"). Many thanks to everyone who either purchased a ticket, provided a tasty sweet or savory dish, and/or helped with the set up and clean up. It would not have been such a success with out you.

Over 200 people turned out for Lawlapalooza, the Louisville law community's 4th annual battle of the bands, at Phoenix Hill Tavern on October 2, 2008. More than $6400 was raised for the Judge Ellen B. Ewing Foundation, which provides summer fellowships for Louisville law students to work in the areas of family law, domestic violence and spouse abuse, and HIV/AIDS. Ewing Fellows, Marque Carey (2007 recipient) and Jacqueline Hersh (2008 recipient) were both present to show their support.

WFPK's Laura Shine opened the ceremonies and by the end of the night The Frank Galvin Experience was crowned as the crowd favorite. Its members include attorneys from Seiller Waterman PLLC and Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLLC law firms. Highlights also included a tribute to the best of the 80's by Jim Becker and Professors Lars Smith & Tim Hall of Elvis Cardozo and the Attractive Nuisances, along with rock n' roll classics performed by second-year law students Forrest Kuhn and Andrew Henson of Assault with a Deadly Weapon.

 

Jim Becker was quoted in the October 2008 edition of The National Jurist, "Even if we're all competitors, we still root for each other, too. Louisville's a big small town, and we haven't yet lost the sense of being neighbors, especially in the legal community, and especially among the even smaller subculture of people who are both attorneys and musicians." Tim Hall commented in "Guitars & Gavels" (The Louisville Cardinal, October 7, 2008), "We didn't win, but we had a lot of fun. It's always good to be outspent because you know you're raising more money." Andrew Henson added, "It is a networking opportunity too."

A jubilent crowd of judges, attorneys, students, and friends of the local legal community appeared to have a good time dancing, singing along to their favorite tunes, and even igniting their lighters as a show of support. For a recap of the night's events, watch the videos and visit the Lawlapalooza 2008 image gallery.

The most recent revisions to the Spring 2009 schedule and Course Notes have been uploaded to the website at the following link:

 

http://www.law.louisville.edu/academics/class-schedules/spring-2009

 

Printed copies of the schedule and related materials will be available once technical difficulties with our printers have been resolved. In the meantime, please use the above link to access the Spring 2009 schedule.

Several dozen students, staff, and faculty from the law school attended the Brandeis Judicial Forum on October 7, 2008. The Student Bar Association sponsored this opportunity to meet candidates seeking positions in the District Court, Circuit Court, and the Kentucky Supreme Court.

While the law school makes no endorsements, we'd like to thank each of the following candidates for having taken time out of their busy schedules to attend.

Pictured from left to right are the candidates and the position that they are seeking:

• Theodore S. "Ted" Shouse - Jefferson District Court, Division 8
• John J. VanderToll - Jefferson District Court, Division 2
• W. Douglas Kemper - Jefferson Circuit Court, Division 4
• Lisabeth Hughes Abramson - Kentucky Supreme Court
• David P. Bowles - Jefferson District Court, Division 8
• David Holton - Jefferson District Court, Division 16

Also pictured: Sabine Kudmani (3L), SBA member

You are invited to attend a lecture by The University of Kansas School of Law professor Andrew Torrance. Professor Torrance will be presenting his paper entitled "Patents and Regress in the Useful Arts" on Thursday, October 9, at 12:00 p.m. in the Cox Lounge. Lunch will be provided.

Professor Torrance developed a computer "patent game" that tests the effectiveness of the patent system on innovation, and his paper addresses the results. In addition to presenting his paper, Professor Torrance will demonstrate the patent game and allow audience members to play the game.

Professor Torrance is a graduate of Harvard Law School with a Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University and a B.S. from Queen's University.  Upon graduating from Harvard, Professor Torrance practiced biotechnology patent law at Fish and Richardson LLC, the world's largest intellectual property law firm. Before accepting a position at Kansas, he served as inhouse Patent Counsel at Inverness Medical Innovations, a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, and he also taught "Biodiversity: Science, Policy, and Law" at Harvard. He conducts research in intellectual property, patent law, biotechnology, bioethics, environmental law, biodiversity, and conservation, and has presented his research worldwide. His research has also appeared in multiple journals including the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, the Kansas Law Review, and the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. The paper that he will be presenting this week has been accepted for publication by the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review.

A wine and cheese reception will be held at Waterfront Park Place on Thursday evening in honor of Professor Torrance. Please contact Mari-Elise Gates at marielise.gates@gmail.com if you are interested in attending.

Thanks to all who attended and/or contributed to making Lawlapalooza 2008 a great success.  We don't have dollar totals computed yet, but last night's event may have set a new record.  The winning bands were The Frank Galvin Experience (first place), 100% Legal (second place), and the law school's own Elvis Cardozo and the Attractive Nuisances (third place).

Many thanks, also, to all the students who attended.  We had a great turnout.  As an aside, if you're looking for a cheap, humorous Halloween costume idea, Dean Becker has a gently used pair of parachute pants for sale.

Lawlapalooza 2008, the Louisville law community's 4th annual battle of the bands, is tonight at the Phoenix Hill Tavern, 644 Baxter Avenue.  Doors open at 6:00 pm, and the first band begins at 6:30.

The Faculty Resource Center, in room 272, still has plenty of student tickets available -- just five bucks each, limit of two per student -- but they will only be available there until 12 noon today.  After that, students must purchase tickets at the door (same price, same limit) and present a valid student ID card.  General admission tickets are $25 at the door.

Lawlapalooza benefits the Judge Ellen B. Ewing Foundation, which provides summer fellowships for Louisville Law students to work in the areas of family law, domestive violence and spouse abuse, and HIV/AIDS.

Come on out for fun, fellowship and great music -- and have a laugh at Professor Smith and Deans Hall and Becker.

Jodi Duce, the law school's Unit Business Manager, is a recipient of the University's prestigious Outstanding Performance Award in the Professional/Administrative Staff category. "Duce is an integral part of the Law Library team. Her tasks include coordinating financial operation of the Law Library, managing budgets and accounts and ordering and maintaining equipment and supplies. Even with the financial turmoil that came from the state budget cuts, she found ways to cut the immediate budget and developed a plan for the future for the recurring budget. Duce also co-chaired Brandeis School of Law’s first Community Service Day. Her nominator credited her with leadership, cooperativeness and dependability." More Award Winners: Ramsey Recognizes Staff for Outstanding Performance

Have you ever filled out a ballot only to realize that you have never even heard of any of the judicial candidates?  Have you ever sat in class and wondered what exactly a judge does?  Who are these people and what do they do?  How do they get to where they are?  And how much power do they really have over the outcome of a case?  On Tuesday, October 7 at 12:15 in room 275, you can find out.  Join us for lunch and a meet-and-greet of local judicial candidates.  Candidates for District Court, Circuit Court, Appellate Court, and the Kentucky Supreme Court want to introduce themselves to you.  Take this opportunity to meet the individuals who may preside over your future cases.  Sponsored by the Student Bar Association.  Lunch will be provided.

Immigration: Debunking the Myths, the first program in the 2008-09 Diversity Forum Series takes place at 12 noon Tuesday, 9/23.

The program will feature:

• Gabriela Alcalde, Chair, Hispanic/Latino Coalition of Louisville
• Ron Crouch, Director, Kentucky State Data Center
• Ron Russell, Attorney, Russell Immigration Law Firm
• Introductions by Becca O'Neill, 3L
• Q/A moderated by Professor Enid Trucios-Haynes