Lawrence Scholars in Law

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Economics Colloquium: Juvenile Justice

Jeffrey Shook from the University of Pittsburgh will be on campus next week to talk about his work on juveniles in the criminal justice system. The talk, co-sponsored with Lawrence Scholars in Law program, will be Thursday, January 16 at 7 p.m. in the Warch Campus Cinema. The talk title is “From Roper to Miller: Legal and Policy Implications of Recent Supreme Court Decisions on the Punishment of Juveniles.”

Professor Shook is an outstanding scholar and also committed to service, having won the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013.

He is a man of many talents, after received his degree in economics (!) from Grinnell College, he went on to earn a law degree from American University and a Ph.D. in social work and sociology from the University of Michigan. Acording to his bio:

His research examines the intersection of law, policy, and practice in the lives of children and youth, focusing on the transfer of juveniles to the adult criminal justice system, the administration of juvenile justice, the movement of youth across child and youth serving systems, and the experiences of youth “aging out” of the child welfare system. Jeff also is involved in efforts to end the sentencing of juveniles to life sentences without the opportunity for parole both in Pennsylvania and nationally.

He is a very busy guy that works on some fascinating issues, as this selection of his publications attests:

Visser, Joanna and Jeffrey J. Shook. 2013. The Supreme Court’s emerging jurisprudence on the punishment of juveniles. Court Review Journal, 49(24-39).

Shook, Jeffrey J., Sara Goodkind, Ryan Pohlig, Lisa Schelbe, David Herring, and Kevin Kim. 2011. Patterns of mental health, substance abuse, and justice system involvement among youth aging out of the child welfare system. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81(420-432).

Shook, Jeffrey J., Michael G. Vaughn, Sara Goodkind, and Heath Johnson. 2011. An empirical portrait of youthful offenders who sell drugs. Journal of Criminal Justice,33(224-231).

Shook, Jeffrey J. 2011. Prosecutorial decisions to treat juveniles as adults: Intersections of individual and contextual characteristics. Criminal Law Bulletin,47(341-387).

Shook, Jeffrey J. and Sara Goodkind. 2009. Racial disproportionality in juvenile justice: The interaction of race and geography in pretrial detention for violent and serious offenders. Race and Social Problems, 1(257-66).

Shook, Jeffrey J. and Rosemary C. Sarri. 2008. Trends in the commitment of juvenile offenders to adult prisons: Toward an increased willingness to treat juveniles as adults? Wayne Law Review, 54(1725-65).

See you Thursday.

The Economics Colloquium Series in 2014

Our schedule of economics and policy talks coming over the next two terms is coming together nicely. We have these three events in the books, and have a couple of other speakers in the works.

Jeffrey J. Shook, Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, January 16, 2014 (Time TBA) “From Roper to Miller: Legal and Policy Implications of Recent Supreme Court Decisions on the Punishment of Juveniles.” This is co-sponsored by Lawrence Scholars in Law.

Travis Andersen, President of St. Elizabeth Hospital, February 20, 4:30 p.m. Mr. Andersen will address how hospitals and doctors get paid.

Alexander Field, Professor at Santa Clara University, will give the Phi Beta Kappa Lecture on his book, A Great Leap Forward: 1930s Depression and US Economic Growth. May 15, 2014. This is part of the Senior Experience for many economics majors. More on Field’s work here.

Arnold Shober in Government has also agreed in principle to give a talk on his current project and the data “scraping” methods he’s been employing.

And for those of you who missed it, or who just can’t get enough, Paul Fischbeck’s talk, “Quantitative Policy Analysis: Risk Analysis and Risk Communications from Cape Cod to Nairobi,” is now available. Click here to see his excellent presentation.

LU Alums are Generous to a Fault

One of my favorite Lawrence alums, Eric Schacht (’89), is featured on the LU website for winning the Stanley Malles Award for distinguished community service.

From the press release:

Schacht led the launch to form the Mahomet Community Tennis Association in 2009 to introduce tennis to this area with few tennis courts and no high school team. During the past five years more than 30 junior high and high school girls have participated in a program designed with the team concept. Schacht’s dedication to working with the girls in the program has led to them recently playing competitive matches against area clubs, tournaments, and invitational events.

Two years ago, the Mahomet CTA started offering a Midwest Youth Team Tennis program targeting for youth 10 years of age and younger. Approximately 60 children participated in the summer program in 2012, and the successful program will again be offered in 2013.

Schacht has been coaching girls’ tennis teams for several years, and was previously the coach at two area high school teams. He also served as a volunteer coach for the University of Illinois women’s collegiate team.

You can catch the charismatic Schact in his acceptance speech here.

Schacht was a standout tennis player at LU from 1986-1989 and has been an avid sportsman his whole life. Going back to 1980, for example, his YMCA ‘Spartan’ basketball team came up short in its quest for the title to the more talented (and better looking) ‘Badger’ team. See Professor Gerard for details.

In his day job, Schacht works as general counsel for Wolfram Research, developers of the fabulous Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha projects.

Congratulations to Eric.

Anton Valukas to Speak at Commencment

Last year the Lawrence Scholars in Law program was fortunate to feature alumnus Tony Valukas in one of the better alumni talks you are likely to see. This year, Mr. Valukas is back as our commencement speaker. So, those of you commencing are in for a treat. Much of the rest of this post is from the LSL blog post from last year.

This is from his biography:

Mr. Valukas has been a partner with Jenner & Block from 1976 through the present, with the exception of his tenure as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1985 through 1989. Prior to Jenner & Block, Mr. Valukas held several positions with the U.S. Department of Justice, including Assistant United States Attorney (1970-1974), Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division (1974), and First Assistant United States Attorney (1975-1976)… Mr. Valukas was appointed in 1991 as Special Counsel to the City of Chicago to investigate and report on the City’s health care system. He was selected Special Inspector General to the Chicago Transit Authority to investigate vendor fraud, and counsel to the Chicago Housing Authority to investigate vendor and pension fraud. He has also served as chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Crime and Corrections for the State of Illinois, a 2-year effort which led to the passage of major prison reform legislation in 1993.

Mr. Valukas is also a former member of the Lawrence Board of Trustees.

That seems like quite a lot, but it certainly doesn’t end there. Indeed, Mr. Valukas was appointed by federal court to determine the causes of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy filing in US history. According to the Wall Street Journal:

This was no small undertaking. At the New York offices, the Lehman team commandeered half of a floor previously used as storage space. The heat sporadically cut off as the work continued overnight. “A lot of the associates looked like longshoreman wearing caps and hooded sweatshirts,” said Patrick Trostle, a Jenner & Block partner who worked on the case.

By the time the investigation was over, more than 200 attorneys had worked on the case, reviewing 34 million pages of documents. Investigators also conducted roughly 250 interviews, ranging from Warren Buffett to Ben Bernanke.

The result is nine-volume, 2200-page report known as “The Valukas Report.”

That must be some dry reading, eh? Not from a Lawrence alum! In fact, it comes highly recommended (from the WSJ blog):

It is long, but Judge James M. Peck of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan said the recently released report on the causes for the Lehman Brothers Holdings bankruptcy reads like a “best seller.”

If he can turn a 2200-page bankruptcy report sound like a best seller, I am certainly looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

See you there.

Lawrence Scholars in Law / Business Event

This Wednesday, Basil Vasiliou (1972 alum) will be on campus to talk about the potential benefits of a masters in business administration (MBA) and a law degree. The Lawrence Scholars in Law and Lawrence Scholars in Business programs are co-hosting the event. Mr. Vasiliou’s talk will be at 5:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Cinema, and is followed by an informal dinner with students in Andrew Commons, Parish/Perille rooms.

After graduating from Lawrence, Mr. Vasiliou picked up an MBA from the University of Chicago and a law degree from Fordham, and he has worked in the financial sector, including serving as chairman and CEO of Vasiliou & Co. since 1986.

You might consider bookmarking this page to keep abreast of the Lawrence Scholars events.

A Lot More Light

This Saturday, October 29 is a maelstrom of opportunities for those of you looking to eventually enter the working world as Lawrence launches its 2011 More Light! Career Conference. There are many, many alumni coming back to give some pep talks on leadership, taking initiative, career paths into various vocations, and what you students can do to prepare for Life After Lawrence NOW.

The particulars are quite remarkable:

Leadership in Life After Lawrence – Stansbury Theater 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. with the following distinguished alumni:

ABC News “Nightline,” Co-Anchor, Terry Moran ‘82
Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Division President, Joanne Bauer ’77
Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker, Catherine Tatge ‘72
Former U.S. Ambassador to India, David Mulford ‘59
Business Executive, Author and Professor, Harry Jansen Kraemer ‘77

Lawrence Scholars Secrets to Success panel discussions in:

Business…..10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Steitz Hall, Room 102
International Careers…..10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Steitz Hall, Room 202
Law…..1:00 – 2:15 p.m. Steitz Hall, Room 102
Athletics…..1:00 – 2:15 p.m. Steitz Hall, Room 202
Arts & Entertainment…..2:30 – 3:45 p.m. Steitz Hall, Room 102
Medicine…..2:30 – 3:45 p.m. Steitz Hall, Room 202

You can also attend a Networking Lunch at Andrew Commons at 12:00 noon, giving you an opportunity to lunch with alumni.

Finally, there is the Japan’s Ministry of Education’s Japan English Teaching (J.E.T.) Info Session – Career Center 4:15 – 5:00 p.m., where Michael Van Krey ’94, Japanese teacher with Evanston Township High School and former JET teacher will discuss the application process as well as his experiences with the J.E.T. program. Michael will be joined by Joette Bump, President – JET Alumni Association, Wisconsin Subchapter.

From Lawrence to Lehman Brothers, Distinguised Alum Tony Valukas at LU April 7

The Lawrence Scholars in Law program is pleased to announce that distinguished alumnus Tony Valukas (Class of 1965) will Thursday, April 7 at 5:30 p.m at the Warch Campus Center Cinema.

Mr. Valukas’ talk is Lawrence University to Lehman Brothers – a Journey, and it is indeed quite a journey. According to his biography:

Mr. Valukas is also a former member of the Lawrence Board of Trustees.

That seems like quite a lot, but it certainly doesn’t end there. Continue reading From Lawrence to Lehman Brothers, Distinguised Alum Tony Valukas at LU April 7

Lawrence Scholars in Law Wrap

The Lawrence Scholars in Law kicked off in style with a capacity crowd (35-40 students) and a festival-type atmosphere, with about 15 students joining us for dinner. As I said in my introductory remarks, the alumni talent on hand for our panel was extraordinary. Each is a lawyer and a member of the Lawrence board of trustees, and each is very enthusiastic about he prospects for the LSL program.

A couple of points emerged from the discussion. The first is that there is no right major that you need to choose to apply. Our four panelists came from four different majors — history, government, economics, and piano performance. The second theme seemed to be that a law degree opens up many doors, not just the door to the big law firm.

Panelist Jeff Riester also pointed prospective law students to Law School: Getting In, Getting Out, Getting On, by Michael Ariens. This seems like a good resource, and pre-law advisor Steve Wulf and myself will hold onto it if you care to take a look at it.

We are planning one LSL per term this year, and we would like to encourage you to provide us with feedback, as well as input into content for future programs.

Lawrence Scholars in Law!

Firmly on the coattails of the extraordinary success of the Lawrence Scholars in Business program, the inaugural Lawrence Scholars in Law event kicks off at 5:30 on Wednesday, October 27 in the Hurvis Room of the Warch Campus Center.

Who should attend this session? I would suggest anyone who is thinking about a law career should clear their schedule for this one. Also, anyone who isn’t sure about their own career ambitions might consider poking her head in. Many students these days work for a few years before returning to pursue a law degree. And liberal arts majors generally, and economics majors in particular, have potential to succeed.

The talent on hand for this program is exceptional. We have five successful attorneys, each a partner or a shareholder (what’s the difference? Good question to ask) with a major law firm. And each with a member of the Lawrence University Board of Trustees. They are:

William J. Baer ’72 Attorney and Partner: Arnold & Porter
Thomas C. Kayser ’58 Attorney and Partner: Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP
Jeffrey D. Riester ’70 Attorney and Shareholder: Godfrey & Kahn
Priscilla Peterson Weaver ’69 Attorney and Partner, retired: Mayer Brown
William O. Hochkammer ’66 Attorney and Partner: Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP

Professor Gerard will also be on hand to moderate.

Please sign up in the Career Center or e-mail careercenter@lawrence.edu to make your intentions known.

You are welcome to bring your dinner to the program. Or, better yet, plan to dine with the five panelists afterwords.

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