The College of Law offers a wide variety of student activities. These programs are an integral part of the professional, intellectual and social atmosphere of the College. The names of the leaders of student organizations are listed when the information was available at the time this booklet was printed.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
In 2002, students at the College of Law officially formed the "ADR Club," to promote negotiation and dispute resolution activities. This club is in its early stages. The students have committed to assisting with organization and execution of our internal competitions in Negotiation and Representation in Mediation, and with the hosting of the Mid-West Regional Competition. In addition, students will work with the Executive Director to plan the Dispute Resolution Forum series, which will bring together local practitioners and students to discuss and learn on topics in negotiation and dispute resolution.
Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF)
The national Animal Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization of lawyers dedicated to the protection of animal rights. Our student organization will work underneath the national group to conduct research concerning animal cruelty cases and promote animal friendly laws and legislation. Dedicated to the promotion of animal rights.
Asian Law Students Association
The Asian Law Students Association serves the interests and needs of students with ethnic and/or cultural ties to Asia and the Pacific Rim. Sponsoring symposiums, workshops, and social events, the organization heightens awareness of Asian Americans in the legal community. Through active participation, members derive a sense of self-empowerment, while developing invaluable leadership skills.
Black Law Students Association (BLSA)
The University of Cincinnati Chapter of BLSA is an active participant in the National Black Law Students Association. BLSA was created in 1969 with the goal of opening law school doors and enhancing the quality of legal education for African-American students throughout the United States. BLSA has been instrumental in providing African-Americans with expanded access to the field of law during the 70's, 80's, and 90's. In the 21st Century, BLSA is poised to continue advocating for major increases in the number of African-American faculty hired and African-American students admitted to law schools throughout the United States.
Although many doors have opened, many more remain closed; consequently BLSA's job is hardly over. African-Americans are still disproportionately under represented in the legal arena. To prevent erosion of the advances made by BLSA, the organization is determined to push onward with continued vigor. BLSA has established a strong working relationship with the National Bar Association, Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati and many other national and local organizations.
BLSA does not seek to isolate itself from the law school community, rather it advocates cooperation and involvement of its members with other students, student organizations, faculty and staff. In fact, members of BLSA are active in Law Review, Moot Court, Student Bar Association, Student Court, the Urban Morgan Human Rights Institute, Student Legal Education Committee, and the Honor Council, must to name a few. Each year, in conjunction with the Moot Court program, BLSA sends teams to the Frederick Douglass Moot Court competition sponsored by the National Black Law Students Association. During the academic school year BLSA presents speakers from the legal community whose expertise can offer stimulating insight into the field of law and enhance the quality of legal education at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Indeed, BLSA is ready for the challenges of the 21st Century and beyond.
The Christian Legal Society (CLS) is a nationwide group of law students and lawyers who wish to pursue their legal careers as an expression of their faith. The members of the student chapter at U.C. seek to view the American legal system from a Judeo-Christian perspective, to integrate their belief in and relationship with Christ into their legal career, and to provide fellowship and support for each other during law school. CLS at U.C. is an interdenominational group, welcoming students of all Christian faiths and backgrounds as well as those with a desire to learn more about Christ. We hope you will join us for bible study and fellowship gatherings throughout the year.
The Criminal Law Association (CLA) has several important goals. First, we seek to assist U.C. law students in planning and achieving careers in criminal law. Second, we aim to create a heightened awareness of criminal law in the student body and establishing a strong presence at U.C. Law School. This will be accomplished by conducting forums, hosting speakers, and other educational programs to stimulate student interest in criminal law. In addition, we aim to facilitate career development of students aspiring to practice criminal law. We believe this goal is not only educational, but also ethically imperative in today's society.
The purpose of Delta Theta Phi is multi-faceted, designed to assist with your needs and complement any existing programs. For example, Delta Theta Phi can assist with professional programs (giving you access to our local alumni as guest speakers), charitable & service programs (our students participate in a wide range of programs, and at the national level we are a corporate sponsor of the March of Dimes), or academic opportunities (we are the only law fraternity with an authoritatively recognized law review), in addition to the social aspects of networking among students in their various levels of study. Each law school has its own distinct personality and we make ourselves available to create a chapter (Senate) that will strengthen and expand that personality.
The Environmental Law Society is an organization created to enhance member and public understanding of environmental law through the use of speakers and conferences, and by working as a clearinghouse for activities and information. Members work to create additional courses and to aid in environmental law job searches.
Norton Parker Chipman Chapter, Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. We believe that principles and legal rules strongly influence the direction of societal development and in so doing can secure or destroy individual rights and liberties. The Society's purpose is to investigate the role of law as one of the great organizing forces of our society, and to participate in that shaping process. The Federalist Society is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve individual freedom, that economic and political liberties are inextricably intertwined, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be, and that the true purpose of the legal order is to ensure that the power conferred upon the state is used to secure people's lives and goods. The Society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities. This entails ordering priorities within the legal system to place a premium on individual liberty, traditional values, and the rule of law. It also requires restoring the recognition of the importance of these norms among lawyers, judges, and law professors. In to achieve these goals, the Society has created a conservative intellectual network that extends to all levels of the legal community. The local chapter is named after Judge Norton Parker Chipman, an 1859 graduate of the Cincinnati Law School.The Freedom Center Journal is a joint, scholarly publication of the University of Cincinnati College of Law and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The purpose of the Journal is to foster discussion and debate among academics, judges, lawyers, law students, historians and others, about the scope and nature of freedom, broadly defined, with a focus on American history in general and the experience of African Americans in particular.
The Freedom Center Journal will pursue its mission on three separate tracks: first, by publishing the work of both scholars and law students on issues of racial freedom, including slavery, the Underground Railroad, the Antebellum Era, the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the modern day civil rights movement and other contemporary issues; second, by expanding the opportunity for its membership to develop legal skills through writing, editing, symposia, and other organizational activities; and third, by serving as an intellectual arm of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hispanic Law Student Association
The Hispanic Law Students Association (HLSA) is an organization aimed at impacting the law school experience of all students through diversity. It is also an organization that seeks to impact the Cincinnati community by participating in and promoting community service programs.
The Honor Council is charged with administering the Honor System, informing all students about the Honor System, and evaluating suggestions for changes in the System. The Council shall investigate and, where necessary, adjudicate all suspected violations of the Honor System brought to its attention.? This year the Honor Council will be significantly revising and amending the Honor Code.
The Human Rights Quarterly is a multi-disciplinary journal edited by the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights and published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Since 1982 the Institute has edited 69 issues of the Quarterly with articles covering a wide range of topics from both domestic and foreign authors.
Professor Bert B. Lockwood serves as Editor-in-Chief and the editorial staff consists of Arthur Russell Morgan Fellows and College of Law students who cite check and edit the articles in preparation for publication. There are some opportunities for first year students to be members of the editorial staff of the Quarterly. An orientation meeting will be held for first year students interested in considering this possibility. The announcement of the orientation session will be in mail boxes early in the fall semester.
Immigration and Nationality Law Review Association
The Immigration & Nationality Law Review (INLR) is comprised of third-year editorial board members and invited, second-year associate members, who are devoted to the production of the Review and student advocacy in the area of immigration and nationality law. The journal, an annual production of William S. Hein & Co., has been in existence for twenty years. In 1999, the University of Cincinnati College of Law was honored with the opportunity to take over production of the Review.
The journal consists of original immigration and nationality law articles, republications of immigration and nationality law articles, and original student submissions which are selected for their excellence. While primarily focused on immigration law, which seeks to define who may enter and reside in a country, INLR incorporates subject matter well beyond immigration. In particular, the INLR addresses issues of nationality which considers the formal relationship between a citizen of a nation and the nation itself. Since immigration and nationality work together to delineate citizenship and residency, they play an important part in the ongoing dialogue regarding national identity. Moreover, immigration and nationality frequently implicate issues of race, gender, class, and national security.
At the end of the Spring semester, 1st year law students are allowed to compete for a spot on the review as a 2L associate member via a writing competition. Typically, those whose writing skills are deemed exceptional by the editorial board, are invited to join the Review during the late summer before school begins.
Intellectual Property Law Society
The Intellectual Property Law Society is open to any student interested in intellectual property law. Our focus is on providing students information pertaining to a career in intellectual property law, including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets. The organization hosts several speakers who give presentations on these topics, discussing current legal issues and employment opportunities. The society serves as a networking unit to IP legal practitioners in the area. For more information, please visit the Society's TWEN site available through www.lawschool.westlaw.com.
The International Law Society envisions a just world in which there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity, and aims to promote this vision by contributing to legal education, fostering mutual understanding and promoting social responsibility of law students and young lawyers. We strive to provide opportunities for law students and young lawyers to learn about other cultures and legal systems in a spirit of critical dialogue and scientific cooperation, to assist law students and young lawyers to be internationally minded and professionally skilled, and to encourage law students and young lawyers to act for the good of society.
The University of Cincinnati Labor and Employment Law club is dedicated to enriching the knowledge and experience of law students with a common interest in Labor Law and Employment Law fields. The club organizes speakers and other activities with a focus on connecting the law students with the local attorneys in the Labor & Employment law field. Currently the Labor and Employment Law club is working on organizing several activities, including a panel to speak on current Labor and Employment Law issues, brochures on legal topics, and a speaking engagement with a local high school to inform students of the child labor laws.
The University of Cincinnati Law Review is a quarterly publication produced by second and third-year law students. The Review, along with its counterparts at all other accredited law schools, makes a significant contribution to scholarly legal literature.
Each year, approximately 30 students are invited to join the Law Review as junior members. All junior members are chosen on the basis of first year grade point average combined with a writing competition score. The competition begins immediately after completion of first year studies.
Each Review staff member is expected to write twice during the second year. Second-year members write casenotes or comments. A casenote discusses a recent court decision by putting the holding of the case in broader legal perspective. A comment analyzes a recent trend in a specific area of law as reflected in recent cases. At the end of the second year, junior members are given the option to write an editorial note during their third year. Staff members are also expected to perform various other duties such as suggesting noteworthy topics, cite-checking other students' work and proofreading copy.
Fifteen of the thirty second-year members are chosen to serve as editors of the Law Review during their third year of law school. Review editors approve writing topics, edit student casenotes and comments, select law articles by eminent scholars, and perform all tasks related to editing, printing and publishing the journal. Additional third-year members participate as contributing editors. Student writers and editors receive credits that apply toward College graduation requirements. Second-year and third-year writers who complete all requirements receive two credit hours for each semester. Third-year editors may receive two or three credit hours per semester, depending upon their position.
The Review is one of several interesting and valuable extracurricular activities available at the Law School. Participation on the Review requires a fairly intensive commitment of time and energy; however, the rewards are substantial. We invite you to visit our offices on the third floor across from the Library.
Law Student Diversity Association
Our mission is to help insure that the graduates of the University of Cincinnati College of Law are prepared to adequately represent all of their clients and participate fully and effectively in the increasingly diverse legal community. We endeavor to accomplish that purpose by providing forums for the open discussion of diversity issues in the law school and in legal practice, sponsoring various speakers, and encouraging students to take an active role in ensuring that they receive a well-rounded legal education. The LSDA was honored to receive the 1999 University of Cincinnati Just Community Award which is given each year to individuals and organizations that help promote the ideals of justice, while making the University a more fair and caring community.
Law Students for Choice (LSFC)
Law Students For Choice is a branch of a national organization of law students who advocate for the continued advancement of reproductive rights including: the availability of birth control for students, the continued availability of a woman's right to choose, the availability of sexual education and other reproductive rights issues both in the United States and abroad.
UC Law Women (UCLW) was founded in 1995 with two main goals: (1) to provide programming apprising female students of career opportunities within the legal profession, and (2) to keep the campus population apprised of women's rights and related legal developments. UCLW is dedicated to promoting the interests of women within the law school and beyond. To this end, UCLW encourages discussion and debate on issues pertaining to women and gender, promotes speech and action by UCLW members on issues important to women, devotes resources to student support and professional development, and advocates for women's interests in society. Within each of these endeavors, we promote an expansive view of feminism that embraces people of different races, colors, sexual orientations, ideologies, cultures, and classes.
Law Women's Athletic Association
The LWAA provides a convenient forum for students to sign up for the different intramural sports offered through campus, such as flag football, soccer, softball and basketball. We also provide information about other athletic opportunities, not sponsored through the school. ALL are welcome to be a part of LWAA.
The University of Cincinnati Moot Court Board provides students an opportunity to develop appellate advocacy skills through participation in interscholastic moot court competitions. Working in teams of two or three, students write appellate briefs, develop oral arguments, and visit law schools to compete against other teams. UC students have historically placed highly in competition against teams representing all regions of the United States.
Each fall, approximately fifteen new board members are selected through an intramural competition open to all second-year students. Intramural competitors, working with third-year student editors, write a persuasive appellate brief and prepare oral arguments. They are then required to deliver their oral arguments before three separate panels of judges comprised of members of the local bar. The fifteen new members of the board are selected on the basis of their brief score and oral argument scores. Students earn one hour of academic credit and satisfy one of the College's writing requirements upon successful completion of the intramural competition requirements.
Each spring, the Moot Court Board hosts the August A. Rendigs, Jr. National Products Liability Competition. This competition is sponsored by the Cincinnati law firm of Rendigs, Fry, Kiely & Dennis, and is the only national moot court competition devoted exclusively to products liability law. The competition honors the memory of August A. Rendigs, Jr., who was one of Cincinnati's most respected trial lawyers.
Following the Rendigs competition, Moot Court Board members begin to plan the following year's activities. They elect an administrative director, an intramural competition director, and two co-directors to plan and manage the Rendigs competition.
The Moot Court Board also participates each year in the Phillip Jessup International Law Competition. Approximately every eight years the University of Cincinnati's Moot Court Board hosts this competition as a requirement for continued participation.
The National Lawyers Guild is an association dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite the lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyers of America in an organization that shall function as an effective political and social force in the service of the people, to the end that human rights shall be more sacred than property interests.
Our aim is to bring together all those who regard adjustments to new conditions as more important than the veneration of precedent; who recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the rights of workers, women, farmers and minority groups, upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends; who seek actively to eliminate racism; who work to maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon them; and who look upon the law as an instrument for the protection of the people, rather than for their repression.
Formed in the fall of 1997, as the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Student Law Association and renamed in 2001, Out and Allies was created with the purpose of providing a forum for all students, faculty, administration, and staff of the College of Law to discuss issues of sexual orientation in the law and at the law school. The goal of the group is to serve three main functions: (1) to create a voice for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students; (2) to foster a supportive (both educationally and socially) and safe environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students; and perhaps most importantly (3) to inform and educate the student body about sexual orientation issues. All members of the College of Law community interested in issues of sexual orientation and gender identity are welcome to participate in the group.
Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) is the world's largest legal organization with over 200,000 members in 54 countries around the world. Alumni members include seven Presidents, including Presidents Carter and Clinton, thirteen Supreme Court Justices, seven Attorney Generals and many more, including former U.S. Senator from Ohio Robert Taft. The purpose of PAD is to create a bond between those studying the law and those teaching and working within the professional legal community.
PAD differs from academic social fraternities and honor societies. In addition to the desirable attributes of a social fraternity, PAD membership offers the means to pursue a common interest in the legal profession through local chapter programs which put members in contact with local practitioners. Besides social functions, PAD has its own study aid library, active alumni in most major U.S. cities, and a placement service.
Public Interest Law, broadly defined, encompasses all legal-related work, which seeks to provide representation to groups and interests that might otherwise lack meaningful representation within the legal system. Public interest law is often concerned with the implementation of political and social change.
The Public Interest Law Group (PILG) at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, is a coalition of students working to educate future lawyers to recognize the inequities that exist in our legal system, and to prepare the students, in their professional lives, to develop a more just society.
PILG provides students with: a summer grant program that allows the pursuit of legal work in the public interest field, and transcript recognition for students involved in law-related community outreach programs, including Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor, Tenant Information Project, Pro Kids, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.
As well, PILG seeks to develop clinical opportunities, in the public interest field, for second and third year students; and to provide students with information, regarding public interest law opportunities, through the Center for Professional Development.
SOAR's mission is to increase communication among the classes (1L, 2L and 3L) as well as among students, faculty, administration and staff in an effort to aid students in adapting to and making the most of the law school experience. Our aim is to combat cynicism and apathy by facing the rigors and frustrations of law school openly, honestly, with a touch of humor. Our activities will provide an emphasis on service to others, introspection, and a student support network.
Student Ambassadors is student representative organization of the University of Cincinnati College of Law's Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. Members represent the office to prospective students by giving tours, helping with Open Houses, and contacting prospective students and talking to them about the benefits of attending the University of Cincinnati College of law. Our goal is to foster positive images of the school, and educating others about our faculty, academics, student life, and student body.
The Student Bar Association is the major funding and activity support group of the College. All students are members of the SBA and are represented by elected class representatives and appointed student organization representatives in the Executive Council.
The SBA sponsors social, sporting and cultural events, acts as a liaison between the administration and the student body and provides funding for student organizations. It also acts as a forum to coordinate student activities in the law school.
Six first-year representatives will be elected in September. Students interested in becoming involved in the Student Bar Association should visit the SBA office in the student activities area. Good luck and welcome to your Student Bar Association!
The University of Cincinnati Student Court serves as the judicial branch of the University of Cincinnati Student Government as provided by the University of Cincinnati Student Government Constitution. The Court has jurisdiction over all cases of interpretation of the Student Government Constitution and student Senate legislation; student parking violations; any dispute between organizations under the jurisdiction of Student Senate, or between such organizations and student; and any dispute in which both parties consent to the jurisdiction of the Student Court.
The University of Cincinnati Student Court provides law students the opportunity to interact in a court room setting and develop trial and oral advocacy skills.
Student Legal Education Committee (SLEC)
The Student Legal Education Committee (SLEC) provides a mechanism for student participation in policy decisions affecting the College. Members of SLEC are assigned to the following College committees: Curriculum, Admissions, Faculty Appointments, Student Petitions and Academic Review, Nippert Committee on Lectures and Symposia, Center for Professional Development and Library. They may also form Ad Hoc Committees to study and report on problems affecting the student body.
Together with faculty and administration representatives on these committees, students discuss and vote upon issues, assign tasks, and attempt to arrive at decisions which represent an accommodation of diverse views. SLEC members are elected from and by the student body. Members of SLEC distribute, collect, and analyze the faculty evaluation forms completed at the end of every semester by the students. Vacancies on the committee are filled in the fall semester.
The Tenant Information Project (TIP) is a volunteer organization that provides legal information to callers concerning landlord/tenant law. TIP is one of several organizations at the Law School through which students can receive recognition on their transcript as a Legal Public Interest Volunteer based upon their volunteer efforts. A minimum of 15 hours of participation is required each semester to receive this recognition. However, this requirement can be satisfied by volunteering as little as one hour each week throughout the semester.
While answering calls, volunteers explain the state of Ohio landlord/tenant law to callers with questions involving their leases, the eviction process, loud neighbors, or the condition of their apartments. Volunteers should resist the urge to give out specific legal advice, but they can explain the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and tenant and the options that the caller may have available. Callers are usually low-income residents of the Clifton area, undergraduate students at UC, or landlords curious about the law. By participating, TIP members gain both practical experience in dealing with clients who have legal problems and specialized knowledge of landlord-tenant law.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA)
VITA is for volunteer income tax assistance. It is a national group, with the law school providing one division. Volunteers help people with less than $30,000 income fill out their income tax forms for free. At University of Cincinnati College of Law, this also includes helping a lot of foreign graduate students do their state tax returns. Volunteers get service credit on their transcripts when they do at least 15 hours of volunteer work. The time of service runs between February and April during Spring semester.
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