The Seventeenth Annual Howard B. Eisenberg Do-Gooders’ (PILS) Auction will be held on Friday, February 12, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Italian Conference Center at 631 East Chicago Street in Milwaukee.
The event, which is named after the late Dean Howard Eisenberg, raises funds for the Public Interest Law Society’s Summer Fellowship Program.
The silent auction begins at 5:30 p.m. Complimentary beer, wine, and soda will be served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The live auction, MC’d by the very entertaining Professor Ed Fallone, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Appetizers and a light dinner will be served.
Tickets are $40 per person. Student tickets are $25 if purchased by February 9. Tickets may be purchased online or by check at www.law.marquette.edu, or may be purchased at the door. Tickets may also be purchased in the student lounge at the Law School. Special Fellowship and Do-Gooder tables are available.
This year’s auction features terrific live and silent auction items.
The auction features items at all price levels. Here is a sample:
1. Romantic Pfister bed and breakfast package with flowers from Belle Fiori
2. Tripoli golf outing & lunch with attorney Tom and Mary Domer – it’s tee time!
3. Sailing on Lake Michigan in a thirty-foot sailboat
4. A week in Door County
5. Stay at the Washington Street Inn Bed & Breakfast near Grand Haven, Michigan
6. 5 days and 4 nights at a condo in Big Sky, Montana
7. The Suite Life — view a Milwaukee Bucks game from Marquette’s suite at the Bradley Center!
Thanks to the success of the 2009 PILS Auction, our 2009 PILS Fellowship Winners provided much-needed service to a diverse group of organizations:
- Colin Casper, Cook County State’s Attorney Office
- Kyla Davidoff, Dane County Corporation Counsel
- Daniel Friedman, Legal Services of Northern California
- Jennifer Grieve, Wisconsin Department of Revenue
- Scott Luzi, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee
- Geoff Misfeldt, Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Trial Office
- Elizabeth Murrar, Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services
- Matt Plummer, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee
- Ben Reyes, Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, Inc.
- Vintee Sawhney, American Civil Liberties Union – Wisconsin Foundation
- Alap Suresh, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Michelle Velasquez, Universidad de Alberto Hurtado, Center for Ethics in Santiago, Chile
- Zachary Willenbrink, American Civil Liberties Union – Wisconsin Foundation
- Danica Zawieja, UN-International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Office of the Prosecutor
Thanks for posting this, Professor! Personally, I am extremely proud to serve as a leader of the Public Interest law Society (PILS), and to be a member of an educational institution that is dedicated to public service. I was lucky enough to receive a fellowship this past summer and the experience was incredibly rewarding. Besides learning new legal skills, I learned a lot about myself and am even more motivated than before to remain in the public interest sector.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the PILS, or our annual auction, here is some more information:
PILS is a student-run organization at Marquette University Law School that educates law students about public interest work in our communities by emphasizing the importance of providing representation to underserved populations and ensuring equal access to justice for all people. In an effort to encourage law students to enter the public interest field, PILS has created the Public Interest Law Society Fellowship Program, which provides stipends of at least $4,200 to students who work as summer interns at public interest agencies, where they would not otherwise have been compensated. These fellowship experiences provide excellent opportunities for students to refine their legal research, writing, and advocacy skills, and allow students to make an impact on their clients’ lives and in the communities in which they work.
For example, in Santiago, Chile, Marquette Law student and PILS Fellow Michelle Velasquez had the opportunity to become “immersed in a new legal culture and to participate in a critical analysis of a current human rights issue that this new democracy is facing.” Additionally, while in El Paso, Texas, Ben Reyes worked with clients who “had no alternatives for legal representation in immigration proceedings, . . . [and] who are potentially facing separation from their entire families.” Similarly, Jennifer Grieve, who worked with clients in need of representation in tax controversies while at the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, decided to continue working in the public interest sector: “In my career, I hope to fill th[e] gap by working with such individuals through a legal assistance program.” These three stories typify the experiences of PILS Fellows as they advocate on behalf of their clients and provide an important resource to the agencies to which they dedicate themselves.
The Public Interest Law Society will continue to maintain its Fellowship Program by hosting The 17th Annual Howard B. Eisenberg Do-Gooder’s Auction; all proceeds from the auction, in addition to generous contributions from the Dean of the Law School, Joseph D. Kearney, go directly to students who demonstrate their dedication to working in the public interest field. Please mark your calendars and join us for The 17th Annual Howard B. Eisenberg Do-Gooder’s Auction on Friday, February 12, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee, where, true to this year’s auction theme, you can Help Students Help Others.
I hope to see you on the 12th!