Marquette Law School – Page 178 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Law Students of Hope

Post author:Daniel A. Idzikowski
Post published:May 3, 2011
Post category:Marquette Law School Speakers at Marquette

This past Friday, Marquette Law School held a celebration of hope – hope for our community, hope for the legal profession, and hope for our institution. The 2011 Posner Pro Bono Exchange between Fr. Fred Kammer, S.J., director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University in New Orleans and Mike Gousha, Distinguished Fellow of Law and Public Policy at Marquette Law School, followed immediately by the induction of 91 new law student members of the Pro Bono Society (bringing the total to 103 for the academic year), was bounded by hope.

How could we alumni, staff, faculty, and donors in attendance not find hope and admiration for so many law students who committed themselves to placing their legal education at the service of those in need, without credit or compensation, even in the midst of a difficult economy and increasing academic competition? There is no requirement to perform such voluntary service, yet, each year, an increasing number of our law students choose to perform more than fifty hours of supervised, law-related, volunteer service in our community. Whether at the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, the Legal and Medical Partnership for Families, the Marquette Foreclosure Mediation Program, the Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations, or any of a dozen other programs or placements, these students render a real service to those in need – and in so doing, begin a career commitment to the principal of pro bono publico – service for the good of the public.

Fr. Kammer reminded us that service to others, particularly service to the most vulnerable among us, is at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching and thus, a central theme of Jesuit education.

Drugs and Long-Term Care

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:April 20, 2011
Post category:Health Care Marquette Law School

Video is now available here from the Elder’s Advisor‘s fine conference last month on drugs and long-term care. Here is the description of the conference:

For this symposium, we bring together a variety of practitioners and academics to speak on current topics about the use of pharmaceuticals for residents of long-term care facilities. Our speakers will address the impact of regulatory requirements on the timely delivery of medications to residents in long-term care facilities. They will discuss the impact of consumer choice and cost on the drug markets. They will also consider the implications of the medicalization of aging as a disease rather than treating aging as a natural process. Finally, we will close with a discussion of the legal, ethical, and medical concerns surrounding the ability of long-term care residents and their decision-makers to refuse medications and treatment.

I learned a great deal from the portions of the conference I attended — much of it rather disquieting — and I would recommend the video to anyone with a professional or personal interest in the way that drugs are administered in long-term care facilities.

DeGuire Award Winner Explores Copyright Remedies

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:April 19, 2011
Post category:Intellectual Property Law Marquette Law School

Congratulations to 3L Andy Spillane, the winner of this year’s DeGuire Award for best student comment published in the Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review. Andy’s paper discusses the availability of injunctive relief for copyright violations. Recently, some courts have abandoned the presumption of irreparable harm that traditionally benefitted copyright plaintiffs seeking injunctive relief. In the face of this emerging trend, Andy presents a strong case for maintaining the traditional presumption.

Andy’s paper, “The Continuing Vitality of the Presumption of Irreparable Harm in Copyright Cases,” is available here on SSRN.