Sara Engbretson and Andrew Medeiros receive the 2011 Fleischman Family Awards for Excellence in Criminal Clinic

The 2011 Fleischman Family Awards for Excellence in Criminal Clinic at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law have been presented to Sara Engbretson '11 and Andrew Medeiros '12.

The awards, which include a cash stipend, are made at the end of the academic year to Chicago-Kent students who have demonstrated dedication to the criminal defense litigation program and who have provided "zealous advocacy" on behalf of the program's clients. Recipients are selected by Chicago-Kent faculty who teach in the law school's certificate program in criminal litigation.

Sara Engbretson received her J.D. degree on May 15. Engbretson completed her undergraduate education in psychology, with a minor in biology, at the University of Chicago. At Chicago-Kent, she completed a judicial externship with the Honorable Allen S. Goldberg of the Cook County Circuit Court, and worked as a legal researcher for the Cacciatore Law Group in Chicago.

"Ms. Engbretson recently concluded her third semester in clinic, having commenced in May of 2010," said criminal defense attorney and clinical professor Daniel T. Coyne. "During her time in clinic, she has utilized her Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711 permit to its fullest, conducting numerous depositions of experts in connection with the Illinois Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, arguing collateral remedy motions before the presiding judge of the criminal division, and defending a client in a jury trial against involuntary commitment pursuant to the SVPCA. In addition to her courtroom activities, she has demonstrated admirable tenacity in pursuing factual investigations and in researching legal issues."

Andrew Medeiros is a third-year student who earned his undergraduate degree in communication studies from Seton Hall University. Prior to law school, Medeiros worked as a news desk editor for NBA.com and NBA Entertainment and as a web producer for the North Jersey Media Group and NorthJersey.com. At Chicago-Kent, he is a member of the law review, serves as student manager of the Self-Help Web Center at the Daley Center and is first vice-president of the Military Law Society. Medeiros has served as a research assistant for clinical professor Richard Kling and has worked with him in the criminal defense clinic since August 2010. He has completed a legal externship with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Medeiros will spend the summer at Scott Air Force Base as a JAG intern with the Advocate General Corps.

"Andrew has worked tirelessly on a number of serious state and federal cases, days, evenings, weekends, and vacations, is a team player, works well with others, takes direction, and exercises initiative," said criminal defense attorney and clinical professor Richard S. Kling. "In short, if I were able to hire associates, he would certainly be at the top of the list."

The Fleischman Family Awards for Excellence in Criminal Clinic were established by Chicago-Kent alumni and criminal defense attorneys Jack and Sidney Z. Fleischman in 2008 to recognize outstanding students in the criminal defense section of the Chicago-Kent Law Offices. In establishing the award, the Fleischmans also pay tribute to the contributions made to Chicago's legal community by their late grandfather, former Cook County Circuit Court judge Phillip A. Fleischman, and their father, attorney Marshall A. Fleischman.

Jack and Sidney Fleischman are identical twins who participated in Chicago-Kent's criminal law clinic before they earned their law degrees in 1987. The Fleischman brothers currently are partners in their own criminal defense law firm, Fleischman & Fleischman, P.A., located in Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, Florida. Jack began his career with the Public Defender's Office in Palm Beach County. Sidney worked with the Cook County and Broward County State's Attorney offices before entering private practice with his brother.

Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. Chicago-Kent's Certificate Program in Criminal Litigation is designed to give students a comprehensive and balanced professional education that prepares them for the practice of criminal law. The Chicago-Kent Law Offices is a teaching law firm whose dual mission is to provide high-quality clinical education to the more than 150 student interns and externs who enroll each semester and to deliver outstanding legal services to its clients.