Associate Dean Sowle’s Announcements, August 28 - September 1, 2023
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Summer 2023 CALI Awards. The CALI Excellence for the Future Award, sponsored by the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, is given to the student or students who receive the highest grade in each section of each course. The CALI award recipients for Summer 2023 courses are available by clicking here. If a section or a course is not listed, that means the professor elected not to give a CALI award, or we have not heard from the professor. Congratulations to all of you who received an award -- you should be proud of your achievement.
Building and Library Hours for Fall 2023. The building and library hours for the Fall 2023 semester are available by clicking here.
Fall 2023 Semester Information. The most recent version of the Fall schedule, available on the Fall 2023 Quick Guide page, has exam information and classroom assignments for Fall classes.
U-Pass Information for Fall 2023. Information about the availability of the U-Pass for Fall 2023 students is available by clicking here. Please contact Dean Abhijeet (jabhijeet@kentlaw.iit.edu) if you have any questions about the U-Pass program.
Counseling Services. This is a reminder that the university provides counseling services free of charge for students. Click here for details on the available resources, including individual counseling through Skylight Counseling Services. In addition to resources available through the university, the Lawyers Assistance Program also provides assistance to law students. LAP provides free and confidential assistance to members of the Illinois legal community, and can help you with issues of addiction, stress, anxiety, depression, focusing, worries about the character and fitness process, and having a successful first-year transition. Click here for more information about LAP and the services it provides.
Classrooms for Remote Use. If you are taking an online class this semester (or a class that meets on campus some weeks and remotely other weeks), we have reserved rooms at the Law School for you to use if you won't have sufficient time to travel from home to school (or vice versa) in between your online class and an on-site class you have the same day. These rooms will remain the same throughout the semester. Click here for the list. Please note: You will each connect to class individually in Zoom and should have earphones or headphones with you.
Public Safety Escort Service. In the evening hours, a Public Safety officer is available to provide a walking escort for those with concerns about their personal safety. This service applies to any location within a two block radius of the Conviser Law Center, including Union Station and many adjacent parking locations. Please see the officer(s) on duty at the front desk, or call the Public Safety number, 312-906-5030.
Employment Limitation. Subject to the limitation for full-time first-year students mentioned just below, students may work more than 20 hours a week if they take 13 or fewer credits in a regular semester (Fall or Spring). Students are prohibited from working more than 20 hours a week if they take 14 or more credits.
Full-time first-year students are prohibited from working more than 20 hours a week even if they take 13 or fewer credits (e.g., full-time summer-start students, who take only 13 credits in the Fall, are still limited to working no more than 20 hours a week).
Academic Counseling. I am available for counseling about course selection, certificate programs, academic rules and regulations, and other academic matters. If you are interested in a particular area of law, I can also arrange for you to meet with a faculty member who specializes in that area. You may contact me by email (ssowle@kentlaw.iit.edu) or by phone at (312) 906-5282.
Meditation Room. Rm. C86 is available for meditation or contemplation. The room is located in the hallway on the southeast side of the Concourse level.
Lactation Room. There is a lactation room available in the Library. For more information, please check with the circulation desk in the Library.
TO ENTERING STUDENTS:
Bar Exam and Character & Fitness Requirements. First-year students should familiarize themselves with the bar exam and character & fitness requirements of the state in which they anticipate taking the bar exam. For Illinois, this information is available on the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar website.
Student Handbook, Academic Policies, and Code of Conduct. Please take time to review the Student Handbook, which includes information about academic policies and procedures, including the rules governing academic probation and dismissal, grading curves, graduation requirements, and the Chicago-Kent Code of Conduct (located at the end of the Handbook). For future reference, there is a permanent link to the Student Handbook through the main Current Students page.
Amending Your Application for Admission. The Illinois bar examiners reserve the right to check information you disclose to them on your bar application for consistency with the information you provided on your application for admission to law school. The bar examiners also conduct their own investigations to ensure that you disclosed all relevant information on your bar application and your law school application. Some students have had considerable difficulty in the past when the bar examiners found discrepancies between the information disclosed to them and the information on their law school applications, or when they discovered relevant information omitted from both.
I recommend that you review your answers to the questions asked in our application for admission and amend your application if any relevant information was excluded. You can amend your application by sending a memo to my attention describing the omitted information and explaining why you did not include the information on your application. In some cases, disciplinary action under the Code of Conduct may be appropriate. But it is much better to disclose the information now, and suffer whatever consequences may ensue (if any), than to be called before the bar examiners three years from now to explain a discrepancy or omission.
Most problems in the past have arisen with respect to the following two questions in Section 11 of the application:
- Have you ever been convicted of, plead guilty or nolo contendere to, or received a period of supervision for, any offense other than a minor traffic or parking violation, or is any charge now pending against you concerning such an offense? (A "minor traffic violation" is a violation for which only a citation was issued, e.g., speeding. You must report any other traffic offense, including any offense in which acting under the influence of a drug or alcohol was an element of the offense.) You must disclose each instance regardless of whether a conviction was reversed, set aside or vacated, or the record sealed or expunged.
- Have you ever been dropped, suspended, placed on academic or social probation or warning, or otherwise disciplined by any college or university, for any reason?
TO CONTINUING STUDENTS:
February 2024 and July 2024 Illinois Bar Applications. Applications for the February 2024 bar exam are due by September 15, 2023. Applications for the July 2024 bar exam are due by February 15, 2024. You may file a late application for the February bar up to November 30, and for the July bar up to April 30, but penalty fees apply. The forms and instructions are available on the bar examiners' web site: www.ilbaradmissions.org. If you have any questions about the bar exam or bar preparation, please contact our Director of Bar Success, Erin Crist, at ecrist@kentlaw.iit.edu.
All information you disclose on the bar application should be consistent with answers to questions on your Application for Admission to the law school. Please note, however, that the bar application asks for a considerable amount of information that you were not asked to provide on our Application for Admission. You only need to be concerned about the consistency of your answers for questions asked on both forms. You can amend your Application for Admission, if necessary, by addressing a letter to me setting forth the details of the omission or misrepresentation and the reason for it.
Dean's Certificate: The law school sends a “Certification of Juris Doctorate” to the Illinois bar examiners for every student who graduates in December or May. Please be sure to file an Application for Graduation at the beginning of your last semester so we will know you plan to graduate at the end of that semester. Important note: We will not certify any student to the bar examiners if the student has an outstanding balance owed to the school.
Bar Exams in Other States. Students who may practice in another state should familiarize themselves with those states' bar admission requirements, registration procedures, and deadlines. In particular, if you may take the New York bar exam, you should familiarize yourself with the coursework, pro bono, and other requirements described on the New York bar examiners website. If you plan to take a bar exam outside of Illinois, you should provide me with appropriate certification forms to complete well before the applicable deadline.
Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). The MPRE is required for admission to the bars of most jurisdictions, including Illinois. The exam is administered in March or April, August, and November each year. The next exam, in November, may be taken on November 2 or 3, 2023. You may register online by clicking here. The deadline for applying for the November exam is September 12, 2023. Students planning on taking the Illinois bar exam may take the MPRE at any time during or after law school. If you have any questions about the MPRE, please contact our Director of Bar Success, Erin Crist, at ecrist@kentlaw.iit.edu.