In this issue of Res Ipsa Online, we look back at two of the biggest California Western news stories of 2012, celebrate some of the many successes achieved by our alumni, share a first-hand perspective on the Clinical Internship Program, and recognize a few of the many contributions of our faculty members.

FREEING THE INNOCENT:
The Brian Banks Story
It took 10 years - and the intervention of the California Innocence Project - to help Brian Banks get his life back. Now he's advocating on behalf of others while pursuing a dream delayed. A high school standout athlete with a scholarship to play for USC, Banks' life went off course when a classmate accused him of rape. A surprising turn of events led Banks from the football field, to prison, and back again. Today he promotes the work of the California Innocence Project while working to make his NFL dreams a reality.

AN INSPIRED CHOICE:
Meet Dean Niels Schaumann
With legal education facing some of its most serious challenges to date, few decisions have been more critical in California Western’s history than the selection of the school’s new President and Dean. You don't have to spend much time with Niels B. Schaumann to realize the selection last spring of this longtime law school professor and administrator was an inspired choice.

FEDERAL JUDICIAL CLERKSHIPS:
Emphasis on Theory and Practice Prepares Graduates
Last year more than 37,000 law students and recent graduates applied for 98 federal Judicial Clerkship positions in California. One of the most sought after post-graduation job opportunities, these clerkships help new attorneys develop skills employers seek: managing dockets, writing legal memoranda, drafting orders, and interacting with attorneys and judges. With nine Judicial Clerks and two post-bar externs working in the Southern District's 32 judicial chambers, California Western more than doubled the school’s participation in the past decade.

PREPARING FOR THE JOB MARKET:
Internships Serve as Proving Ground for Students
When Lisa A. Skrzycki '12 was offered a seemingly-impossible-to-secure internship with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, she was looking for a way to gain experience and make connections. "I planned to soak up as much information as I could," explains Skrzycki. "I knew that if I just followed the advice of my professors and advisors, I would emerge from the internship ready to start work upon graduation." Her work with the SEC would expand upon the skills and experience she had already gained through previous internships. Skrzycki had the right idea: The clinical practice gained from internships and pro bono work while in law school helps demonstrate to potential employers that the law school graduate can come on board, ready to leverage actual experience to effectively support a firm.

STUDENT PERSPECTIVE:
Internship Program Helps Prepare Students for Practice at Home and Abroad
Third-year student Karima Masri is in Vienna, Austria this trimester as an intern with the United Nations. Through the Clinical Internship Program at California Western, Masri will gain valuable skills and experience that will help her bridge the gap between the classroom and practice. She credits the knowledge gained in her international law classes at California Western with helping prepare her for the UN internship, which in turn will prepare her for further coursework when she returns to campus. Masri shared this first-person account of an internship she always dreamed of, working to prevent human trafficking while improving her language and communication skills.

ALUMNI PROFILE:
Hansdeep Singh: Tearing Down the Foundations of Discrimination
In a relatively short amount of time, Hansdeep Singh '08 has become an important force fighting discrimination and preventing violence against vulnerable communities around the world. As a Sikh, Singh and his family have experienced discrimination first-hand. His parents left Iran and India to escape persecution, bringing the family to Southern California. After earning his J.D. at California Western and an LL.M. in International Law & Justice at Fordham, where he was first in his class, Singh served as Senior Staff Attorney at UNITED SIKHS before earlier this year co-founding the International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD). Singh and his wife, Tejal Kaur, a child psychiatrist, live in New York City with their 15-month-old daughter.

FACULTY PROFILE: Mark Weinstein
When Mark Weinstein was a law student at George Washington University, about the last thing on his career horizon was becoming a law school professor.
FACULTY PROFILE: Phyllis Marion
There are few institutions at a law school more complex, more utilized, and ultimately more valuable than the library. And if its most important role is to illuminate through the dissemination of knowledge, then Phyllis Marion serves as a most trusted and capable keeper of the light in her job as Associate Dean for Library and Information Services. With more than four decades of law library experience, Marion's abilities cover a remarkable spectrum.

HONOR ROLL OF DONORS: 2011-2012
The consistent support of our donors allows California Western to provide the kind of independent, innovative, and inspiring law school experience and training our students expect. This Honor Roll of Donors recognizes those individuals whose charitable contributions above $100 were received between August 1, 2011 and July 31, 2012.

Copyright © 2012 California Western School of Law.
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