For Immediate Release February 15, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

Retreat Forges Support for Students Pursuing Public Interest Law Career

INDIANAPOLIS - Law school students interested in public service careers will gather near Indianapolis later this month for a national retreat geared to help them stay focused on their altruistic goals.

The fourth annual Norman Amaker Public Interest Law Retreat will be held Friday through Sunday, Feb. 25-27 at Indiana University 's Bradford Woods Outdoor Center , 5040 State Road 67 North, Martinsville, Ind., The center is about 24 miles south of downtown Indianapolis.

Students from as far away as Alaska are expected to attend this year's event which has the theme "Human Rights in the 21st Century."

Civil rights in the United States since the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, the plight of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay , and international trafficking in people are among the topics for discussion. About 80 students, along with almost two dozen practicing attorneys and law professors, are registered for the retreat hosted by students of IU School of Law-Indianapolis. The retreat is co-sponsored by the law school and the Society of American Law Teachers.

The topics are reflective of the ideals embraced by many aspiring law school students, according to Robert Lancaster, a faculty advisor.

"If you read applications of law school students, a good number of the students list doing good and fighting for social justice as reasons why they want to earn law degrees," said Lancaster, who teaches the civil practice clinic at the law school located on the IUPUI campus. "Those numbers aren't often reflected in the numbers who go into public interest law after graduation."

The retreat serves to bring together social-justice minded students to form networks that will encourage the students who wish to remain focused on their social interests and goals to do so, the professor said. The number of students who have attended the annual retreat throughout their law school careers is indicative of the need for such an event, Lancaster said.

Keynote speaker Luke Cole, director of The Center for Race, Poverty, and the Environment in San Francisco , will present "The Importance of Being Rebellious Lawyers in the Oughties," at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 26.

Speaking from 15 years of experience as an environmental justice and civil rights lawyer, Cole will address the need for lawyers and law students to be more creative and vigilant in their advocacy for social justice given what he describes as the current hostile political climate.

In the opening session at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, Derek Black of the National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington , D.C. , will present a retrospective of the 50 years since the landmark Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education ruling which led to the integration of American schools. Black will discuss the status of civil rights since 1954.

A few of the other speakers are Scott Bates, senior policy advisor, U.S. House of Representatives; Mary Jo Gleason, director, Greenebaum Public Service Program, Brandeis School of Law, Ky.; Gretchen Hunt, the Center for Women and Families, Louisville, Ky.; Terrill North, Equal Justice Works, Washington, D.C.; and Fran Quigley, executive director, Indiana Civil Liberties Union.

IUPUI law professors scheduled to speak include Florence Wagman Roisman, Maria Pabon Lopez and George Edwards.

The $100 registration fee includes all food and lodging for the weekend.

For additional information about the retreat, visit http://indylaw.indiana.edu/clinics/amaker/retreat.htm.

For information about the retreat center, visit http://www.bradwoods.org/.

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