UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, March 31, 1997
5A
Law, social work can be team
Program combines disciplines as means of helping the poor
By Sarah McWilliams Special to the Kansan
A few KU students are trying to demonstrate that combining the studies of law and social work, which might seem to be polar opposites, can produce a powerful means of helping the underprivileged.
There's not a well-heard voice for someone who doesn't have any money or who makes bad choices or is a third-generation welfare recipient," said Sharon Franco, Kansas City, Kan., graduate student. Franco said that she planned to become a licensed attorney and an advocate in the egislature.
Bethany Kay, Greensburg graduate student, said that lawyers and politicians often didn't have complete knowledge about social systems and that sometimes social workers lacked knowledge of the law.
Kay, who is finishing her second year in the School of Social Welfare,
said she might go into family law and deal with divorce and child custody mediation.
"I got through my first semester of law school and realized that while I liked law, I didn't like the adversarial nature of it," Kay said. "I liked being the peacemaker."
She said she felt getting a social work degree would help her fill that role, so she enrolled in the law and social work joint-degree program.
Deans in the School of Social Welfare and the School of Law started the program in 1989 to enhance law students' knowledge with a social work background and to enhance knowledge of law among students of social work.
The program is a set of degree requirements from each school combined into four years, shaving one year off the time it would take to earn each degree separately, said Margaret Severson, assistant professor of social welfare.
Students in the program take classes in either the social welfare
school or the law school for their entire first year and classes in the law school for their second year.
In their third year, they combine law classes with an average of 20 hours a week of social work in an agency. In their final year, students take all of their classes in the law school.
Phillip Palmer, Berkeley, Calif., graduate student, plans to become a licensed attorney after he graduates this spring. He is willing to work the extra hours for his degrees, he said, because he has a strong moral conviction that accused criminals deserve to have their civil rights protected and to have good lawyers defending them.
"I look at poor people who are not getting legal representation like O.J. Simpson." Palmer said.
Carol Porter, Emporia graduate student, said that her interest in social justice started when she managed a low-income housing project for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She plans to work for underprivileged people in criminal defense.
John Rainwater, Oklahoma City, Okla, who will graduate this spring, said he planned to become a licensed attorney. He said he might
"I got through my first semester of law school and realized that while I liked law, I didn't like the adversarial nature of it."
Bethany Kay Greensburg graduate student
advocate for low-income housing in cities and fight against housing and employment discrimination. He said law had given him a foundation of skills to work for social justice, while social work had given him values.
"Social work will always guide my law career," Rainwater said.
Crimson tears
Crimson Girls Rachel Schmidt and Angela Arnold console each other after Kansas' loss to Arizona on March 21.
Steve Puppe / KANSAN
KU law students prepare for court competition
By Ann Premer Special to the Kansan
A group of students of the University of Kansas School of Law are busily preparing for a mock-court competition fashioned after the United States Supreme Court.
On April 3, eight KU law school students, four teams of two students each, will compete against each other in moot court semifinals. Two of the teams will advance to the finals on April 10.
The team that wins the finals will represent the University in regional competition next fall in St. Louis.
"The competition itself is really nerve-racking because you know everyone there is really smart," said Matt Wiltanger, a third-year law student from Olathe who competed in last year's event. "You feel like you are going to throw up, but after you get your first question, you relax and then it's fun."
Stephen McAllister, professor of law and director of the competition, said it was an important experience for participants.
"We do it for practice and preparation for actually working in the real world," McAllister said.
U. S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas judged the final
round of last year's competition at the University.
"It was really intimidating arguing before him because he is a Supreme Court Justice," Wiltanger said. "You can never anticipate what a judge is going to ask. You can only prepare."
Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall will serve as a judge for this year's competition.
McAllister said that KU teams had fared well at previous regional competitions. For the past two years, the University has advanced to the national level. He said that 28 teams advanced from regionals out of a field of 300.
Despite past success, McAllister said the teams were making improvements to their strategy.
"We are retooling our approach to briefs," McAllister said. "We've also done some refinements on oral arguments."
"We practice with all kinds of judges. We try to get a lot of perspectives so we develop something that has the widest appeal possible," McAllister said.
All teams in the competition work on the same case. Entrants submit a 50- to 60-page brief and
present an argument on behalf of either the respondent or the state to an appellate court.
Because so many cases are appealed, it is beneficial to know how to argue in front of an appellate court, Wiltanger said.
Brandease Caswell, a second-year law student from Montrose, Colo., said that the competition was a rare opportunity for law students to collaborate. In other situations, law students are not allowed to work with others because of an honor code, Caswell said.
The topic for the KU competition is Megan's Law, named for a girl who was murdered by a
repeat sex offender in New Jersey. The law states that when a sex offender is released from prison, notification must be given to law officials. They are then required to notify the community, McAllister said.
This law is under fire because some believe that it creates a situation called ex post facto, which punishes criminals for crimes committed before the law was passed, McAllister said. The problem facing the government is what happens to sex offenders who were convicted before Megan's Law was passed, he said.
Both KU competitions will be held in 201 Green Hall.
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