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Marketa Lindt (JD ‘94), President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and partner at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, has been named "Woman of the Year" and will be honored at the annual Marjorie Matson Day celebration hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Women's Association. 

The event will be held on Thursday, April 2, at 5 p.m., at the Allegheny Harvard Yale Princeton Club at 619 William Penn Place in Pittsburgh. This annual event commemorates Marjorie Matson (JD ‘37), a prominent Pitt Law graduate with a distinguished career in civil rights and First Amendment law, who served as Allegheny County's first woman assistant county solicitor in 1941 and the first woman assistant district attorney from 1948 to 1952.

Lindt, a 1994 Pitt Law graduate, is an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago. She works with U.S. and multinational corporations to implement business immigration visa programs to attract and retain foreign national talent. Lindt leads Sidley’s I-9 compliance practice, where she counsels and defends companies regarding their hiring practices of foreign national employees and compliance with the government’s I-9 verification requirements. In June 2019, she was elected to a one-year term as the national President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In this capacity, Lindt testified at a hearing before the House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee regarding business immigration processing delays at USCIS. She also serves as a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Immigration Policy Committee. Lindt is additionally a leading speaker and author in immigration law and policy, and she is heavily involved in Chicago-area services to assist underserved immigrant communities.

To RSVP for this event or to learn more, please email pittlawwomen@pitt.edu. The RSVP deadline is March 16.

Pitt Law welcomes the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania Special Session in our very own Teplitz Memorial Courtroom. It is a very special honor for us to have a chance to host the court, and even more special that all the judges hearing arguments – Senior Judge Bonnie Leadbetter, Judge Patricia A. McCullough, and Judge Michael H. Wojcik – are graduates of Pitt Law!

Commonwealth Court:
Established in 1968, the Commonwealth Court is one of Pennsylvania’s two statewide intermediate appellate courts. Its jurisdiction generally is limited to legal matters involving state and local government and regulatory agencies. Litigation typically focuses on such subjects as banking, insurance and utility regulation and laws affecting taxation, land use, elections, labor practices, and workers’ compensation.

Issues to be heard on Feb., 13, 2020, include:

• Whether a disabled veteran who is fleeing an abusive relationship may be denied Section 8 housing because of her use of medical marijuana for PTSD and chronic pain;
• An employer’s appeal from a decision of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review granting unemployment compensation benefits to a claimant using  cannabidiol (CBD) oil for cancer;
• An original jurisdiction matter challenging the constitutionality of the Commonwealth’s Name Change Act, which restricted the ability of transgendered persons with felony convictions for rape and aggravated assault to change their names;
• An appeal from a final determination of the Office of Open Records denying a Right To Know Law request seeking a bid proposal containing trade secret and/or confidential proprietary information; and
• An appeal of a trial court order upholding a Zoning Hearing Board’s decision granting a special exception to develop an unconventional natural gas well pad, which would allegedly be detrimental to the health and safety of the community.

Opening Ceremony
University of Pittsburgh School of Law Special Session
Thursday, Feb., 13, 2020 9:00 a.m.

Order of Proceedings

Opening of Court

Commonwealth Court Crier (or Prothonotary)

(Gavel one time)

All rise.

The Honorable Judges of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

(Gavel three times)

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!

All manner of persons who have business before this Court may now appear and they shall be heard.

God save the Commonwealth and this Honorable Court.

(Gavel one time)

Judge Wojcik recognizes Amy J. Wildermuth, Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Amy J. Wildermuth, Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, remarks.

Judge Wojcik remarks and introduction of Commonwealth Court Judges.

Closing of Court

University of Pittsburgh School of Law Bessie McKee Walthour Endowed Chair, Professor Jules Lobel, has been named recipient of the 2020 Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award. The Award annually recognizes outstanding public service contributions by members of the University of Pittsburgh’s faculty.

Lobel was recognized for his work in partnering with the ACLU on a challenge to the police ban on demonstrations during the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh; protecting Occupy Pittsburgh’s rights to engage in public protests; and his ongoing advocacy on behalf of prisoners in solitary confinement. This is the second time Lobel has received the Award, having also been named the 2002 recipient.

Lobel was President of the Center for Constitutional Rights from 2011-2017, a prominent constitutional and human rights NGO based in New York City and is still a cooperating attorney with that organization. He argued <em>Wilkinson v. Austin</em> in the United States Supreme Court, addressing the due process rights of Ohio prisoners held in prolonged solitary confinement in that State's supermax prison. He is currently lead counsel, on behalf of the Center for Constitutional Rights in <em>Ashker v. Brown</em>, a class action challenge to prolonged solitary confinement in California that has resulted in more than 1500 prisoners being released from solitary confinement.

This is the second time Lobel has received the Award, having also been named the 2002 recipient.

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law have entered into an agreement that will allow qualified students to earn both an undergraduate degree and a law degree in six years, saving a full year of time and costs.

Pitt’s Accelerated Law Admissions Program (ALAP) will allow BU students who have earned at least ninety (90) credits and have completed all major and all Bloomsburg University general education requirements by the end of their junior year, to apply for law school admission, as if it was their final year of undergraduate study.

Pitt Law will assess those students as if they were ordinary applicants, except that it will waive the usual requirement to have completed a bachelor’s degree before admission. After successfully completing their 1L year of law school, they will have also earned a degree from Bloomsburg University. It is expected that one to five eligible students each year will enroll in Pitt Law following their junior year at BU.

This program is born out of the newly created Diehl Center for Law School Preparation at Bloomsburg University. The ALAP program will assist BU in the recruitment and retention of outstanding undergraduate students who have a desire to continue on to law school.

“This agreement will benefit our students who are interested in attending law school, giving them a path to save both time and money,” said Diana Rogers-Adkinson, Bloomsburg University provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. “The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is one of the most respected law schools in the country and has many notable alumni, including the Honorable Mary Jane Bowes, Judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court and Chair of BU’s Council of Trustees. We are honored to be able to join with the Pitt School of Law in this program.”

Pitt Law’s Dean Amy Wildermuth is equally excited about the new partnership: “We have had several excellent Bloomsburg graduates as students at Pitt Law and this program will strengthen the terrific pipeline between our two schools. Most importantly, both Bloomsburg and Pitt are eager to find ways to help students reduce their overall debt. By decreasing the number of years a student spends in school, this program will have a significant and meaningful impact.”

Pitt Law already offers its ALAP to students at the University’s Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences and its College of Business Administration. The program is also available at Washington and Jefferson College and Carlow University.

The York County Bar Association (YCBA) and, its charitable arm, the York County Bar Foundation (YCBF) believe that, although it is important to promote more minorities to senior level positions within the legal profession, those efforts will be hampered if there are still too few minorities who decide to enter the profession in the first place. Beginning in 2005, the YCBA convened its Diversity Committee to look at ways in which diversity in the legal profession could be enhanced. Programs were initiated to encourage minority students to consider law-related employment within the York community. In 2007, the Diversity Committee encouraged the Bar Foundation to establish the Clarence “Chuck” N. Patterson Diversity Internship Scholarship program and began efforts to raise funds for this purpose. The internship is named after the late Honorable Clarence Nicholas Patterson, Jr., who was a pioneer for diversity and served as York County’s first African-American judge.
The Clarence “Chuck” N. Patterson Diversity Internship Scholarship Program provides internship opportunities for eligible minority first or second year, full-time law students. Interns receive $6,000 for a 10-week long summer internship in York County and opportunity to attend York County Bar Association activities and meet other York County Bar members. Past applicants have been placed with the Office of the Public Defender but other options are also being explored. The deadline for submission of application materials is Monday, January 14, 2019.
More information here.

Two law student summer fellowship programs, awarded through the Lawyers' Fund at the Allegheny County Bar Foundation and The John P. Gismondi Fund, are open to current second-year law students.
The Lawyers Fund will host twelve students at the following participating organizations: Christian Legal Aid, Disability Rights Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office, Education Law Center, Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Juvenile Court Project, KidsVoice, Office of Conflict Counsel, Office of Public Defender, Pro Bono Center, Women’s Center & Shelter, or the Women’s Law Project.
The Gismondi Fellowship Program provides interns with an intensive hands-on experience at Neighborhood Legal Services, exposing aspiring lawyers to the procedures related to either Protection from Abuse (PFA) or Housing cases.
For more information, please visit http://www.acbf.org/Lawyers-Fund-Law-Student-Summer-Fellowship-Program.
Eligible students must apply through PittLawWorks. The internship opportunity postings on PittLawWorks provide more information about each participating organization, as well as a list of all required application materials. The application deadline is January 15, 2019.

If you are planning on graduating in May 2019, you will need to complete both a University Graduation Application and a Law School Check List. You can find links to both of those documents near the bottom of the page (https://www.law.pitt.edu/resources/graduation/requirements). Once you have completed both documents, please turn them in to the Law School Registrar’s Office between normal office hours of 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. Applications must be turned in to our office no later than noon on Tuesday, January 22nd. Any application submitted after that deadline, should also include a late fee of $15.00. This late fee must be paid by check or money order made payable to: The University of Pittsburgh. This is a University fee and they are not able to charge your Pitt Pay account for this fee. Also, they do not accept cash. If you are not planning on graduating in May 2019, please reply to this email so that I know and can update your account. You must submit a graduation application in order to graduate and the fee will continue to go up throughout the semester so please try to do it while it is free. 
A few things to note about the application and checklist:
You do not have to fill out the 3rd page of the application. The University no longer uses that page. I am not sure why they do not remove it, but you do not need to fill it out.
The graduation term is “2194”.
Please use an address where you or someone you know will be in late June/early July. The diplomas are mailed from the University Registrar late June/early July. If you are not sure what your address will be at that time, please use another permanent address (parent, aunt, uncle, best friend, etc.) so that you know your diploma will safely get to you.
The University will use your name as it appears in PeopleSoft when issuing your diploma so please make sure that it matches what you place on your graduation application. Name changes can be made at the University Registrar’s Office located in G-3 Thackeray Hall. 
In regards to the Law School Check List, please fill this out as best as you can. Our office will use this document in addition to the advisement report, course description information from the Law School’s website and your transcript in order to make sure that you are meeting all Law School graduation requirements. 
There are some updates that are still being made with the Advisement Report in PeopleSoft. If there is an error on your report (such as something not showing up for a requirement that you thought it would), please refer back to the course description on the Law School’s website. This is what we ultimately use when determining if a course meets a requirement so if the requirement is listed there, we will count it for that course. There is also a section on the advisement report that will say “Overall Requirements Not Satisfied”. This will not show as complete until your degree is posted in June so do not be concerned if you have met every requirement (especially when grades are in) and that section is still showing as not satisfied. 
Our office will do a manual line by line audit of each student using the AA reports, transcripts, the course descriptions on the Law School’s website and the checklist that you turn in to our office. No news from us within a day or so of turning in your application is good news. We will only contact you if we run into a question or have a concern with your audit. Because it takes time to look at each record, I cannot guarantee that if you turn in your application Thursday or Friday of next week that your audit will be complete by the end of add/drop. 
If you have specific questions regarding your record before you turn in your application to our office, please meet with your faculty mentor. 

he Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) seeks to ensure equal access to justice for indigent institutionalized persons in Pennsylvania. PILP provides civil legal services to over 100,000 persons housed in jails, prisons, state hospitals and state centers. There are three offices located in Philadelphia, Lewisburg, and Pittsburgh, PA. We engage in direct representation, legislative and administrative advocacy, as well as providing institutionalized persons with legal reference materials and referrals. The Pittsburgh office engages in litigation primarily in the federal courts. 
PILP's litigation docket includes cases involving disability rights, transgender rights, women's issues, freedom of religion, and mental health and medical care, as well as other conditions of confinement. PILP is currently involved in class actions relating to a deteriorating nineteenth century county jail and the placement of individuals with serious mental illness in solitary confinement at one of the most secure federal prisons in the country. Other cases currently active in the Pittsburgh office include the shackling of a pregnant woman during labor, sexual assault of an incarcerated woman by a guard, and PA DOC's current legal mail policy that eradicates attorney-client confidentiality, and denial of religious accommodations to Native Americans, and those of the Santeria and the Nation of Islam faiths.
Position Description:
The Pittsburgh office of PILP welcomes student volunteers/interns throughout the school year. Students may volunteer for a brief period over their semester or spring breaks, or throughout the semester. Students volunteering during the school semester may volunteer for limited time specific research or discovery projects, or volunteer a set number of hours each week.
Law student interns will be responsible for legal research and writing, reviewing and answering intake, case development and investigation, assisting with discovery and other related duties. The intern will be supervised by one of the staff attorneys, and taken to client meetings, depositions, and court whenever appropriate. The Pittsburgh office accepts applications for both part-time and full-time summer interns.
PILP is unable to offer paid internships. Thus, PILP asks that students either volunteer or seek outside funding through work study, law school or foundation public interest fellowships or similar programs. PILP has previously been an approved site for credit-based internships at some law schools.
Application Process:
To apply, please send a cover letter, resume and writing sample (only for summer applications, preferably not from legal writing class) to Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz at amorgan-kurtz@pailp.org.
Applications are due by January 25, 2019.

The University of Florida Levin College of Law has an immediate opening for a clinical fellow who will work in its expanding Immigration Law Clinic. The clinic developed as an offshoot of the work of our Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Clinic (IPVAC), with funding from the Florida Bar Foundation. Students enrolled in the Immigration Law Clinic receive instruction and supervision related to individual representation of immigrant clients with U-Visas, VAWA self-petitions, adjustments of status, Employment Authorizations, Federal Benefits, Drivers’ Licenses or IDs, and FOIA requests. Additionally, the clinic provides assistance to the US-born children of immigrants.
The clinical fellow will work directly with IPVAC Professor Teresa Drake, clinic students, and clients, and will conduct outreach to immigrants in 15 rural counties in North Florida. The clinical fellow will be instrumental in continuing and expanding on the clinic’s mission, and will help teach our clinic course, which is taught in cooperation with the immigration law clinic at Florida State University Law School.
For more information, including instructions on how to apply, please see the posting on PittLawWorks. Applicants must include a CV, references and a cover letter. Review of applications will begin January 2, 2019 and will continue until the position is filled.