Author: Carl Olsen (Carl Olsen)

An intense desire to earn a law degree on top of her medical degree led Dr. Deborah A. Turner to squeeze in classes at Drake University Law School between her office hours and surgery schedule.

Drake University gained 128 Law School alumni after the graduates in the class of 2008 donned their caps and gowns at the Law School's Commencement Ceremony this spring.

Drake Law School welcomed a diverse group of prominent speakers to campus this spring. The Law School aims to bring lawyers, scholars and professionals to speak to and interact with students to prepare outstanding lawyers who will promote justice, serve as leaders in their communities and the legal profession and respond to the call of public service.

Eight law students and three attorneys have been taking one of the nation's first courses on wind law at Drake University Law School this spring.

Peter K. Yu, the Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law at Drake University, recently accepted the Wenlan Scholar Chair Professorship at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China. Yu also serves as the director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake.

Industry leaders, attorneys, academics and scientists recently gathered to explore cutting-edge intellectual property issues at Drake University's Inaugural Summer Institute in Intellectual Property, Biotechnology and Agricultural Sciences.

Russell Lovell, associate dean and professor of law at Drake University, recently was honored by Iowa Legal Aid with the Excellence in Service Award for his work "to promote justice and ensure that society becomes more hospitable to low-income people."

Five Drake University law students appear to have a bright future as lobbyists and legislators, thanks to the experience they gained in lobbying for children's rights in the Iowa Legislature this session.

Instead of joining a law firm after graduation, two Drake University law students are teaming up with the head of one of the nation's largest insurance companies. Their goal is to spur economic development on the Crow Creek Reservation in the nation's poorest county -- Buffalo County, S.D.