Category: Law School News

Drake program to address moral dilemmas in law and medicine

In a society polarized by hot-button issues, morally sensitive topics can be extraordinarily divisive in the workplace. And for judges, lawyers, doctors and pharmacists, determining the role of an individual’s conscience can be problematic. That conundrum will be the topic of a multidisciplinary program being presented jointly by Drake University Law School, the American Judicature Society and Drake’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack delivered the keynote address at the Drake University Law School’s annual Supreme Court Celebration held March 10 at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown.

The American Judicature Society has announced the appointment of Seth S. Andersen as executive vice president.

Kendra Mills Arnold, a third-year Drake Law School student from Ankeny, presented oral arguments before the Iowa Court of Appeals March 8 at the Iowa Judicial Branch Building.

Stephen Rapp, LW'74, prosecutor of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), will return to Drake Law School April 9-10 to meet with students and faculty and deliver a lecture titled "The Compact Model in International Criminal Justice: The Special Court for Sierra Leone."

Professor Mary Dudziak recently gave a talk titled "Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey" as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by the Drake Constitutional Law Center.

At the Feb. 1 dedication of the transfer of National Bar Association archives to the Opperman Law Library, William S. Morris, the grandson of NBA co-founder James B. Morris, described the racial tensions in Des Moines during the 1920s. He cited appalling examples, such as when the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross at the foot of the Iowa State Capitol building in 1925.

The Drake Law School National Moot Court team finished among the top 8 teams out of the 28 teams that competed in the final rounds of the National Moot Court Competition in New York City.

From attending an orientation at the Iowa State Capitol to witnessing a second-degree murder trial, first-year law students' educations are enhanced by law-in-action experiences.

This spring, the annual Drake Law School Constitutional Law Symposium will tackle a bold topic for debate: Does the U.S. Constitution thwart democracy? The event, titled "Our 'Undemocratic' American Constitution," is set for Saturday, April 7.