Professor Yvette Barksdale featured

Barksdale, 54, died in her South Loop home March 14, apparently from natural causes, her friends say.

Barksdake, who was on leave from teaching at the time of her death, became a faculty member at John Marshall in 1989.

Read more: Friends and Students Remember Longtime John Marshall Professor

Professor Jason Kilborn featured

“I was very surprised I was sort of the center of this media hurricane,” said Kilborn, a professor at The John Marshall Law School. “Local commentators had been making all the comments I’d made for quite a long time. The moment someone comes in from abroad, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, why haven’t we noticed this?’”

Kilborn delivered his strong message at a Dublin event hosted by an Irish organization akin to American legal aid groups.

If Ireland fails to reform its personal insolvency system, Kilborn told the gathering, its economy will continue to sputter and struggle.

Read more: Professor Delivers 'Kilborn Ultimatum'

3L Travis Moore featured

Travis always wanted to be a legal services attorney and pro bono is the first step on that path.

He decided to go to law school because he saw the power of the law. He wants to use that power to improve people's lives, to make a difference. After he graduates from The John Marshall Law School in 2013, he said he hopes to find a job, either as a legal aid attorney or in a related, legal service-oriented field. His long term goal involves running a legal services organization.

Read more: The Alpha and Omega of Pro Bono

Stella was a retired attorney and member of the American, Illinois, Chicago, Women’s and Hellenic Bar Associations for over 50 years; former Illinois commissioner of unemployment insurance; former assistant state’s attorney of Cook County; past president of the Hellenic Bar Association, the Greek Women’s University Club and the Elmhurst Symphony Auxiliary.

Our thoughts are with Stella's family and friends.

Read more: Stella A. Cuthbert of Elmhurst Passes Away

Professor Jason Kilborn quoted

"Law firms and service providers would do themselves and their clients a major service by using JusticeBid.com because of its unique platform bringing together lawyers and providers," said Jason Kilborn, a professor of law at The John Marshall Law School (Chicago).

Read more: JusticeBid.com Streamlines Document Review Bidding Process for Law Firms, Corporations and Government

Professor Timothy O'Neill authors article

When is a plea of guilty not really a plea of guilty? Pedro Cabrera was charged in a six-count felony indictment rising out of an incident with a married couple and their two children. People v. Cabrera. 402.Ill.App.3rd 440 (2010).

Read more: Professor Outlines Legal and Moral Problems with Alford Pleas

Professor Timothy O'Neill featured

John Marshall Law School Professor and Chicago Daily Law Bulletin columnist Timothy P. O'Neill was given a Meritorious Achievement Award for his anti-death penalty column, "Some Advice: Let's Leave Well Enough Alone."

Read more: FWIW Among This Year's Kogan Winners

Alissa Neuman

During her time at the public defender’s office at the George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building, 3L Alissa Neuman has learned most of its young clients aren’t inherently bad, but need guidance.

Neuman is the summer 2012 recipient of the Jack Carey Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded three times a year to law students clerking at the Cook County Public Defender.

Neuman received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology at Northern Illinois University, but decided to pursue law knowing that having a law degree would take her career a step further. Interested in going into criminal defense, Neuman knows it’s an area of law that truly helps people. “It’s a job that needs to be done and you actually have an impact.”

Many of the clients Neuman interacts with are young.  She believes most of them don’t intend to get involved in illegal activity, but just that they hit a rough spot. Neuman likes to help these youths to target and overcome any criminal tendencies.

A 711-licensed student, Neuman will be working in the Felony Trial Division with Assistant Public Defender Mark Douglass. She is the 30th recipient of this $2,500 scholarship.

Neuman is currently working as a legal clerk for attorney Timothy J. Fiscella, writing appellate briefs for criminal matters and assisting in drafting pre- and post-trial motions, as well as administrative tasks.

Her volunteer experience includes working with Metropolitan Tenants Organization, offering advice on tenants’ rights, and Opportunity Knocks, helping young adults with developmental disabilities.

Honorees at the 2012 Freedom Award and Distinguished Service Awards (DSA) luncheon are (seated, left) Freedom Award recipient Judge Paul Biebel of the Circuit Court of Cook County, with DSA recipients Kevin Hull (JD ’00), principal at Hull Partners, Ltd.; and (standing, from left) Ricardo Meza (JD ’89), executive inspector general for Agencies of the Illinois Governor; Nicholas C. Zagotta (JD ’94), partner at Roberts McGivney Zagotta LLC; and Professor Barry Kozak (JD ’00, LLM ’00), director of Elder Law Studies at The John Marshall Law School.

The Cook County Court system often takes freedom from those who stand before judges and juries.

But Judge Paul Biebel, presiding judge of the Criminal Division said he and his fellow judges and attorneys are working to give freedom to some of those who otherwise would become a statistic.

Biebel, who received the Freedom Award from The John Marshall Law School Alumni Association at its annual luncheon May 4, 2012, said he accepted the Freedom Award on behalf of “the great judges and attorneys who serve at the largest courthouse with 31 jury rooms, and seven specialty rooms dealing with 20,000 felony cases a year, and 2,000 trials.”

The Freedom Award is shared with those judges and attorneys who are working to help create freedom from the ravages of drug abuse, mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sexual and physical abuse which often leads women to prostitution.

“Freedom, it’s the hallmark of our society,” Biebel said, and thanks to the work of new specialty courts more people working through these problems are keeping their freedom rather than facing jail time.

“We have one of the most ambitious (court systems) with specialty courts,” Biebel told the more than 325 people in attendance. “Our biggest problem is recidivism.” Today on average 50 percent of those released from prison will be back behind bars within three years.

By contrast, “These (specialty) courts literally save lives,” he noted. Of the people helped by the specialty courts “most don’t return” to the system, the judge said. He stressed that “those who work in these courts are heroic.”

During his introduction, Biebel took a ribbing from Circuit Court of Cook County Judge John Doody (JD ’74) who serves in the Criminal Division. Doody joked that Biebel missed out on a great education at The John Marshall Law School, but said he was happy Biebel would finally get his John Marshall degree when he serves as the June 3, 2012, commencement speaker and receives an honorary degree.

Biebel had high praise for John Marshall alumni, including former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, current Supreme Court Justice Charles Freeman, and Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans.

“I used to believe it was the classic city school,” Biebel said of John Marshall.  But a look through the latest Sullivan’s Illinois Attorneys Directory showed that 187 judges are John Marshall graduates, and that 83 of those serve in 37 counties outside Cook County.

“If the measure of value is based on the population it serves, John Marshall deserves a large gold star and a solid A+,” Biebel told the audience.

The Grotefeld Hoffmann Veterans Clinic Scholarship was established by Grotefeld, Hoffmann, Schleiter, Gordon and Ochoa. Alumni Mark S. Grotefeld (JD ’81), William J. Hoffmann (JD ’93) and John Schleiter (JD ’96), and fellow firm equity partners Brad Gordon, Maura Walsh-Ochoa and David Evinger created the scholarship to honor heroic sacrifices made by members of the United States armed forces during the Global War on Terror, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

The idea came to Grotefeld when he received a letter regarding John Marshall’s building expansion, which includes VLSC’s move to a larger space in the law school. David Evinger, managing partner of the firm’s Minneapolis office, has a son who is first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

“It came to my attention that people serving in the military had needs that were not being met by JAG Corps,” Grotefeld said. “When people get into these difficult situations, they need help—why not lend a hand?”

The scholarship will be awarded to students enrolled in the VLSC clinic program, with preference given to students who are active military or veterans. The firm donated $25,000 to establish the endowed scholarship, and gave an additional $1,000 to serve as the student award for 2012. Grotefeld said the firm is interested in making additional gifts to the scholarship fund, and would consider gifts to other law schools should they create a clinic that reflects the mission of John Marshall’s VLSC.

“It was in my thoughts, helping folks in the military through their good efforts,” Grotefeld said. “It’s important to give back to people who’ve done so much for our country.”

For more information about creating a scholarship, call Geoff Hammond (JD ’04) at 312/386-2871.

Activities

He co-chairs the International Criminal Law Interest Group (ICLIG), and hosted a workshop at The John Marshall Law School in December 2011 with Professor Stuart Ford.

Professor Stuart Ford

Activities

He is part of ICLIG, and led a lunchtime discussion about the empirical methods of ICL at the December 2011 workshop.

Professor Timothy O'Neill

Activities

He received a Meritorious Achievement Award at May 9's CBA 23rd Annual Herman Kogan Media Awards. The award was for one of his Chicago Daily Law Bulletin columns.

Professor Timothy O'Neill featured

Aurora A. Austriaco, first vice president of The Chicago Bar Association, and Cook County Circuit Judge Michael B. Hyman listened as John Marshall Law School professor Timothy O'Neill spoke after receiving the "Meritorious Achievement Award" at Wednesday's CBA 23rd Annual Herman Kogan Media Awards. He received the award for one of his Chicago Daily Law Bulletin columns.

See photo: Professor O'Neill Receives Meritorious Achievement Award at Kogan Luncheon

3L Anthony Martin featured

Lt. Anthony R. Martin of the Chicago Fire Department recently addressed the St. Terrence Men’s Club at the St. Terrence CCD Center in Alsip. Martin has been a Chicago firefighter for more than 23 years.

Read more: Martin Addresses Men's Club

Jessica Arong O'Brien (JD '98/LLM '02) featured

Jessica Arong O'Brien won the open Cook County seat on the Illinois State Bar Association Board of Governors.

O'Brien secured 811 votes to defeat Mark L. Karno, who received 667 votes. O'Brien—an attorney at the Illinois Department of Revenue who also won a primary race in March for a Cook County judicial spot—wants to promote more diversity in the ISBA.

Read more: O'Brien Captures Open ISBA Cook Seat

Professor F. Willis Caruso featured

Once in a while, a woman complaining that she has been illegally denied mortgage insurance because she is on maternity leave seeks help from The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center, F. Willis Caruso said.

But Caruso said he never saw a case like the one the U.S. Department of Justice pursued in Pennsylvania.

Read more: Experts Describe How Fair Housing Act Has Far Reach

The South Loop at State Street and Jackson Boulevard displays a beauty makeover this spring with the opening of The John Marshall Law School's new frontage.

Read more: John Marshall Offers New Look

Moira H. Pietrowski (JD '97) featured

Moira H. Pietrowski, in the firm's Akron office, focuses her litigation practice on product liability/toxic tort and fire litigation. She represents her clients in trial, mediation and arbitration proceedings, and serves as national counsel in many product liability/toxic tort cases. Ms. Pietrowski received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her J.D. cum laude from The John Marshall Law School.

Read more: Roetzel Promotes Five Associates to Partner

Students from 20 colleges and universities competed for law school tuition waivers at the Ninth Annual National Undergraduate Diversity Mock Trial Competition at The John Marshall Law School. The 60 participants who came to the Chicago law school were assigned to teams, and over two days learned to work collaboratively in presenting a mock trial.

Read more: Students Earn Law School Tuition Waivers in Diversity Mock Trial Competition at The John Marshall Law School

Co-chairman Bruce R. Meckler (JD '81) cannot recall the last time he took a true vacation.

Meckler, from Meckler, Bulger, Tilson, Marick & Pearson LLP, said on average he works about 80 hours a week on law firm issues and client matters. Besides his management duties, Meckler practices law full time, he says.

Read more: Meckler Leads by His Example

Distinguished Service Award recipient Nicholas Zagotta (JD '94) speaks at Freedom Award banquet on May 4.

James Shadid (JD '83)

The Honorable James E. Shadid, Chief United States District Judge of the Central District of Illinois and a 1979 Bradley graduate, will speak at the Graduate School commencement ceremony at Bradley University on May 10.

Read more: Judge James Shadid to Give Keynote Address at Bradley Graduate School Commencement

Professor Susann MacLachlan to moderate ethics panel

Identify the ethics questions and issues that an animal law practitioner may be confronted with in the various scenarios presented throughout this interactive panel presentation.

Read more: 4th Annual Animal Law Conference to Take Place in June

John Marshall Law School Professor Ann Lousin and reporter John Rooney each received a "Certificate of Excellence Award" Friday at the 2012 Illinois History Symposium Banquet and Annual Awards Presentation Sponsored by the Illinois State Historical Society. Lousin earned honors for her Law Bulletin column and Rooney for his "My Father's Example" series.

See photo: Lousin Receives Certificate of Excellence Award at History Symposium

The scholarship is awarded annually to Chicago-area students who are committed to the highest scholastic standards. The award was presented to Berhanu by Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans at Northwest Suburban Bar’s Annual Judge’s Night Dinner in Rosemont, Ill., on April 26, 2012.

A native to Las Vegas, Berhanu majored in finance and business law as an undergraduate at University of Nevada-Las Vegas. She came to John Marshall in fall 2011, hoping to pursue a legal career in corporate law. She says John Marshall has proven to be an excellent place to start her legal career.

Berhanu is a member of the Corporate Law Association, Phi Alpha Delta and will serve as vice president of the Black Law Students Association during the 2012-2013 academic year. She quickly realized “people were willing to help me” and recognized a sense of family these organizations offered her, which was comforting and gave her a sense of being welcomed.

Activities

She was recognized on Saturday, April 28, 2012, by The Illinois State Historical Society with a Certificate of Excellence Award for her regular Chicago Daily Law Bulletin column "Law and Public Issues."

In addition, she will be honored by the Illinois Press Association at its conference in June for her column "How the U.S. Constitution Caused the Civil War" that also appeared in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

William McGrath

Acting Director, Center for Intellectual Property Law

Activities

He will be honored by the Illinois Press Association at its annual conference in June for his Chicago Daily Law Bulletin column "Should Tweets get Copyright Protection."

Professor Timothy P. O’Neill

Activities

His column, "Advice on Death Penalty Suggests Leaving Well Enough Alone," is a finalist in the annual Herman Kogan Media Awards competition May 9, 2012, sponsored by The Chicago Bar Association. The piece was published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

The 2012-2013 Glenn T. Johnson Chapter of the Black Law Students Association at The John Marshall Law School executive board: Jocelyn Watkins, president; Dibora Leykun Berhanu, vice president; Joi Lyons, secretary; Jason Beasley, treasurer; and Quinton Saffold, advocate general.

Suzanne Brooks (JD '82) featured

Suzanne Brooks made an unsuccessful run for the Senate District 2 seat four years ago, but she is giving it a go again mainly because of her deeply held pro-life values.

She recalls watching children protesting at an abortion clinic in the 1990s and thinking to herself, “What have I done?”

Read more: It's a Three-way Contest of GOP Nod in North Valley

Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn will be the guest speaker for an 11 a.m. ceremony May 18, 2012, when The John Marshall Law School Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic (VLSC) recognizes its executive directors, Brian Clauss and Joseph Butler, for their work on the book, Servicemember and Veterans Rights.

Read more: Gov. Quinn Joins in Celebration of Veterans Rights Handbook at The John Marshall Law School

The John Marshall Law School is proud of its heritage of delivering diverse, courtroom-ready attorneys to the legal community. Nowhere is this more evident than in its Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. Led by Professor Susann "Sunny" MacLachlan, the Center is among the school's six clinic-based programs. The law school also offers students the opportunity for hands-on activity in its Fair Housing and Veterans Clinics.

Read more: Susann 'Sunny' MacLachlan: Preparing Students to Succeed – An Experience-Based Approach

Professor Ann Lousin featured

John Marshall Law School Professor Ann Lousin and reporter John Rooney each received a "Certificate of Excellence Award" Friday at the 2012 Illinois History Symposium Banquet and Annual Awards Presentation Sponsored by the Illinois State Historical Society. Lousin earned honors for her Law Bulletin column and Rooney for his "My Father's Example" series.

See photo: Lousin Receives Certificate of Excellence Award at at History Symposium

Brian Clauss, co-executive director of the Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic, authored article

The National Guard and the Reserve component of the U.S. military provide tremendous service to the United States. Given the unique status and operation of the National Guard and Reserve forces in times of war or crises, these service men and service women can also face unique challenges can also face unique challenges after returning from active duty.

Read more: National Guard, Reserve Members Face Issues When Returning Home

Professor Susann McLachlan and 2L RaeLeann Smith quoted

"Our school has received a lot of recognition in this area because we have repeatedly won the closing argument portion of the National Animal Law Competitions at Harvard," MacLachlan said.

"I have always been interested in animal law issues and am hoping the [animal law] class will help me to use the law to better advocate for legislation that helps animals," Smith said.

Read more: Even Animals Need Legal Assistance

Professor Doris Estelle Long authored column

Cyberspace has proven surprisingly vulnerable to attack. Even the Chinese government, al-Qaida and Citigroup have seen their websites taken down in recent weeks. As battle for cyberspace heats up, the vulnerability of cyber information has moved to the center of national intellectual property strategies. In the just-released 2011 Report on Intellectual Property Enforcement by the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator (colloquially called "the IP czar"), enhanced trade secret protection was listed among the U.S. government's priorities. Yet both domestic and international enforcement remain woefully outdated.

Read more: Trade Secret Protection Finally Moves Center Stage

John Marshall Law School Professor Ann Lousin, who says Blagojevich will likely jump at the opportunity to prove the Honest Services Law didn't apply to him. It comes after the U.S. Supreme Court sent Ryan's case back to the court of appeals based on Ryan's claim that there were errors in jury instructions.

Read more: Gov. Ryan Appeal Good News for Blagojevich

Brian Clauss, co-executive director of the Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic, discusses its services with the Chicago Bar Association for Law Day.

Watch video: Veterans Legal Issues

William H. Weir (JD '77) featured

Brigadier General William H. Weir has joined SmithAmundsen's Insurance Practice Group as a partner. Mr. Weir has more than 35 years of experience as an attorney, as a business law instructor and as a judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit. Additionally, he is a decorated veteran who served in the United States Marine Corps and the US Army for nearly 35 years.

Read more: Decorated Brigadier General William H. Weir Joins the Law Firm of SmithAmundsen

Justice Margaret Frossard (ret.) featured

“What is so different about this program is that it’s very concrete in the mentoring process,” Ms. Frossard says. “In your first year of practice at a new job, you need to have a go-to person that you can run things by. Our program helps with networking and in particular, is geared toward the professionalism aspect of the law, so ethics issues and those types of things are highly stressed.”

Read more: Women in the Law: Getting in the Door

John Marshall featured

The National Mock Trial Undergraduate Competition was established by the John Marshall Law School to encourage interest in the law among diverse undergraduate students. Student participants have the opportunity to conduct a full trial in a courtroom setting and experience how the law is practiced and applied.

Read more: Monroe's Mock Trial Team is for Real – Winners in National Competition

2Ls Barrett Arthur and Mike Rohde featured

As college baseball players, Mike Rohde and Barret Arthur took the field for rival Big Ten teams.

Today, as John Marshall Law School students, they work together to try to start a baseball arbitration competition at their law school and, in the process, pave career paths into the tough-to-crack sports business world.

Read more: Law Students Keep Their Passion for Baseball Alive

Arthur Yuan (JD '04) authored blog post

In a case before the Beijing High People’s Court, CambridgeSoft Corp. suffered a setback for the exclusive right to use “CHEMDRAW” in China as a registered trademark for its popular software.

Read more: No CHEMDRAW for CambridgeSoft in China

Dongtao Li (LLM '04) authored blog post

Complainant has registered “MISSONI” trademarks in over 60 countries besides its home country of Italy and has enjoyed protection of its trademarks since early 1990s. For example, Complainant has obtained territorial expansion protection in China for its G555050 “MISSONI” trademark (International registration, including goods in international class 25, such as clothes made of cotton and blend fabric, men and women outerwear).

After years of use and advertisements, the mark MISSONI has established a distinctive part of the Complainant’s company name and is well known in the relevant market place.

Read more: An Italian Company Gets its Domain Name Back in China

Professor Michael Seng quoted

Michael Seng, a professor at The John Marshall Law School, said making the officer pay also serves as a deterrent to other officers.

“It stings. It hurts them. It takes some money out of the bank,” Seng said. “It sets an example for other officers.”

Read more: Rare Legal Settlements Demand Officers Pay, Too

Contento, director of the Writing Resource Center at The John Marshall Law School, was awarded the Deborah Hecht Memorial Writing Contest Award for 2012 for her article, “Freeing Students to Write More Effectively – Taking the Fear Out of Plagiarism.”

The article encourages legal education professionals to discuss with their students what plagiarism is and how to write properly-cited papers.

“It’s a confusing topic for a lot of people,” Contento said. Her interest in plagiarism began approximately seven years ago, when she was asked to create a workshop for international students—some of whom may have come to the U.S. with a different understanding of plagiarism. “The more research I did, the more interested I became in the subject.”

Contento has presented on the topic and has contributed articles to Turkish and Russian law journals. “Freeing Students to Write More Effectively – Taking the Fear Out of Plagiarism” was written as a commission for The Second Draft, The Legal Writing Institute’s newsletter.

The Deborah Hecht Memorial Writing Contest Award will be given to Contento at the 15th Biennial Conference of The Legal Writing Institute in Palm Desert, Calif., in late May.

“I’ll be honored to have the award presented in front of my peers,” Contento said.

Since joining the writing center staff in 2002, she has counseled more than 1,500 students in individual appointments. In her role as Writing Resource Center director, she counsels John Marshall students from 1Ls to international LLM students, presents workshops on legal writing topics ranging from basic grammar to persuasive techniques and supervises a staff of professional writing advisors.

She also teaches Lawyering Skills I, a first-semester legal skills course, and Writing for the Practice of Law, an upper-level writing class designed to help students prepare for practice and the bar.

Contento is a 2000 magna cum laude graduate of The John Marshall Law School.

Center for Disability and Elder Law (CDEL) supervising attorney Thomas Wendt (seated) works with John Marshall student James Gentile who is completing an internship at CDEL funded by AT&T.

James Gentile, a second-year student at The John Marshall Law School, is better prepared for his future work in elder law thanks to an AT&T Scholarship, which enabled him to get a first-hand look at working with senior citizens through an internship at the Center for Disability and Elder Law (CDEL).

Gentile will complete the certificate in Elder Law by the time he graduates with a JD degree in May 2013.

During his 140 hours of service at CDEL during the spring semester, Gentile has been doing screenings by phone with possible clients gathering information on their needs.  “After the screening, I sit down with the possible candidates and do a more in-depth interview to determine their legal issues,” he explained.

From that interview, Gentile writes a synopsis that then is distributed to attorneys from throughout Cook County who are willing to take on pro bono cases.

“In 2011, we had 2,200 clients. We couldn’t possibly do all the work that’s required without our interns,” said Susan Keegan, executive director of CDEL.

Gentile also has been invited to participate in CDEL’s Senior Center Initiatives where CDEL representatives meet with dozens of seniors at local community centers to assist them in filling out living will documents, simple wills and power of attorney for both property and health care needs.

“This is a mutually beneficial program that gives CDEL qualified and interested students, and the students get practical experience that law school doesn’t always provide,” said Thomas Wendt, CDEL’s chief legal officer and Gentile’s supervising attorney. “We strongly look forward to continuing this partnership.”

“The internship has been a great experience for me, and I’ve been able to transfer the knowledge I learned in my elder law classes in to a real-world setting. As helpful and insightful as the elder law classes have been, nothing can compare to learning on-the-job and being able to assist elderly individuals with real legal issues,” Gentile said.

The AT&T Excellence in Pro Bono Legal Service Award and Internship recognizes the excellent opportunities available to John Marshall students through internships and pro bono legal work in support of CDEL. The program, begun in 2010, is helping to provide much-needed resources for CDEL, while recognizing Gentile’s long-term commitment to pro bono service.

When Gentile was starting his law school career, an uncle who practices law suggested he take courses that could give him knowledge in the needs of the elderly, pointing out that the aging Baby Boomers were going to have questions and particular needs in the future that would require assistance from competent elder law attorneys. Gentile sought out Adjunct Professor Barry Kozak, director of the Elder Law Program, who encouraged him to attend a few elder law meetings and enroll in the introductory classes. After that, Gentile decided to complete the Elder Law certificate program.

Gentile, of Naperville, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater and worked for several years before enrolling at John Marshall.