Chicago Kent Student Gwynne Kizer Wins 2008 SmithAmundsen Writing Award
The award is part of a $50,000 gift from the firm to help fund the law school’s diversity initiatives
Chicago, IL, June 22, 2008 – Gwynne Kizer, a first-year student at Chicago-Kent College of Law, is the recipient of the 2008 SmithAmundsen Excellence in Legal Writing Award. The award is given annually to a first-year student, selected by Chicago-Kent’s legal writing faculty and law firm representatives, who has written the best brief and who “adds to the diversity of the legal community.” Kizer won for her appellate brief, United States of America v. Brian A. Wilson, a federal case dealing with Fourth Amendment search and seizure issues.
A J.D. candidate in Chicago-Kent’s Public Interest Law certificate program, Kizer has extensive experience with nonprofit arts and public service organizations in Chicago. For two years, she served as a literacy coordinator in Anixter Center’s program for adults with cognitive, mental and physical disabilities. As a program assistant with AmeriCorps Public Allies/Big Brothers, Kizer developed and supervised mentoring programs at Chicago Public Schools and worked with community members to launch a new after-school program in the Englewood community. She served as associate director and then as director of development for the Guild Literary Complex and as a volunteer production manager for “The Company Reunion” performed at Whitney Young High School.
At Chicago-Kent, she received a certificate of service from the Public Information Resource Center for completing more than 50 hours of voluntary public service work. She is co-chair of the Kent Justice Foundation’s 2009 auction which raises money for fellowships for students who work in unpaid public interest law positions during the summer. Kizer, who is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Student Hurricane Network, spent her 2007 winter break in New Orleans providing community rebuilding and legal services to Gulf Coast residents by displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Kizer completed her undergraduate education in biology at Grinnell College, where she served as treasurer of the Asian Students in Alliance.
The writing award is part of a $50,000 gift from SmithAmundsen to Chicago-Kent in 2007 to support the law school’s diversity initiatives through 2012. The gift evolved from SmithAmundsen’s Diversity Task Force, a group of representatives from all areas of the firm charged with upholding and advancing firm-wide diversity initiatives. In addition to funding the writing award, the firm’s gift will support the team that represents Chicago-Kent at the Thurgood Marshall National Mock Trial Competition.
“We looked closely at factors that would result in a more diverse pool of talented lawyers to consider when hiring,” says Larry Schechtman, SmithAmundsen’s managing partner. “And we decided that providing support to students who are excellent writers or are involved in trial advocacy is the best way to do this.”
Click here to view a photo of Harold Krent (IIT/Chicago-Kent Law School Dean), Gwynne Kizer, and Larry Schechtman.
SmithAmundsen has more than 100 attorneys with offices in Chicago, Rockford, St. Charles, Waukegan, and Woodstock, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. SmithAmundsen’s attorneys share a proficiency in a broad range of practice areas. As one of Chicago’s premier litigation firms, SmithAmundsen’s success is built upon a foundation of integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to exceeding client expectations. For more information on the firm, please visit www.salawus.com.
Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution. Chicago-Kent students come from 42 states, 14 countries, and more than 230 colleges and universities. The law school is consistently recognized for its groundbreaking legal writing program, and its trial advocacy teams have won numerous regional and national tournaments.
###