We have two major events in this orientation week to link what you are going to hear about school and the classroom to what lawyers do in the real world. One of those events is a mock trial this afternoon, a realistic mock trial which will set you up to act as jurors in deciding the questions presented in that trial. Later in the week, we are going to divide you into groups and take you down to a real courthouse where you can talk to real judges and watch the people in the legal system in action. Being a good lawyer involves in addition to an understanding of legal doctrine, institutions, and procedure entrepreneurship, effective interpersonal relations with other lawyers, with clients, with judges, and with legislators. Take advantage while you are here of Chicago-Kent s professional environment in order to improve your skills at empathy, persuasiveness, and professional civility.
Professionalism involves effectiveness in the real world.
As lawyers you will be agents of change. You will be agents of change whether you seek to win a case in court, design the capital structure of a new corporate entity, build a new international legal institution, or help a client deal with a personal crisis. In all of those roles you will be agents of change. Therefore while you are a law student, don t be passive. Look for opportunities either now or later to change our society for the better at the personal, local, national, and international levels.