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Law to host annual lecture on professionalism

April 3, 2013
Carole Silver

Carole Silver

The Northern Illinois University College of Law will host the 20th annual Francis X. Riley Lecture on Professionalism at 3 p.m. Friday, April 5, in the Riley Courtroom of Swen Parson Hall.

Friday’s lecture, titled “Re-contextualizing Professionalism,” will be given by Carole Silver, a professor at Indiana University (Bloomington) Maurer School of Law who specializes in the effects of globalization and technology on ethics.

Silver also serves as the director of the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, which provides national data on the engagement of law students in their law schools.

Her lecture will consider the notion of professionalism from several frameworks.

While professionalism tends to be construed as involving universal notions that apply regardless of context, it is not a static concept and it is useful to consider how context may influence its meaning. Among the contexts considered will be globalization and changes brought about by advances in technology, two forces considered recently by the American Bar Association’s Ethics 20/20 Commission in its review of the existing Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

The Francis X. Riley Lecture on Professionalism was established in 1994 to honor the late Professor Emeritus Riley, who devoted his life to the law and legal education. The lecture series brings distinguished speakers to the Northern Illinois University College of Law to discuss current issues relating to the legal profession.

The lecture will be followed by a reception and the 18th annual Public Interest Law Society Auction.

For more information, call (815) 753-9655.