Brief: Legal lecture series to be launched

A nationally recognized expert on federal courts and federal civil law will
present the inaugural Paul M. Van Arsdell Jr. Memorial Lecture on Sept. 28
at the College of Law.

Paul Carrington, the Harry R. Chadwick Sr. Professor of Law at Duke
University, will speak on "A Practice of Law as a Public Profession: A Tale
of Two Lawyers" at 4 p.m. in the Max L. Rowe Auditorium. The talk and
reception following are free and open to the public.

In his talk, Carrington will compare the careers of two antebellum lawyers,
Abraham Lincoln and Charles Sumner, and draw contemporary conclusions.

The new lecture series was established as a tribute to the life and
accomplishments of Paul M. Van Arsdell Jr., a Champaign native who earned
bachelor's, master's and law degrees from the UI. Each fall the college
will host the Van Arsdell lecture to promote the thoughtful discussion of
litigation and dispute-resolution systems and promote the highest ethical
ideals of the legal profession.

Van Arsdell, who practiced law in Los Angeles, died in 1990 at the age of 42.

Funding for the series has been provided by Van Arsdell's law firm, Latham
and Watkins; the Van Arsdell family and friends.