Alumni Magazine & Dean's Report - I.U. School of Law - Indiana ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Left: Stephenie Jocham, ‘01, participated in a service trip for the Fatherless Foundation in November. Above: Michele Jackson and other representatives of the Fatherless Foundation visit orphanages internationally. where she has a family law practice. Two other alumni, Mark Reder, ’07, and Nicole Skellenger, ’10, have joined MLJ Adoptions. Reder became involved with international adoptions when he clerked for Jackson as a law student. He’s now an adoption attorney and director of Latin America for MLJ Adoptions and also has a practice working with the Consulate of Mexico and representing Mexican nationals in Indiana and federal courts on other legal matters. “It was a practice area I would never have imagined 0 I U S C H O O L O F L AW S U M M E R A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E seeing myself in, but I am grateful to Michele because I love what I do,” he says.” Skellenger began working as an intern at MLJ Adoptions as a law student in 2009. Based on her experience, as well as representing clients in family law matters for the law school Civil Practice Clinic, she hopes to practice family law focusing on adoption and children’s issues. Along with Jackson, Skellenger, Reder and Stephenie Jocham, ’01, founding partner of Jocham Harden Dimick Jackson, traveled to Nicaragua last November on a service trip for The Fatherless Foundation to visit orphanages, promote literacy and play baseball. “Traveling to Nicaragua forever changed my life,” Skellenger says. “I had never seen the type of poverty I witnessed on that trip and had never seen an orphanage before. Seeing these beautiful and bright children and knowing that they are still there without a family breaks my heart. But knowing that I can be a part of an organization that helps them find stable and loving homes is something very special.”
Michele Jackson is founder of the Fatherless Foundation, a non-profit she established to assist abandoned and orphaned children worldwide. The service trips raise awareness of the great need that orphans have in all countries, says Reder. “Every mission trip makes me more determined to become more involved, to do everything I can for the orphans, and to educate and help others who have an interest in making a difference in the lives of orphans,” he says. Controversy Recent news stories about international adoption—missionaries in Haiti accused of flouting laws to transport Haitian children out of the country and a Tennessee mother who sent her adopted son back to his native Russia— have come to symbolize controversies that exist regarding the best way to help orphans throughout the world. Jackson is well aware of the issues, which is why she was determined to become accredited in compliance with the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention), the international agreement to safeguard international adoptions, and also why her agency offers education Want to get involved? The Fatherless Foundation, Inc. was established in 2006 as a 501(C) 3, non-profit organization to raise funds to assist orphanages, orphans and adoptive parents. The foundation helps with providing food, clothing, school supplies and medical care to orphans, as well as financial grants to parents seeking to adopt. To date, the foundation has assisted orphans and adoptive parents in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, vietnam, Croatia, ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the united States. volunteers provide administrative functions for the foundation, allowing 100 percent of contributions to be used for orphan relief. For more information, visit www.thefatherlessfoundation.org/ and counseling throughout the adoption process. “There is the argument that we need to change society from the ground up so that there is no need for parents to give away their children,” Jackson says. “I agree with that, too. But there are still at least 143 million orphans in the world, and just 12,753 adoptions to the United States in 2009. There is still a need for international adoptions.” It’s the sheer scale of the orphan crisis that keeps Jackson focused on helping children both through adoption and The Fatherless Foundation. Currently, she sees potential for growth in adoptions both from Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has staggering numbers of orphans. And, as it does every summer, The Fatherless Foundation will bring a group of Ukrainian orphans to Indiana for a cultural exchange experience this summer. Children stay with host families throughout the state of Indiana for three to four weeks to allow the children to experience American culture and get a break from orphanage life. “It is nice to have a profession you can love,” Jackson says. I U S C H O O L O F L AW S U M M E R A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E
Page 1 and 2: IU LAW Alumni Magazine & Dean’s R
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS 2 News Briefs 4 Chief Just
Page 5 and 6: International Jurist Visits Indiana
Page 7 and 8: The Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.,
Page 9 and 10: 1- The Chief Justice was greeted by
Page 11: colleagues feel a calling beyond th
Page 15 and 16: created for that region resulting f
Page 17 and 18: 6 5 1- Dean Gary R. Roberts present
Page 19 and 20: Dean Gary R. Roberts (center) and L
Page 21 and 22: C o m m e n C e m e n t 2010 3 4 6
Page 23 and 24: the face by a tree branch during a
Page 25 and 26: MaryEllen Bishop, ‘82, Elected to
Page 27 and 28: THE HONORABLE PAUL J. DEMUNIz, CHIE
Page 29 and 30: I U S C H O O L O F L AW S U M M E
Page 31 and 32: past decade his writings and lectur
Page 33 and 34: HELPING PEOPLE LIKE RANA was exactl
Page 35 and 36: STUDENTS AT THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Page 37 and 38: 1 1- Matthew T. Klein, ‘01, Execu
Page 39 and 40: THE IndIana law RevIew HOSTED ITS 2
Page 41 and 42: For the Public Good Indiana Attorne
Page 43 and 44: Human Rights Day: Embrace Diversity
Page 45 and 46: Professor Mary Harter Mitchell Hono
Page 47 and 48: Symposium in March 2010, and a chap
Page 49 and 50: Law Review, 43 inD. L. Rev. 279-80
Page 51 and 52: that represents the principle that
Page 53 and 54: 00 krISten CArroLL has been promote
Page 55 and 56: Tokyo. Fredrick was admitted in Jap
Page 57 and 58: EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Jerome L. wIther
Page 60: Lawrence W. Inlow Hall 530 West New

Alumni Magazine & Dean's Report - I.U. School of Law - Indiana ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?