Employment Discrimination Project

Randall D. Schmidt and his students operate the Clinic's Employment Discrimination Project. The Project focuses primarily on pre-trial litigation. In individual cases, the Project represents clients in cases before the Illinois Department of Human Rights ("Department") and the Illinois Human Rights Commission ("Commission") and seeks to obtain relief for our clients from race, sex, national origin and handicap discrimination in the work place. Additionally, the Project's individual cases and in its law reform/impact cases, the Project seeks to improve the procedures and remedies available to victims of employment discrimination so that complainants have a fair opportunity to present their claims in a reasonably expeditious way. To accomplish this goal, the Project, in addition to our litigation, is also active in the legislative arena and participates with other civil rights groups in efforts to amend and improve the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Second-year students in the Project handle several cases individually and "second chair" other cases along with third-year students. Second-year students autonomously handle cases that the Department is investigating. In these cases, students interview clients and witnesses, assist in the preparation of written briefs and memoranda explaining why our client was the victim of discrimination, and represent clients at informal hearings before the Department.

Second- and third-year students jointly handle cases in the Commission at various pre-trial and trial stages. They are involved in discovery (drafting requests, responding to the employers' discovery, reviewing the information produced in discovery, etc.), and pre-trial preparation (i.e., interviewing witnesses, drafting the pre-trial memorandum, etc.). Second-year students are given the opportunity to attend status hearings and hearings on contested motions, along with the third-year student assigned to the case. Moreover, if the case goes to trial, the second-year student are actively involved in all phases of trial preparation and attend the trial.

Third-year students in the Project are assigned cases that are awaiting trial in the Commission. In these cases, third-year students attend status conferences, argue contested motions, engage in discovery, negotiate with the employer and prepare the case for trial. If the case goes to trial, third-year students are expected to be the lead attorney on the case.

The Project also handles, or is otherwise involved in, several appeals each year. Both second- and third-year students work on these appeals researching and drafting our appellate briefs. If possible, third-year students present the oral arguments in the appeals.