Reunion Weekend 2024

• Thursday, May 2, 2024
  • Latinx Law Students Association: The Elisa Fernandez Banquet
    • 6:00pm - 9:00pm
    • LUXBAR, 18 East Bellevue Place | Fireplace Room & Bar

    • Please join the Latinx Law Students Association (LLSA) in celebrating a landmark event: The Elisa Fernandez Banquet. This year, LLSA honors an exemplary legal professional who has made a profound impact on the Latinx Community: The Honorable Judge Nancy L. Maldonado of the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. This event is more than just an award ceremony - it is an opportunity to be a part of the first banquet of a flourishing tradition that strengthens our community. Join us for drinks, a sit-down dinner with a keynote speaker, and the opportunity to network and foster meaningful connections.

       

• Friday, May 3, 2024
  • Reunion Committee Celebration
    • 11:30am - 12:30pm
    • Convene West Loop, 333 North Green Street | Green Gallery, 6th Floor

    • Reunion Committee members from all classes are invited to this celebration, where we will toast to your collective efforts and accomplishments! By invitation only.

  • Loop Luncheon
    • 12:30pm - 2:00pm
    • Convene West Loop, 333 North Green Street | Green Forum, 6th Floor

    • Kick off Reunion Weekend at this annual downtown luncheon featuring remarks by Professor Alison L. LaCroix, Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law, Associate Member of the Department of History. Professor LaCroix will be discussing her new book on US constitutional discourse between 1815 and 1861, for which she was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. The book, titled The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms, will be published by Yale University Press in May 2024. Q&A to follow.

      A synthesis of legal, political, and social history to show how the post-founding generations were forced to rethink and substantially revise the U.S. constitutional vision
       
      Between 1815 and 1861, American constitutional law and politics underwent a profound transformation. These decades of the Interbellum Constitution were a foundational period of both constitutional crisis and creativity.
       
      The Interbellum Constitution was a set of widely shared legal and political principles, combined with a thoroughgoing commitment to investing those principles with meaning through debate. Each of these shared principles—commerce, concurrent power, and jurisdictional multiplicity—concerned what we now call “federalism,” meaning that they pertain to the relationships among multiple levels of government with varying degrees of autonomy. Alison L. LaCroix argues, however, that there existed many more federalisms in the early nineteenth century than today’s constitutional debates admit.
       
      As LaCroix shows, this was a period of intense rethinking of the very basis of the U.S. national model—a problem debated everywhere, from newspapers and statehouses to local pubs and pulpits, ultimately leading both to civil war and to a new, more unified constitutional vision. This book is the first that synthesizes the legal, political, and social history of the early nineteenth century to show how deeply these constitutional questions dominated the discourse of the time.

  • LLM Reception
    • 4:30pm - 6:00pm
    • Morgan MFG, 401 North Morgan Street | Upstairs Bar

    • LLM alumni from all class years are invited to join fellow LLM graduates, current students, and Justin Swinsick, Director of Graduate Programs, for a reception. Drinks and light refreshments will be served.

  • Alumni Clerkship Reception
    • 4:30pm - 6:00pm
    • Morgan MFG, 401 North Morgan Street

    • Alumni who have served in clerkships are invited to mingle with students interested in pursuing a clerkship. Drinks and light refreshments will be served. Advance registration required.

  • All-Alumni Wine Mess
    • 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    • Morgan MFG, 401 North Morgan Street

    • Reconnect with classmates, mingle with Law School faculty, students, and enjoy drinks and light hors d’oeuvres in this trendy West Loop locale.  

  • 25th Reunion Celebration
    • 8:00pm - 9:00pm
    • Morgan MFG, 401 North Morgan Street | Upstairs Bar

    • Members of the Class of 1999 are invited to continue the festivities as we toast this special milestone Reunion. Hors d'oeuvres and beer, wine, and champagne will be served. We will take a class photo at 8:15 p.m.!

       

• Saturday, May 4, 2024
  • MORNING and AFTERNOON EVENTS @ THE LAW SCHOOL
    • 1111 East 60th Street. Parking is available in the lot behind the Law School.

    • Shuttle Service: From the Gleacher Center to the Law School

      Shuttle will depart from the Gleacher Center at 8:30am.

      450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive

      For those staying downtown, complimentary shuttle transportation is available. Please board the shuttles in front of the Gleacher Center. Law School staff will be on-hand to provide directions and answer questions.

  • Coffee + Breakfast
    • 9:00am - 11:00am
    • Green Lounge

    • Enjoy coffee and breakfast in the classroom corridor. If you have not yet checked-in, please visit the registration table to pick-up your nametag, a guidebook for the weekend, and additional materials.

  • State of the Law School with Dean Thomas J. Miles
    • 9:45am - 10:45am
    • Auditorium

    • Hear an update on the Law School from Thomas J. Miles, Dean and Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics.

  • Family Fun at (the Law) School
    • 9:00am - 3:00pm
    • Green Lounge

    • Reunion isn’t just for adults! Bring the kids to the Law School on Saturday too. From getting your face painted, to playing games and eating ice cream, Saturday at Reunion will be an affair for kids of all ages! School on a Saturday has never been this fun.

  • Faculty and Alumni Panel: Rule of Law
    • 11:00am - 12:00pm
    • Classroom II

    • Join Law School faculty and Class of 1969 alumni as they discuss the Rule of Law as an ideal and a constraint in American law and politics. The purpose of this panel is to deepen our understandings of the origin, meaning, and application of the Rule of Law in our constitutional democracy.

      Faculty Panelists:

      William Baude

      Harry Kalven, Jr. Professor of Law, Faculty Director, Constitutional Law Institute

      Aziz Z. Huq

      Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law

      Geoffrey R. Stone

      Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law

      Alumni Moderators:

      Mark Aaronson, JD ’69

      Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

      Hon. Judith Boggs, JD ’69

      Administrative Appeals Judge at U.S. Department of Labor

  • Faculty Masterclass: Musk and His Ideas
    • 11:00am - 12:00pm
    • Classroom III

    • Presented by:

      Saul Levmore

      William B. Graham Distinguished Service Professor of Law

      Julie A. Roin

      Seymour Logan Professor of Law

      Musk and His Ideas

      Elon Musk has made quite a name for himself with at least five or six ventures. In this masterclass, we will discuss them and think about how such a person can be hated, admired, and tolerated. We will also discuss his ideas and the problems they address. Are his ideas any good, and can he help us understand our world and its problems? Topics are likely to be: His acquisition and vision for Twitter; Tesla (electric cars); Starlink and SpaceX (satellite launching and possible dominance of the world of satellites); Hyperloop and The Boring Company (high speed transportation underground); Neuralink (implanted brain electrodes); xAI (considering the potential and danger of AI).

  • Picnic Lunch + Ice Cream Treats
    • 12:15pm - 1:15pm
    • Green Lounge

    • Enjoy a relaxing picnic lunch with beer and wine in the Green Lounge with fellow alumni and their families. There will be games, face painting, a balloon artist, and an ice cream cart!

  • Class of 1999 Circuit Judges Panel
    • 1:30pm - 2:30pm
    • Auditorium

    • Join fellow alumni for a panel featuring four Class of 1999 federal appellate judges, moderated by Thomas J. Miles, Dean and Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics. Four federal appellate judges in a single graduating class is a record for the Law School and an incredible achievement for the Class of 1999 collectively. Attend to hear more about the panelists' careers, reflection on their experience as students, and thoughts on their judicial service.

      Alumni Panelists:

      Judge James C. Ho

      Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

      Judge Anthony Johnstone

      Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

      Judge Eric D. Miller

      Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

      Judge Neomi Rao

      Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

  • Shuttle Service: From the Law School to the Gleacher Center

    • Shuttles will depart from the Law School at 3:00 and 3:30pm.

      For those staying downtown, complimentary shuttle transportation is available. Please board the shuttles in front of the Law School. Law School staff will be on-hand to provide directions and answer questions.

  • Reunion Class Dinners
    • 7:00pm - 10:00pm
    • Various Locations

    • Often seen as the highlight of the weekend, the traditional Saturday evening Class Dinners provide a wonderful opportunity to reminisce and reconnect with classmates. For class-specific dinner information, visit the Reunion Classes page of our website.

       

• Sunday, May 5, 2024
  • Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Game
    • 1:20pm - 4:30pm
    • Wrigley Field Rooftops, 3619 North Sheffield Avenue

    • Join fellow alumni for food, drinks, and an afternoon of baseball at the Wrigley Field Rooftops!

      This event is family-friendly. The ticket price covers an all-inclusive food and beverage package. Food and beverage service will begin one hour prior to game time and finish at the conclusion of the game. Alcoholic beverage service will conclude at the end of the 7th inning.

      Tickets will be sent via the email provided during registration closer to Reunion Weekend. Space is limited, so please register early.

      Please review these important details below before registering:

      What is the rainout/delay policy?

      Parties are not considered cancelled unless the Chicago Cubs and/or Major League Baseball officially cancel the game. In the event of cancellation prior to the start of a game, guests will receive a ticket for the makeup game. No refunds or credits of any kind will be given and the contract shall be considered fulfilled. Food and liquor service will cease immediately upon this option. No refunds or credits will be issued. In the event of a rain delay, alcoholic beverage service will continue for up to 3 hours after the Rooftop opening. Alcoholic beverage service will stop based upon Rooftop discretion after 3 hours of being open.

      Can I cancel my reservation?

      All sales are final and due upon booking. There are no refunds. 

      Can a game time or date change?

      Game times are subject to change by Major League Baseball.