Lunch Talks: Speakers and Catering

The majority of LSSO events will be lunch talks at the Law School. Lunch talk formats include:

• In-person speaker & in-person audience
• Fully remote events
• Remote speaker & in-person audience

No special approval is required to hold a lunch talk at the Law School, but there may be times that an LSSO speaker will need an approval. Lunch talks start at 12:15 PM and conclude promptly at 1:20 PM to allow room preparation for the next class. Please make clear to your speakers not to go past this time.

Speaker Approval Process

LSSOs interested in inviting ANY distinguished guest to the Law School, including alumni of the Law School or University, an elected or appointed government official (judge, senator, attorney general, etc.), or any other high profile person, must receive approval from the Dean of Students Office prior to extending an invitation. Requests will be reviewed by the appropriate departments and LSSOs should receive a response to their request within two weeks of submission. Please do not reach out to invite speaker until you have received approval.

A speaker request can be made by filling out the LSSO Speaker Request Form. Please note that speaker approvals are for a particular year. If your speaker was approved last year, you will need to submit a new approval request for each new academic year.

Students will receive an email once a speaker is approved, LSSOs can reach out to the speaker to coordinate dates and create the event in Law Connect.

Please note that Dean Miles meets with most visiting judges and VIP speakers, as well as many elected officials and alumni, whenever his calendar allows. 

VIP Speakers

LSSOs may invite VIP speakers. In addition to speaker approval, careful coordination with the Law School is required. Examples include: Senators, Solicitor General, high-level elected or appointed officials, cabinet members, some high-level business VPs or CEOs, etc. Some invitations may need to be made by the Law School directly (e.g., SCOTUS). Please reach out to Candace Mui, mui@uchicago.edu, for assistance or when in doubt.

High Profile/Government Speakers

When you confirm and finalize your event details with a high-profile or current government official, please email, Rachel Vouvalis (rvouval@uchicago.edu), Executive Assistant to Dean Miles, and Candace Mui (mui@uchicago.edu). If his schedule permits, Dean Miles likes to try to schedule short meetings with them prior to their programs, both for in person and virtual programs.  Rachel manages Dean Miles’ calendar.

Judge Speakers

When you confirm and finalize your event details with judges, please email Susan Staab (sstaab@uchicago.edu), Rachel Vouvalis (rvouval@uchicago.edu), and Candace Mui (mui@uchicago.edu). If his schedule permits, Dean Miles likes to try to schedule short meetings with visiting judges prior to their programs (both for in person and virtual programs.  

Alumni Speakers

When you confirm and finalize your event details with any alumni, please email Anna Jenkins (annajenkins274@uchicago.edu), Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, to confirm the date of lunch talk. This is helpful so the Office of External Affairs team knows when and in what capacity alumni are participating in student-led events at the Law School.

Security

On rare occasions, LSSOs host events for which additional security is necessary.

If a LSSO would like to request security at an event, indicate your request in the LSSO Speaker Request Form and contact Dean Welch at brandiwelch@uchicago.edu, as far in advance as possible. The Dean of Students Office will contact you regarding your request. If approved, the fee for security service will vary based on the details of your event and will be charged at a four hour minimum per hour, per security. This fee will be charged to the organization’s LSSO's account.

If a guest speaker plans to bring their own security, the LSSO must inform the Dean of Students Office. Email Candace Mui at mui@uchicgo.edu with the contact information for the security detail.

Dean-On-Call

The Dean-on-Call is the university official responsible for providing support to students during an emergency and intervenes at times to de-escalate a situation between students and other members of the campus and/or community. The Dean-on-Call will work actively to preserve an environment of spirited and open discourse and debate, allowing for the opportunity to have all participants contribute to intellectual exchange and full participation in an event. In instances of disruptive behavior or violations of University policies, the Dean-on-Call will respond and provide direct instructions to stop disruption, if it is safe to do so. Students may request a Dean-On-Call via the LSSO Speaker Request form or email Candace Mui at mui@uchicago.edu. The Dean of Students Office may request Deans-on-Call for events at its discretion.

Catering at the Law School

If you would like to order catering through the law school for lunch talks, it must be ordered in Law Connect at least 7 BUSINESS DAYS in advance, not counting the date of the event (e.g., lunch talks, food for board meeting, etc.). Any catering requests made in less than this time period will not be fulfilled.  It is the LSSO’s responsibility to place catering orders 7 business days in advance, manage the food in the classroom corridors, and clean up. The Dean of Students will receive a copy of the final catering bill from the event. Catering charges will be automatically paid using the LSSO's account.

LSSOs may order catering of their own accord (not through the law school). If an LSSO orders catering outside the Law Connect system, members of the LSSO must be on hand to receive the catering order, set up the catering order, and clean up the food. LSSOs should always check to see if a vender is bringing plates/utensils and plan accordingly. Peaches, the law school café, cannot supply plates/utensils for catering orders. The reimbursement limit for catering orders is $400.

Catering outside the lunch hour (e.g., morning, afternoon, weeknights): if using law school catering, it must be ordered in Law Connect 7 BUSINESS DAYS in advance (not counting the day of the event), OR the LSSO may purchase their own food (no alcohol) and submit a student reimbursement (limit $400 per transaction) within 2 weeks of the event. If a catering total is over $400, reach out to Candace Mui (mui@uchicago.edu) to discuss.

Cancellations

If there is a cancellation, LSSOs must cancel the event in Law Connect as soon as possible and email deanofstudents@uchicago.edu to notify DOS. If catering is ordered through the law school, notify Office of Events by emailing LawEvents@law.uchicago.edu. Failure to cancel food orders via direct email to the Events team may result in the organization being billed for the food order.

If there are any questions or issues with law school provided catering, such as a vendor failing to supply utensils, etc., please contact the Office of Events at LawEvents@law.uchicago.edu.

If you have any changes for your law school provided catering order, then you must email Office of Events at LawEvents@law.uchicago.edu at least 7 business days in advance, not counting day of event. Any requests in less than this time is not guaranteed. 

Managing Food and Leftover Catering Items

• Food served at lunch talks is strictly for students and guests attending your specific program. Non-attendees are not permitted to take food from the classroom corridors before the event begins.
• Catering will be delivered prior to the start of lunch talks with a delivery window of 11:15AM – 11:30AM at the tables outside of your reserved room.
• LSSOs should designate a Food Coordinator or another representative from your LSSO to receive and set up the food prior to the start of the lunch talk. It is the LSSO’s responsibility to ensure that students who take food from your table will attend your lunch talk.
• LSSOs should not start the line for food until the classroom has mostly cleared out.
• The designated Food Coordinator should continue to manage on-site catering logistics, including receiving delivery, set-up, food line management, and clean up.
• After students and guests attending your program have received their food, LSSOs with leftover food are asked to please move any extra food to the Green Lounge.

Room Clean Up

• At the conclusion of an LSSO event, the room must be left clean and ready for class.
• Touchscreen monitors are not to be moved for any reason from the desk where they are located.
• No AV equipment, including desk or tripod speakers, may be moved during a lunch talk, and all AV equipment must be returned in original condition.

Groups that damage equipment, or do not return equipment to its original condition and set-up, will be fined if the equipment is not ready to use for the next class.