Northern Illinois University Law Professor Appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Juvenile Justice

May 31, 2005

DeKalb, IL—Northern Illinois University Law Professor Lawrence Schlam has been appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court as Professor-Reporter of the Judicial Conference Committee on Juvenile Justice.  This Committee is charged with considering the work of the courts in the area of Juvenile Justice and suggesting improvements to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Professor Schlam received his J.D. from New York University School of Law and has been teaching child law courses at NIU Law for more than 25 years.  Among other courses, he teaches Children in the Legal System, seminars in “Current Issues in Child and School Law” and “Culture and Disputing,” which includes discussion of conflict resolution among children and within families. He has published numerous articles concerned with such subjects as third party custody disputes and police interrogation of children.

Professor Schlam developed and is currently Project Director of the DeKalb County Juvenile Court Mediation Program, which mediates delinquency and school-related conflict.  He has helped to organize, create, and fund numerous youth crisis intervention centers, group homes, and other prevention and diversion programs for delinquent, abused, and “throwaway” children, e.g., the National Runaway Hotline and the Youth Network Council of Chicago, Inc.  In addition, Professor Schlam was an early member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee, and he served for two years as Chair of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section Council. 

“NIU Law is very pleased with Professor Schlam’s appointment,” said NIU Law Dean LeRoy Pernell.  “Countless number of children and families have benefited from Professor Schlam’s compassion and dedication to children and the law and many more will continue to be served through his work on this committee.”

The Judicial Conference Committee on Juvenile Justice is chaired by Judge C. Stanley Austin, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.
 
 
For more information, contact:
Melody Mitchell
Director, Alumni Events & Public Relations
815/753-9655l