When the fall 2010 semester opened Aug. 23, students saw for the first time the Justice Arthur Goldberg Memorial Courtroom, one of this year’s major building enhancementsat the law school.
The fourth floor of the State Street building has been transformed. Faculty and secretarial offices and several classrooms were torn out and replaced by a 100-seat capacity room that fills the north side of the building. The judges’ bench can accommodate up to seven justices for hearings by the Illinois Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals or national moot court and trial advocacy competitions.
“We will continue to use the Baim Courtroom on 3-East for appellate and trial advocacy classes,” said Associate Dean Ralph Ruebner. “We needed a second courtroom to better accommodate our needs as we enhance our trial advocacy and moot court programs and invite students from other law schools to compete here in national and international competitions.”
The team of Roediger Planning and GFGR formulated designs with creative guidance from Dean John Corkery and Ruebner and input from faculty, Information Technology Services, and Media Services. The audio/visual firm of Roscor and Meersman Electric was brought in to consult on technology.
Furnishings are engineered for easy rearrangement between configurations for trial advocacy and appellate advocacy. Window shades, projectors, and lights are computer-controlled. Screens are set for viewing from any vantage point. Student comfort is the priority with plush seats and ample table space for laptops.
Plans are already in the works to schedule prestigious advocacy events in this room. The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims hear an oral argument on Nov. 3.
This new courtroom honors Goldberg who started his legal career in Chicago, and served as a John Marshall professor while developing a successful labor law practice. In the 1930s and 1940s when he was a member of the John Marshall faculty, full-time attorneys were part-time professors. Goldberg taught labor law, torts, bills and notes, and constitutional law. He became general counsel for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the United Steelworkers of America. Goldberg ultimately joined forces with CIO leaders John L. Lewis and Philip Murray, and in 1955 he acted as legal advisor for the merger of the CIO with the American Federation of Labor.
Goldberg was appointed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to serve as Secretary of Labor. He served in the Cabinet for nearly two years before his appointment to the United States Supreme
Court in 1962. He left the bench in 1965 to become United States ambassador to the United Nations where he served until 1968. Goldberg later served as United States ambassador to the Belgrade Conference on Human Rights in 1977 at the behest of President Jimmy Carter. He received the Presidential Medal of Honor in 1978.
The John Marshall Law School Foundation has undertaken fundraising for the Justice Arthur Goldberg Memorial Courtroom. All donations are welcome. Giving categories also will give donors special recognition. To learn more, contact The John Marshall Law School Foundation at 312.360.2663.
