CARBONDALE - A symposium next week at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will examine the benefits and limitations of Illinois' civil union law.
Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, a former assistant clinical professor at the SIU School of Law, will be among the speakers at the event. "Civil Unions: What You Get and What You Don't," is set for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 3, in the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building Auditorium.
Simon at one time taught family law at the law school and also practiced family law in Southern Illinois. Other speakers will include Ray Prather, an attorney and certified public accountant with the Chicago-based Prather Ebner LLP, and Bernard Cherkasov, executive director of Equality Illinois. The moderator is Kateah McMasters, a third-year law student and president of the Women's Law Forum, a registered student organization at the law school.
Admission is free and open to the public. Attorneys may still register to earn continuing legal education credit. For more information, contact Alicia Ruiz, the law school's director of communication and outreach, at 618/453-8700.
Symposium sponsors include the SIU School of Law, and two registered student organizations in the law school -- Women's Law Forum and The Lesbian and Gay Law Students and Supporters (LEGALSS); the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at SIU Carbondale; Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, GLBT Resource Center, the Graduate and Professional Student Council, and the Illinois State Bar Association.
A pre-reception is set for 5 p.m. in the law school's formal lounge. A post-reception will follow the symposium.
