Kane donation marks the beginning of 'ambitious project' at Law School

Among those attending the event were some of the hundreds of Chicago families and individuals who have been aided by the clinic over the past years.

President Sonnenschein, Dean of the Law School Douglas Baird, donor Kane and Mandel Legal Aid Clinic Director Randolph Stone all spoke about the new center.

"Arthur Kane's exceptional generosity and vision have made possible one of the most ambitious projects in the 92-year history of the Law School," said Douglas Baird, Dean of the Law School. "The Kane Center will ensure the Law School's pre-eminence as we head into our second century."

Arthur Kane, an alumnus of the College and Law School, is a recognized authority on worker's compensation law.

"Clinical education exposes students to the realities of law practice, helps those in the surrounding community and ensures that students enter practice with a sense of how much lawyers contribute to the common good," Kane said, when explaining why he gave $3 million dollars for the 10,000-square foot addition.

About 100 Chicago law students work with the clinical programs each year to advance the programs' mission of helping those who live and work in the inner city.

The Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious and effective law school-based clinics in the nation.

Founded in 1957 as one of the first clinics connected with a law school, the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic represents hundreds of indigent clients in both criminal and civil matters each year. The clinic's current focus is on juvenile justice issues, homelessness, employment discrimination and mental health treatment.

Affiliated with the MLC is the MacArthur Justice Center, a non-profit, public-interest law firm that works for human rights and fairness in criminal justice through litigation. Currently focusing on the death penalty, women's prison issues, gun control and the super-maximum security prison recently built in downstate Illinois, the center engages primarily in complex, law-reform litigation. Founded in 1985, the center is funded by the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation of Niles, Ill.

Also located in the Kane Center is the new Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship, which originated with an idea proposed by two Chicago law students. The clinic will provide legal counsel for new and expanding small businesses primarily based in Chicago's inner city.

It will focus on business transactions rather than litigation, helping entrepreneurs with business formation, basic tax and regulatory compliance, licensing and permits, zoning and administrative appeals.