IIT Chicago-Kent student Anne Marfisi '13 wins the 2011 SmithAmundsen Legal Writing Award

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law student Anne Marfisi is the recipient of the 2011 SmithAmundsen Excellence in Legal Writing Award. The award is given annually to an IIT Chicago-Kent student, selected by the school's legal writing faculty and by law firm representatives, who has written the best brief during his or her first year and who adds to the diversity of the legal community.

Marfisi won the award for her appellate brief Dante Davis v. The People of the State of Kent, a federal case dealing with Fourth Amendment issues related to the warrantless search of the contents of an arrestee's iPhone.

A 2013 J.D. candidate at Chicago-Kent, Marfisi is an Honors Scholar. She is a member of the Kent Justice Foundation and of the Chicago-Kent Lambdas. Prior to law school, Marfisi worked in various positions for nonprofit organizations in Omaha, Nebraska, as part of the AmeriCorps program. She earned her undergraduate degree in American Studies from the University of Iowa.

"For the fifth consecutive year, we are very excited to continue our partnership with Chicago-Kent in order to advance important changes taking place in the legal community," said Larry Schechtman, SmithAmundsen's managing partner.

"When developing the scholarship, we looked closely at factors that would result in a more diverse pool of talented lawyers and decided that providing support to students who are excellent writers or are involved in trial advocacy is the best way to do this. As a firm, we are proud to support these future lawyers and Chicago-Kent."

SmithAmundsen LLC has more than 135 attorneys with offices in Chicago, Rockford, St. Charles, and Woodstock, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. SmithAmundsen's attorneys share a proficiency in a broad range of practice areas. As one of Chicago's premier litigation firms, its success is built upon a foundation of integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to exceeding client expectations. For more information on the firm, please visit www.salawus.com.

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution. IIT Chicago-Kent is consistently recognized for its groundbreaking legal writing program, and its moot court and trial advocacy teams have won numerous regional and national tournaments.