University News
WIU Pre-Law Symposium February 15
February 8, 2010
MACOMB, IL - - Western Illinois University's Centennial Honors College will host the Ninth Annual Pre-Law Symposium Monday, Feb. 15 in the University Union Lamoine Room.
The symposium will begin with a 5:30 p.m. reception honoring keynote speaker and WIU Honors alumna Nancy E. Paridy, senior vice president, general counsel and government affairs/corporate secretary of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago; and panelists Nicole Vilches, assistant dean for admissions at Chicago−Kent School of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology; alumnus Steven D. Rineberg, attorney with Meyerkord, Rineberg & Graham, LLC, St. Louis; and alumnus Spencer Graham, a first-year law student at The John Marshall Law School, Chicago.
A 6:15 p.m. panel discussion, "Preparing for Law School," will feature Vilches, Rineberg and Graham. Rineberg, a Quincy (IL) native who graduated from Western with highest academic distinction (Summa Cum Laude) and a Bachelor of Arts degree (1998) in political science, earned his Juris Doctor (2002) from Saint Louis University School of Law. He received the Excellence Award in Legal Research and Writing and was a staff editor of the Saint Louis University Law Journal. Rineberg, who was named the 2009 Missouri Rising Star, is a member of The Missouri Bar (admitted 2002), the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, St. Louis Lawyers Association, Illinois State Bar Association and Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Graham, from Glen Ellyn (IL), is a Fall 2008 Cum Laude (with honors) graduate of Western with a Bachelor of Science in law enforcement and justice administration and a minor in pre-law. In his first year at John Marshall, Graham is undecided as to which area of law he will focus on. He was a three-year captain of Western's men's rugby club team that won its first Illinois Rugby Union championship, as well as its first Midwest playoff appearance, in the past decade. He is presently playing with the Chicago Griffins super league rugby team.
Vilches, who joined the admissions staff at Chicago-Kent College of Law in August 1993, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French language and literature from the University of Michigan and a Master of Science in Education and Social Policy degree, with a concentration in higher education administration and policy, from Northwestern University.
At 7 p.m., Paridy will present the keynote speech, "The Best Reality Show: A Career in the Law."
She has worked for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) since March 1995. RIC is a medical care system that includes 30 locations throughout Illinois, as well as a 50-person medical group and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. RIC has been named the No. 1 Rehabilitation Hospital in America by U.S. News & World Report every year since 1991.
Paridy oversees and directs all legal matters for the entire system of care, including joint ventures, management agreements, physician-relationships and academic issues. She is responsible for all litigation matters, including medical malpractice, contractual, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement and labor.
Previously, she had extensive trial and appellate experience in civil litigation, including medical malpractice, asbestos, insurance coverage disputes, premium financing and commercial litigation as an associate then partner with Rooks, Pitts and Poust, Chicago; as well as practice in the area of health care law.
She was named an Outstanding History Alumna of Western (1991), and in Fall 1995 she received the University's Alumni Achievement Award.
Paridy earned her Master of Laws (L.L.M.) degree in health law at Loyola University of Chicago (1994); her Juris Doctor (1983) at the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago – Kent College of Law; and her Bachelor of Arts degree (1980) in political science with high academic honors at Western Illinois.
Sponsors for the Pre-Law Symposium include the WIU Foundation; the College of Arts and Sciences; the departments of English and journalism, history, philosophy and religious studies and political science; as well as the McDonough County Bar Association.
For more information, contact the Centennial Honors College at (309) 298-2228.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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