Lawrence Schlam
Professor of Law

B.B.A., City College of New York
J.D., New York University

Email: Lschlam@niu.edu
Phone: (815) 753-0140
Room: 196B

Biography

Lawrence Schlam's primary teaching interests are in the fields of constitutional law, child law, criminal law, legislation, and civil rights litigation. He chaired the Illinois State Bar Association Section Council on Individual Rights and Responsibilities from 1979 to 1981 and, while in private practice, was involved in criminal and juvenile law, media and entertainment law, and litigated several federal civil rights matters concerning police misconduct, sex discrimination, education, and wrongful discharge of public employees. Schlam was also supervising attorney or counsel to several law reform and legal aid programs. He has been adjunct instructor at DePaul University School of Law and, at Northwestern University School of Law, he was staff counsel to the National Institute for Education in Law and Poverty. Schlam's scholarship interests involve state and federal constitutional law and child law. His book, The Bill of Rights: Fundamental Freedom, was published in 1981, and, more recently, he has become General Editor of the Illinois Juvenile Court Bench Book (Vol. I: 2005, 2007; Vol. II: 2006, 2008), and General Editor and Chapter Author of Illinois Juvenile Law and Practice (2007).

Books and Chapters

• Termination of Parental Rights, in Illinois Juvenile Law and Practice 11-1 (Lawrence Schlam ed., 2007).
• Illinois Juvenile Court Bench Book (Lawrence Schlam ed., Vol. I: 2005, 2007; Vol. II: 2006).
• The Bill of Rights: Fundamental Freedom (1981).

Articles

• Third-Party "Standing" and Child Custody Disputes in Washington: Non-Parent Rights -- Past, Present, and . . . Future?, 43 Gonz. L. Rev. 391 (2008).
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• Standing in Third-Party Custody Disputes in Arizona: Best Interests to Parental Rights -- And Shifting the Balance Back Again, 47 Ariz. L. Rev. 221 (1999).
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• Equality in Culture and Law: An Introduction to the Origins and Evolution of the Equal Protection Principle, 24 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 425 (2004).
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• Informed Consent to the Medical Treatment of Minors: Law and Practice, 10 Health Matrix 141 (2000) (with Joseph Wood).
   | Lexis*|  | Westlaw*|  | Hein On-line*|
• Third Party Custody Disputes in Minnesota: Overcoming the "Natural Rights" of Parents or Pursuing the "Best Interests" of Children?, 26 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 733 (2000).
   | Lexis*|  | Westlaw*|  | Hein On-line*|
• Third-Party Standing in Child Custody Disputes: Will Kentucky's New "DeFacto Guardian" Provision Help?, 27 N. Ky. L. Rev. 368 (2000).
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• Children "Not in the Physical Custody of One of [Their] Parents:” The Superior Rights Doctrine and Third-Party Standing Under the Uniform Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, 24 S. Ill. U. L.J. 405 (2000).
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• 567 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 227 (2000) (reviewing G. Alan Tarr, Understanding State Constitutions (1998)).
• Compulsory Royalty-Free Licensing as an Antitrust Remedy for Patent Fraud: Law, Policy and the Patent-Antitrust Interface Revisited, 7 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 467 (1998).
   | Lexis*|  | Westlaw*|  | Hein On-line*|
• Police Interrogation of Children and State Constitutions: Why Not Videotape the MTV Generation?, 26 U. Tol. L. Rev. 901 (1995).
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• Age Discrimination Litigation: Who is an “Employee” What is an “Employer”?, 83 Ill. B.J. 120 (1995).
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• State Constitutional Amending, Independent Interpretation, and Political Culture: A Case Study in Constitutional Stagnation, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 269 (1994).
   | Lexis*|  | Westlaw*|  | Hein On-line*|
• Legislative Term Limitation Under a “Limited” Popular Initiative Provision?, 14 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 1 (1994).
   | Lexis*|  | Westlaw*|  | Hein On-line*|
• 12 Duq. L. Rev. 1038 (1974) (reviewing Legal Rights of Children: Status, Progress, and Proposals (1973)).
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• 13 J. Fam. L. 609 (1974) (reviewing Samuel Abrahams, Law and Family Conflict (1970)).
• Police Interrogation of "Self"-Incrimination of Children by Parents: A Problem Not Yet Solved, 6 Clearinghouse Rev. 618 (1973-1974).
• Police Intimidation Through 'Surveillance' Declared Unconstitutional Parts I and II, 3 Clearinghouse Rev. 130 (1970).

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Areas of Expertise:

Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Juvenile Law, Civil Rights Litigaton, Legislation, State Constitutional Law