17th Annual Charles L. Ihlenfeld Lecture on Public Policy and Ethics
Phil Schrag of Georgetown University Law Center delivered the Ihlenfeld Lecture at the West Virginia University College of Law on March 17 at 11:00 AM in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom in the WVU Law Center. The title of the lecture was – Refugee Roulette: Law, Lawyers, and the Lottery in Political Asylum Adjudication. It is based on an article published in Stanford Law Review Refugee Roulette: Disparities In Asylum Adjudication A public reception was held in the Law Center lobby immediately following the lecture.
(Click Images below to Enlarge)
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| Ihlenfeld Family Members with Prof. Schrag (ctr.) & Dean Fisher (rt.) |
Prof. Schrag in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtrooom |
About Philip G. Schrag
Philip G. Schrag is Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Applied Legal Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Professor Schrag attended Harvard College and Yale Law School. He began his professional career as Assistant Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., where he specialized in law reform cases designed to transform consumer protection law. At the Fund, he wrote the prevailing brief in Sniadach v. Family Finance Corp., 395 U.S. 337 (1969), which declared prejudgment wage garnishment unconstitutional, though at the time he was only two years out of law school, so he could not yet join the Supreme Court Bar or have his name appear in the official records of the case. In 1969, he drafted New York City’s Consumer Protection Law, and in 1970, he became the first official Consumer Advocate of the City of New York.
The following year, he joined the law faculty of Columbia University, where he became a member of the founding generation of law school clinical educators. In 1977, he moved to Washington to become the Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the legal advisor to the U.S. delegation to the comprehensive nuclear weapons test ban negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1981, he joined Georgetown’s law faculty, and he currently teaches civil procedure and directs a clinic in which law students represent refugees who are seeking political asylum in the United States. In 1984-85, he was the first William J. Maier, Jr., Visiting Professor of Law at the West Virginia University College of Law.
Professor Schrag has written thirteen books and dozens of law review articles on public policy and public interest law. His most recent book, to be published next month by the University of California Press, is Asylum Denied: A Refugee’s Struggle for Safety in America (co-authored with his clinic’s former client David Ngaruri Kenney). At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools, he was awarded the Deborah L. Rhode Award for his contributions to furthering pro bono and public service opportunities in law schools through scholarship, leadership and service. He is married to Professor Lisa G. Lerman of Catholic University Law School, who was also a visiting professor at West Virginia in 1984-85. Professor Schrag has four children and two grandchildren.
About The Ihlenfeld Lecture
The Charles L. Ihlenfeld Lecture annually brings to the West Virginia University College of Law distinguished speakers to lecture in the area of public service and ethics.
Charles L. 1hlenfeld, a prominent West Virginia lawyer for 56 years, devoted much of his life to public service. These lectures, established in his memory, honor a life and career marked by significant and substantial contributions to the practice of law, to the legal profession, and to civic affairs of his state and community.
Mr. Ihlenfeld was a tireless community supporter who loved Wheeling, WV, serving as its mayor from 1963 to 1967. His public service further encompassed state and federal jurisdictions when he served as Prosecuting Attorney of Ohio County from 1940 to 1948, and as U.S. Magistrate for the Northern District of West Virginia from 1971 to 1979. Mr. Ihlenfcld served on a multitude of foundations and commissions, always seeking to enrich his community and mankind.
Following his graduation in 1930 from West Virginia University, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, Mr. Ihlenfeld studied at the WVU College of Law, becoming a member of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, and receiving his J.D. in 1933. He was inducted into the WVU College of Law Emeritus Club in 1983, and he was a longtime supporter of the College.
Mr. Ihlenfeld was a past president of the Ohio County Bar Association and a member of the West Virginia and American Bar Associations. He was active in politics, serving as a former chairman of the Ohio County Democratic Executive Committee and as president of the West Virginia Young Democrats.
The Charles L. Ihlenfeld Lecture, established with a bequest made to his alma mater, is a fitting legacy from a devoted public servant and attorney whose high ethical standards were his trademark. The lectures enrich the university community, the legal profession, and the state.