3/26/08: Dan Van Ness of Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, Prison Fellowship International, to speak on campus

WHAT: As part of Campbell Law’s Professionalism Lecture Series, Dan Van Ness will address first year students on the topic of “Restorative Justice.”

WHO: Dan Van Ness is the Executive Director of the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation at Prison Fellowship International. He has been involved with criminal justice issues for 30 years, as a lawyer, restorative justice advocate, and teacher. In 1981, Van Ness co-founded Justice Fellowship with Charles Colson to promote criminal justice reforms, where he organized lobbying activities on sentencing reform and victim rights issues, did research and writing on restorative justice and helped launch the victim assistance organization Neighbors Who Care. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, earned a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a Masters of Law from Georgetown University Law Center. A primary architect of the United Nations of Basic Principlies on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters, Van Ness is the author of numerous articles and papers. Two of his more recent books on restorative justice are Restoring Justice, 3rd Edition (co-authored with Karen Heetderks Strong) and Handbook of Restorative Justice (co-authored with Gerry Johnstone).

WHEN: Wednesday, Mar. 26 at 3 p.m. (Interviews available afterward)

WHERE: Room 220 in the Law School

About Campbell Law’s Professionalism Lecture Series: Campbell Law’s Professionalism Lecture Series introduces first year Campbell Law students to some of the most respected and successful attorneys from across the nation. Specific topics covered in the series this year include: The legal and moral responsibility of the lawyer, the lawyer’s role in promoting social justice, the intersections between faith and the practice of law, the lawyer as a public servant, the nobility of the law and the practice of law, and the lawyer’s pro bono responsibility. During the 2007-08 academic year, Campbell Law has hosted a number of distinguished speakers in the Professionalism Lecture Series, including Joseph Cheshire V, Esq., Cheshire Parker Schneider Bryan & Vitale; Professor Robert Cochran, Pepperdine University School of Law; William K. Suter, Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court; and Charles L. Becton, Slifkin & Bell, P.A.

About Campbell Law School: Since its founding in 1976, the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University has received two prestigious awards from the American Bar Association (ABA), the first for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program, and the second for having the nation’s top Professionalism Program. In 2007, the Law School’s Moot Court Program was ranked 13th nationally among 196 ABA accredited law schools. Campbell Law boasts more than 2,800 alumni, including 1,900 who reside and work in North Carolina.

###

Media Contact: Ashley Arnold, 910.893.1812, arnold@law.campbell.edu