At MSU College of Law, ethics is at the center of our education. It’s not an add-on, it’s not secondary, it’s absolutely central.”
– Dean Joan W. Howarth

Frank J. Kelley Institute of Ethics & the Legal Profession
3rd Annual Lecture

New Directions in Ethics: The Attorney General’s Changing Role in the 21st Century.

Featuring: Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
10:30 a.m.
MSU Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre

Often recognized for her leadership and integrity, Lisa Madigan has brought a high level of activism to the Office of Illinois Attorney General. From her first days in office, she has demonstrated principled leadership, putting policy before politics and focusing her work as the state's top legal advocate on protecting the people and communities of Illinois. Under Madigan's leadership, the Consumer Protection Division has established a national reputation for aggressively safeguarding consumers from financial fraud and unsafe products. Madigan has dedicated the energy and resources of her office to protecting children and women from the dangers of sexual predators and established herself as a leader in the public's fight for open and accessible government. Additionally, Madigan has been widely praised for implementing a series of proactive law enforcement strategies to protect seniors in nursing homes and to combat the spread of methamphetamine throughout the state. From a fiscal standpoint, the Attorney General's office has generated more than $7 billion for the state since Madigan took office in 2003.

Madigan is the first Illinois Attorney General in more than 25 years to personally argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court (Illinois v. Caballes) in which the Court upheld the ability of law enforcement to detect the presence of illegal drugs during traffic stops. Under her leadership, the Attorney General's office has argued five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the national arena, Attorney General Madigan is a respected advocate, regularly testifying before Congress and federal commissions charged with strengthening consumer financial protections, in part due to her aggressive crackdown on the country's largest subprime lenders and her advocacy for reining in abuse and retraining state enforcement powers. Madigan also has testified before Congress on a range of subjects, from protections for consumers' privacy to recalled children's products, employment discrimination, natural gas prices and energy trading.

Mission Statement & History

The Frank J. Kelley Institute of Ethics and the Legal Profession at Michigan State University College of Law addresses issues of ethics and the legal profession through teaching, research, and outreach programs. Named for Frank J. Kelley, the longest-serving attorney general in U.S. History, the Kelley Institute builds upon the dedication, professionalism, and ethical code that marked his career, including his 37 years of service to the State of Michigan.

The Kelley Institute began with the creation of an annual lecture series in 2009. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Professor David Wilkins, Vice Dean, Global Initiatives on the Legal Profession, Director, Program on the Legal Profession and Lester Kissel Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Under the new leadership of Professors Hannah Brenner and Renee Newman Knake, who were appointed as co-directors in April, 2011, the Kelley Institute is poised to grow into a more comprehensive initiative that will focus on education about ethics and the legal profession at the local/state level, nationally, and internationally.

Outreach Efforts

The Kelley Institute has provided a grant to augment the Association of American Law Schools support for speakers for the 2012 AALS Workshop on the Future of the Legal Profession and Legal Education. The workshop, titled “Changes in Law Practice: Implications for Legal Education,” will be held at the AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2012. More information is available at the AALS website.