The University’s College of Law, MFA Creative Writing Program and English Professors Michael Madonick and Richard Powers are co-sponsoring a conference combining two seemingly contrasting focus areas: law and poetry.

“Opening Arguments: Poetry and the Law” will be held Thursday, Feb. 15 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the College of Law Building, 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave., and Friday, Feb. 16 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Channing Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon St., in Urbana. The conference is free and open to the public.

This is the first-ever conference in the United States to examine the relationship between law and poetry, said a press release about the event.

Carl Reisman, local attorney and poet, developed the idea for the conference while browsing a Web site dedicated to lawyers who write poetry. The Web site’s creator, West Virginia University College of Law Professor James Elkins, informed Reisman that there had never been a gathering of lawyers who write poetry.

Being an alumnus, Reisman turned to the University to host and co-sponsor the event.

“It’s important to humanize the study and practice of law,” Reisman said. “It’s helpful to encourage people to follow their outer lights.”

According to James Pfander, Prentice H. Marshall Professor of Law, the College of Law agreed to co-sponsor the conference because it offers two possibilities to law students.

First, students have the opportunity to explore the roles that poetry and other fine arts play in their lives as lawyers. The conference also gives students the opportunity to revive a literary magazine, Poetic Justice, which ran for about five years in the mid 1990s.

“Poetry and law connect in ways that are sometimes overlooked,” Pfander said. “The conference is not an academic movement, but it’s more about the practice of law and poetry.”

While law and poetry do not seem to correlate, Reisman said that both use the same tool to achieve their ends.

“Both law and poetry have belief in the power of language as a tool to work for good,” Reisman said.

Dave Johnson, assistant dean for the College of Communications, said the conference gives the law school an incredible opportunity to interact with local and regional poets and the chance to connect with another department at the University. Johnson said there is plenty for people to enjoy and invites all to attend.

The conference has attracted significant participants to read their poetry and participate in conversations on poetry and law. Participants include Elkins; Evie Shockley, professor of English at Rutgers University; Frank Pommersheim, professor at the University of South Dakota School of Law where his specialty is Indian Law; Timothy Nolan, partner with the Minneapolis law firm Rider Bennett LLP where he practices in construction and real estate litigation; Rachel Contreni Flynn, who teaches poetry and practices law near Chicago, and Reisman. A schedule of events for the conference can be found at the College of Law Web site, www.law.uiuc.edu.