The Harrisburg, Pa., law firm of Schmidt Kramer, P.C. recently donated $10,000 to Penn State University's Dickinson School of Law Nancy Liu Memorial Fund. The fund was established to support Disability Law Clinic student participation in national conferences on disability law.
"We view this as a way to demonstrate our commitment to those whose economic hardships stem from physical and mental disabilities," said Schmidt Kramer attorney Terry Hymen '82. "Our firm represents many clients who end up outside the economic and social mainstream because of disabilities not of their own making."
Nancy Liu graduated from The Dickinson School of Law in 1997 and was very fond of her clinical experience at the Law School. She attended the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR) conferences at her own expense. This experience helped her to obtain employment in disability law. Her law career was unfortunately transient because of an accident that took her life shortly after graduation.
"The generous gift of Schmidt Kramer, P.C. will help students in the Disability Law Clinic attend national conferences in the field of disability law," said Professor Robert Rains, director of the Disability Law Clinic. "This will provide those students with many benefits. They will learn and hone valuable lawyering skills, meet members of the practicing bar working on behalf of persons with disabilities, and, if they choose to pursue this line of work after graduation, make valuable contacts for future employment."
Schmidt Kramer attorneys Hyman and Charles Schmidt Jr. '74 considered the Nancy Liu Memorial Fund the perfect method to support their law school, to further the Disability Law Clinic's effort to educate new advocates for the disabled, and to honor dedicated lawyers, like Nancy Liu, who choose to represent those who are in financial need.
"Representing disabled persons in social security, workmen's compensation, and personal injury claims is the reason Schmidt Kramer exists," said Hyman. "We are proud to make this contribution to the Nancy Liu Memorial Fund in the hope others will follow her commitment to these very same people."