Surgeon's gift will put NIU-Law students on cutting edge Whether it is explaining a surgical procedure to a patient, or trying to convince a jury of the severity of his client's injuries, Dr. Kenneth Chessick understands that sometimes a picture is worth far more than 1,000 words.   Chessick, a surgeon who earned his juris doctorate at NIU in 1984, believes in that principle so strongly that he has donated $250,000 to the NIU College of Law to instill it in future lawyers. The money will be used to build and equip facilities to teach law students how to use the latest computer hardware and software to create visually compelling displays and presentations.   "What I hope to do is introduce neophyte lawyers to new ways of communicating ideas, and I can't think of any other university I would rather give such a gift to," he said. "I think NIU is a great school, it has a great purpose, and it makes a tremendous impact on the lives of those it serves."   Chessick, who heads a Schaumburg-based law firm that concentrates on medical malpractice law, firmly believes strong visuals - whether they be models, computer animations, or 3-D computer images - can be crucial to winning in the courtroom.   "The first step to persuading a jury is to make them understand, and most people think in visual terms, so it is critical to give people a visual," Chessick said.   It is a concept that much of the legal profession has been slow to grasp. "In many courtrooms today, an overhead projector is still considered high tech," Chessick said. "The legal profession is a dinosaur living in an age of technology."   However, that will change, Chessick believes, as a new generation of lawyers moves into the courtroom, and he wants NIU-Law to be in the forefront of training techno-savvy lawyers.   "I wanted to make a donation that would allow for new skill training, something they would not get otherwise. I wanted to provide something that would increase their marketability and the likelihood of personal success," said Chessick, who sits on the NIU Foundation Board of Directors.   Toward that end his gift will allow the College of Law to create a new 50-seat classroom and a new 20-seat seminar room. It will also allow for major technological upgrades in the Francis X. Riley Courtroom and one other classroom.   The new and improved classrooms will include wall-mounted monitors, ceiling-mounted video cameras, video recorders, LCD computer projectors, SmartBoards and smart podiums. In some rooms, every student seat also would include a network connection, allowing students to plug laptop computers into a presentation in progress or the main College of Law server.   "We are very grateful to Dr. Chessick for this generous gift," said LeRoy Pernell, dean of the NIU College of Law. "We believe the plans we have for this money will allow us to fulfill his vision of preparing our graduates to be leaders in the courtroom of the next century."   The new facilities are in the planning stages and will be completed as soon as space becomes available.   More news...