Courtrooms became classrooms this fall for 40 DePaul University College of Commerce undergraduate students enrolled in Management Professor Michael Murray’s business law course. The students toured the Cook County Criminal Court and the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago, learning firsthand about the legal system and business law issues from judges in both courts.

Assistant States Attorney John Murphy gave Murray, who also is an attorney, and the students a tour of the Criminal Court facility at 2600 S. California Ave., where the group sat in on five felony cases in the courtroom of Judge Fred Suria. After court, Suria answered questions about the legal system and gave the students “a stern presentation on the outcomes of alcohol and drug abuse, which affect so many of his cases,” Murray said.

Under a new education program the U.S. District Court recently launched with area universities, federal court spokesman Dan Lehman gave the class a tour of the courthouse at 219 S. Dearborn St.. “We were among the first to get this special treatment,” Murray said. The students observed the sentencing of a convicted bank embezzler by U.S. District Judge Joan B. Gottschalk. They also visited U.S. Magistrate Ian Levin, who earned his undergraduate business and law degrees from DePaul. Levin answered their questions about a variety of current business law issues, including the Napster case, bank fraud and bankruptcy.

“Students, unfortunately, have little sense of reality about our legal system because a lot of the information they get comes from television, which presents a false picture,” Murray said. “I think it’s important for students studying business law to see what it’s really like in the courtroom. We’re in a wonderful urban environment that allows us to arrange these types of educational experiences.”