The academic program of the conference called "Challenges to the Rule of Law in Central Europe and America" ​​was held at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago on June 24 and 25. A total of 60 guests, including SVU members, mainly from the USA, Canada and the Czech Republic, attended the meeting at the Consulate General.

The Consul General Jaroslav Kantůrek welcomed and thanked the organizers for organizing the annual SVU Conference in Chicago. Besides the leading members of the SVU, he thanked local co-organizers, mainly Professor Michael Seng (The John Marshall Law School) and Chicago Prague Sister Cities.

Among the guests and panelists from the Czech Republic were JUDr. Pavel Simon,a judge of the Supreme Court f the Czech Republic, academics from Charles University in Prague, Masaryk University in Brno, Palacky University in Olomouc and Metropolitan University in Prague. Universities in Brno and Olomouc have been cooperating with The John Marshall Law School in Chicago since 1993.

A symbolic tribute was given to prominent Czech lawyers who were founders of the organization as well as to prominent personalities of SVU since its foundation in 1958 This panel was attended by apecial guests such as Eliška Hašková Coolidge, Marianne Kabeš and Thomas Miskovsky. In addition to the guests from the Czech Republic, other expert panels featured local members of Bohemian Lawyers' Association and other prominent representatives of American justice.