Clinical Law Prof Blog

The Economic Crisis and Legal Clinics: Stories from the Field, Part 3

Stories have been coming in from Florida, Virginia, Connecticut, Illinois and New York.  While the effect of the economic crisis on legal clinics is not regional, there are areas of the U.S. where the sharp impact is undeniable.  Arlene Kane, with Legal Aid of Palm Beach County, reports: "Our LITC [low income taxpayer clinic] is in Palm Beach County, Florida.  I see daily the people in our clinic who are in foreclosure or are about to be.  Some through no fault of their own and some who did bite off more than they knew they could afford.  But most were led through this by lenders who knew they could not afford the cost of these homes, even if they kept their jobs."

Tax clinics continue to see a steady stream of clients who had one legal problem, such as a foreclosure, that has developed into a different, related issue.  As Prof. Diana Leyden notes, the IRS may be quicker to target possible revenue sources and less likely to let taxpayers off the hook, despite their inability to pay.  Ms. Kane agrees, "IRS has been less then speedy releasing Levies on Federal payments. So, we are seeing many folks who have done what they needed to do to get in "full compliance" and still have 1 or 2 more months levied.  Then it takes forever to get the funds returned, if ever."

The economic downtown has also resulted in substantial decreases in public and private funding for the provision of free or low-cost legal services. Ms. Kane addresses this stark reality, "We have a large homeless population here.  Legal Aid, United Way and many community organizations are trying to help all the folks that are suffering.  Many places are running out of funds and donations are down, as the people that were donating are now looking for help for themselves."  -jl

Call for Papers - Human Rights/Civil Rights and Global Resource Allocation

Florida A&M University Law Review invites article submissions for publication in the Special Edition Symposium Journal for Spring 2009.  The journal seeks articles that explore current legal issues in human rights and civil rights as they pertain to resource allocation around the world.  The Symposium theme focuses on legal issues that have adversely affected People of Color including policies on resource allocation that include but are not limited to: food, water, housing, air, energy, intellectual property, etc.  The journal is a student-edited periodical that celebrates excellence in scholarship and contributes to the development of the law. Articles may be submitted no later than January 9, 2009 via e-mail.

Authors may also mail their printed article and a disk in Microsoft Word format to:  Florida A&M University, College of Law, c/o Law Review, 201 Beggs Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801.  Articles should have footnotes and conform to the most recent edition of the Bluebook.  Also, please attach a current resume or curriculum vitae with your contact information.  Every submission will receive prompt and serious consideration by law review staff.  Articles of 5 to 60 pages in length, single-spaced (approximately 35,000 words, including footnotes) are welcome.  The Executive Editor may be contacted with questions or concerns via email. -jl

Call for Papers - Colloquium on Commercial Litigation in the Electronic Age

On December 1, 2008 the New York State Judicial Institute will sponsor a Colloquium on the Future of Commercial Litigation: Developing a Cost-Efficient Judicial Process for the Electronic Age.  Chief Justice Judith Kaye will open the event and will be followed by distinguished members of the judiciary, the bar and the educational academy.

The Journal of Court Innovation will be publishing a symposium edition in cooperation with this program and is soliciting articles to be included in this edition.  Articles can concern the federal or any state justice system and there is no page length requirement.

The Journal of Court Innovation is a peer reviewed journal published by the New York State Judicial Institute, the Center for Court Innovation and Pace Law School.   The journal's mission is to promote innovation among the 50 state court systems and seeks to "bridge the worlds of theory and practice."  It is targeted to court administrators, judges, lawyers, scholars, non-profit executives, legislative and executive branch officials and other professionals interested on improving court systems and the administration of justice. Additional information about the journal is available online.

If you are interested in submitting a paper for consideration please contact Prof. Leslie Yalof Garfield.  Final drafts should be submitted by December 30, 2008 for consideration in this edition.

The Journal also welcome articles on any topics that consider court innovation for publication in future editions.  -jl

University of Baltimore Tax Clinic Seeks Teaching Fellow

The University of Baltimore School of Law invites applications for an anticipated position as a fellow in its Tax Clinic to start no later than July 1, 2009. This public interest fellowship program offers practicing attorneys exposure to law school clinical teaching.

The Tax Clinic handles a wide variety of tax controversy issues in tax court and before the Internal Revenue Service. The fellow’s duties include direct supervision of case work of clinic students and clinic classroom teaching in coordination with clinic faculty. Fellows also pursue professional goals in conjunction with his/her clinic director, including opportunities for scholarship. This position is a contractual appointment for up to two years with an option for a one-year renewal.

Qualifications: Excellent oral and written communication skills; at least two years of experience either as a practicing lawyer primarily in the area of tax law or in a U.S. Tax Court clerkship; a strong academic record and/or other indicia of high performance ability; a commitment to work for low-income clients and a strong interest in teaching. Fellows must be members of the Maryland bar (currently licensed in Maryland or willing to take the next Maryland Bar exam) to supervise law practice by students.

Salary: The current salary is $50,000 year 1; $53,000 year 2. The position includes full benefits, including retirement annuities, research support and travel allowance.

The deadline for letters of interest and resumes is March 1, 2009.

For a detailed description of UB’s fellowship program, please view their website.

To apply, submit a letter of interest and curriculum vitae to:

Keith Blair
Assistant Professor of Law
Tax Clinic
University of Baltimore School of Law
40 West Chase Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Phone: (410) 837-5706; fax: (410) 333-3053.

The University of Baltimore is an equal opportunity employer and minority candidates are encouraged to apply. -jl

Yale Law School - Clinical Teaching Positions

Yale Law School is seeking applicants for teaching positions in its clinics, beginning July 1, 2009. Professorial rank will be based on experience.  A minimum of five years in practice is required. Clinical teaching experience is preferred but not required. We will consider both entry level and experienced applicants. Applicants must be licensed to practice law in at least one state; they must plan to become licensed in Connecticut, if they are not already.  Yale Law School currently offers more than fifteen clinical courses with a broad diversity of subject matters (click here for more information). Applicants should submit a cover letter detailing research interests and teaching fields.  The letter should explain how the applicant’s agenda fits with Yale’s clinical offerings.  In addition, applicants must submit a CV and a list of references to kathryn.jannke@yale.edu. Applications must be received by December 15, 2008.

Yale University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate against any individual on account of that individual's sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Yale discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

U.C. Hastings Seeks Senior Staff Attorney - Center for Gender and Refugee Studies

The Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS) seeks applicants for a full-time Senior Staff Attorney/Associate Director.  CGRS, the nation’s leading organization on gender asylum, works to positively impact the development of the law through a combination of appellate litigation and policy advocacy, public education and organizing strategies. CGRS provides extensive technical assistance and training, and publishes a broad range of materials providing guidance and analysis on cutting edge asylum issues. CGRS also operates as a national clearinghouse for gender asylum, tracking decisions in individual cases and maintaining an extensive database with case information.

Job Description: The Senior Staff Attorney/Associate Director will assist the Director in the administration and management of CGRS, including supervision of development and legal staff. He or she will be involved in all aspects of CGRS’s substantive legal work – from development of legal strategies to implementation of these strategies. He or she will be engaged in writing for a broad range of constituencies, and writing responsibilities may include drafting of briefs and analytical memos on legal developments; practice advisories for attorneys, and talking points for coalition partners. In addition, he or she will be expected to carry a significant management and supervision role.

Qualifications: Applicants must be admitted to practice law (any state) and have at least ten years of legal experience in asylum and related areas (i.e. withholding and Convention against Torture). The ideal applicant will have had experience in mentoring and supervising more junior attorneys, as well as in management and development. Applicants must be self-motivated, be able to work with a minimum of supervision, and be capable of complex analytical work. Applicants must have a proven track record demonstrating that they possess exemplary research and writing skills. They must also possess outstanding communication skills which allows them to communicate effectively to a variety of  constituencies. Preference will be given to applicants with prior experience in, and demonstrated commitment to social justice and public interest law.

Salary and benefits: Salary is based on experience and qualifications. There is an excellent package of full benefits.

Application procedure: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. To apply, send a substantive cover letter, resume and list of references to the address below. Please no phone calls or emails. A copy of the job announcement is available here: Download JobDescription.pdf

Applications must be in paper form, and addressed as follows:

CGRS Senior Staff Attorney Search Committee
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
U.C. Hastings College of the Law
200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, California 94102

The Economic Crisis and Legal Clinics: Stories from the Field, Part 2

As I mentioned in my first post in this series, I will be including several stories from legal clinics across the country, both academic and non-profit, to get a glimpse of the effect the economic crisis is having on legal service providers. Tara Rosenblum, managing attorney of the Quincy office of Legal Services of North Florida reports her practice has seen a marked increase in recent months:

"I was just discussing this with staff the other day. We have never been busier, in all areas--foreclosures, evictions from subsidized housing, dissolutions of marriage, suits for credit card non-payment, dependency procedures for abused, abandoned, and neglected children, bankruptcy and tax. In the last three weeks I have had 15 clients served with evictions or notices prior to eviction. Last Thursday I received applications for five new tax cases, including a final notice of intent to levy on a deficiency involving a 1099C on a foreclosure and two EITC/Filing Status/Dependency Exams that had been responded to but denied by the IRS. This is at a small, rural legal services office that served 667 families total in 2007."

Paul Harrison, of the Community Tax Law Project in Richmond, VA confirms that rural taxpayers are feeling the pinch, "I would say that the signs of the economic downturn began appearing in 2004 and 2005 with gradual increases in AUR [Automated Under Reporter] cases involving COD [cancellation of indebtedness] income. This was especially noticeable among elderly and disabled taxpayers in rural areas. It has increased pretty consistently since then and is now one of the staples of our practice."

The situation is not likely to improve anytime soon and legal clinics practicing in areas even tangentially related to finance will continue to experience increased demand. Tara Rosenblum knows that low-income workers have it especially tough when it comes to pursuing a legal claim: "I think that as those with the least have to rely on family and friends for survival, and stay in one place less, filing status, dependency, and EITC exams will become more difficult to successfully challenge."

With just days left before the presidential election, a number of policy proposals on job creation have been proffered by the candidates. It is clear that jobs are at the heart of the matter. Ms. Rosenblum concurs, "We are seeing an increase in the other areas because they are directly related to money. People are tapped out. They've used all their credit, they've been fighting with their spouse for months, they can't keep the lights on so the state takes their children. We can help them with their legal problem, but we can't create a job." -jl

Primer on Clinical Legal Education: Second Installment (a.k.a. "The Mother Lode")

Since my first installment, Professor Vanessa Merton delivered a wonderfully complete answer to a prospective clinical law prof's query: "What Resources Exist for Folks Interested in Entering the Academy as a Clinical Law Professor?"  Professor Merton has graciously allowed me to post her response, which could very well make further posts on this subject superfluous:

Here's a compendium of ideas I've sent to folks over the years. If you’re serious about this academic thing, you need to gear up the way you’d gear up for a heavy trial.  Learn some of the history so you better understand what’s happening now: start with overall perspective from Robert Stevens, Law School: Legal Education in America from the 1850s to the 1980s.  Then focus on the history of clinical education, e.g., Margaret Martin Barry, Jon C. Dubin & Peter A. Joy, Clinical Education for This Millennium: The Third Wave, 7 Clinical L. Rev. 1 (2000).

Read through Best Practices for Legal Education – all of it – takes about four hours to eyeball the pages, get the basic concepts. (You can get it for free.) Or read it more carefully if you really want to impress (and learn).  If you’re determined to wow, do the same with the Carnegie Foundation’s Educating Lawyers and Greg Munro’s Outcomes Assessment for Law Schools. Read the MacCrate Report, a/k/a Legal Education and Professional Development: An Educational Continuum, published by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. Poke around that website for a while. You could benefit from reading through the ABA’s Standards for Approval of Law Schools and three of the Section's recent Committee reports on Outcome Measures, Security of Position, and Transparency.

Look through the materials generated by the Institute for Law School Teaching at Gonzaga Law, which you should be able to find in any decent law school library.

Go to the CLEA website:  Just a wealth of ways to learn the vocabulary -- read the Mission Statement, dive into past CLEA Newsletters to get a sense of current and perennial issues, read through the CLEA Bibliography of Clinical Teaching and Scholarship, read the New Clinicians Handbook, etc.

You should be familiar with LexternWeb and the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education, and perhaps Washburn Law's list of Best Law Teacher nominees.

Read some classics: Tony Amsterdam’s Clinical Legal Education - A 21st Century Experience, 34 J. Legal Educ. 612 (1984); Learning from Practice (2d ed.) by Ogilvy et al. and Chavkin’s Clinical Legal Education. If you can get your hands on them, read through The Lawyering Process: Materials for Clinical Instruction in Advocacy, by Bellow and Moulton, and Dvorkin, Himmelstein and Lesnick, Becoming a Lawyer: A Humanistic Perspective on Legal Education and Professionalism.

It'd be useful to skim through as many back issues of the Clinical Law Review as you can -- available at any law school library, and abstracts of most CLR articles are accessible from the CLEA website.  Then there's the Journal of Legal Education –- reading through several back issues (you did say this is what you want to do for a living, didn’t you?) can help you pick up on what's happening in legal academe in general. 

Go to the Society of American Law Teachers website and browse.  Attend a SALT Public Interest retreat where you will meet the coolest law professors. 

Natch, if you can find out who is actually interviewing you, it wouldn't hurt to peruse one or two of their latest articles and read their bios. 

Also could check out:

Breaking into the Academy: The  University of Michigan Journal of Race and Law Guide to Programs for Aspiring Law Professors. The Guide was designed to help law students and lawyers break into legal academics.  It contains advice on negotiating the application process, addresses and phone numbers of helpful organizations and citations to articles about the demographics of the law teaching profession.  In addition, the Guide contains listings of Law Teaching Fellowship Programs, Graduate Law Degree Programs and Legal Methods Teaching Programs which might be of interest to those considering law teaching.  Additional resources are available in Eric Goldman's piece Careers in Law Teaching, as well as Douglas J. Whaley, Teaching Law: Advice for the New Professor, 43 Ohio St. L. J. 125 (1982).

A good way in may be through one of the numerous teaching fellowships now available.

Also you should be aware of, if not regularly following, blogs like:

Best Practices for Legal Education

clinicians with not enough to do, and

Clinical Law Prof Blog

Write a book or two, of course.  Failing that, find a book or two that really intrigues you or pisses you off and write a book review. You’ll quite possibly be able to get it published quickly.

Good luck!

Again, heartfelt thanks to Prof. Merton. -jl

Workshop on Community Lawyering Clinics at Harvard Law School

The Harvard Law School Office of Clinical & Pro Bono Programs will be holding a Workshop on Community Lawyering Clinics on Friday, November 14, 2008, from 9 am to 5 pm (with a reception to follow). This will be the first in a series of Clinical Workshops to be held at Harvard Law School.

The format is an all-day workshop. From 9 am to noon, Professors Juliet Brodie, Sameer Ashar, and Scott Cummings will present sequentially their recent scholarship on community lawyering, with two to three commentators responding to each. This session will be followed by lunch, with Michael Gregory serving as the luncheon speaker. After lunch, there will be two additional sessions, from 1:45 to 3:15 pm, and then from 3:30 to 5 pm. The first afternoon session, facilitated by Jeff Selbin and Peggy Maisel, will focus on programmatic design of community lawyering clinics. The second session, on curriculum in community lawyering clinics, will be facilitated by Nancy Cook and Shin Imai. A reception will be held 5 to 7 pm.

If you are able to attend, please RSVP by Monday, November 10, 2008.  -jl

UNLV Welcomes New Director to the Nevada Immigrant Resource Project

The Nevada Immigrant Resource Project is pleased to welcome Angela Morrison as its new Legal Director. Angela joins the Nevada Immigrant Resource Project from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she served as the first EEOC trial attorney in Las Vegas. While at the EEOC, Angela engaged in complex employment discrimination litigation and prosecuted several cases involving multiple class members. She also conducted extensive community education efforts regarding the intersection of employment discrimination law and immigration, human trafficking and employment law, and best practices for employers.

Prior to joining the EEOC, Angela served as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge Philip M. Pro, United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Angela graduated summa cum laude from William S. Boyd School of Law, where she was a student attorney in the Immigration Clinic of UNLV's Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic and the editor-in-chief of the Nevada Law Journal.

The Nevada Immigrant Resource Project is a project of the Immigration Clinic at the Thomas and Mack Legal Clinic in the William S. Boyd School of Law. While the Immigration Clinic provides direct legal representation to immigrants, the Project engages in developing immigration-related information and education through outreach to immigrant communities. The Project also works to improve the quality of legal services in Nevada by conducting continuing legal education courses for legal professionals on immigration topics, and providing opportunities for law students to engage in immigration projects with systemic impact. As Legal Director, Angela will expand the Nevada Immigrant Resource Project’s significant contribution to meeting current needs for immigration-related legal services and education in the State of Nevada.

-jl

William Pincus Award - Last Call for Nominations

The Awards Committee for the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education is accepting nominations through Friday, October 24, 2008, for the 2008 William Pincus Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Clinical Legal Education. The Award, which the Section presents at the January AALS annual meeting, honors one or more individuals or institutions of clinical legal education for their: (1) service, (2) scholarship, (3) program design and implementation, or (4) other activity beneficial to clinical education or to the advancement of justice.

A list of past recipients is availabe here. To submit your nomination(s) no later than Friday, October 24, 2008, please email committee chair Peter Joy at both of the following email addresses (email to BOTH to ensure receipt): joy@wulaw.wustl.edu  and clinicawards@yahoo.com   

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: AALS SECTION ON CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION

The Section on Clinical Legal Education is seeking nominations for two or three openings on the Executive Committee beginning in January, 2009. These will be for three-year terms. In addition, the Section is seeking nominations for the 2009 Chair Elect, whose one-year term also begins in January, 2009, and includes a three-year commitment [a year as Chair-Elect, a year as Chair, and a year as Ex Officio Chair].  Nominees should be from AALS member schools since the AALS requires the Executive Committee to be comprised of faculty from AALS member schools.

Nominations for Chair-Elect are not restricted to current members of the Executive Committee. As a result, you can nominate a current executive committee member or any other person, including yourself, whom you believe is qualified for the position.  If you wish to nominate someone for the Executive Committee and/or for Chair-Elect, or if you wish to nominate yourself for either position, please send the nominee's (or your) name, along with a brief statement in support of the nomination, to Nina W. Tarr .

The Executive Committee typically meets at the AALS Annual Meeting in January and at the AALS Clinical Conference in the spring.  Conference calls are held in between meetings. The deadline for submitting nominees is Wednesday, October 29, 2008.

The Economic Crisis and Legal Clinics: Stories from the Field, Part I

In what is likely to become a regular series on this Blog, I am beginning to collect the experiences of legal service providers as they struggle to deal with the overflow of demand as a result of the recent economic downturn. I will post stories from academic and non-academic legal clinics - after all, we are inseparably one writ large. 

University of New Mexico Law Professor Antoinette Sedillo Lopez reports the law school's clinics "always have more demand for our services than we can meet, so it is hard to tell if the need is greater. The interesting thing we are seeing is the number of people facing foreclosure.  One of our community legal service partners has two attorneys working on nothing but foreclosure cases."

Syracuse Law Professor Robert Nassau confirms the wave of foreclosures has increased one aspect of his tax practice, his low income taxpayer clinic has seen a "significant increase in the number of cancellation-of-indebtedness cases -- mostly home foreclosures, but also some credit card write-offs and even a student loan write-off."   As many taxpayers know, or will soon find out, Sec. 61(a)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that cancellation of indebtedness income (also referred to as discharge of indebtedness income) must be included in gross income, subject to certain exceptions. 

University of Connecticut Law Professor Diana Leyden also notes that while her academic tax clinic does not deal directly with bankruptcy or foreclosure cases, "What we have seen lately, and I am not sure if it is directly related to the economic downturn but suspect it is, is that the IRS is getting to delinquent accounts faster and Appeals is much tougher."  Professor Leyden provides the following example:

In the past as part of a Collection Due Process hearing request, even though we might not be legally entitled to raise liability issues or penalty waivers, our local office would listen and try to help our clients get to yes. Now, they inform us in no uncertain terms that any such discussion is foreclosed. We then end up doing an audit reconsideration, often times having the case transferred to a local exam function after waiting 3-4 months with no action, all the while ruining our client's lives, stressing our limited resources, and increasing the burdens on the IRS. 

It is not surprising that certain legal clinics, such as those handling bankruptcies and foreclosures, will be the hardest hit for the foreseeable future.  Slightly less obvious is the effect the current economic crisis will have on the general public, specifically, taxpayers.  Professor Leyden makes an important observation: "The reason I said I thought this was related to the economic downturn is that I sense that Treasury/IRS is now trying hard to collect everything it can to help with the "bailout" and deficit and once again we see a resurgence in going after the low lying fruit - low income taxpayers."  -jl

Fellowship Opportunity: Harvard Legal Aid Bureau - Housing Law Group

The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (Bureau) seeks a Clinical Fellow for an 18-month appointment commencing January 2009, with expectation of renewal based on performance and program needs.  The Fellow will play an active role in supervising practicing law students within the Bureau’s housing (landlord/tenant law) concentration group. Under the supervision of the Bureau’s Faculty Director, the Fellow will learn clinical teaching methodology, while developing and refining teaching and practice approaches and improving data collection and outcome measures in the Bureau’s practice areas. Candidates should be recent (two to five years) law school graduates who are interested in transitioning from a full-time law practice to a career in legal education. Please apply on-line using requisition #35388.

The Bureau is a curriculum-based poverty law clinic with a long-standing tradition of student leadership and governance.  Clinical Instructors and Fellows supervise, assess, and structure the practice work of second- and third-year law students on all aspects of advocacy, including interviewing and counseling, factual investigation and discovery, case analysis and strategy development, motion practice, negotiation, and trial and hearing work. They utilize the students’ casework to teach the fundamentals of lawyering while acting as attorneys of record with ultimate authority for all cases conducted under their supervision. 

Requirements:

• J.D., admission to the MA Bar, and 2-5 years of practice and trial experience required.
• In-depth knowledge of landlord-tenant law and experience in poverty law required. 
• Experience in clinical legal education and or supervision of students highly desirable.
• Bi-cultural and/or bi-lingual candidates encouraged to apply.

The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau is committed to equal opportunity and affirmative action.  Application is available on-line, please use requisition #35388.  -jl

Trending Toward Tenure-Track

A quick analysis of the advertised 2009-2010 clinical faculty positions indicates the academy is trending toward offering clinicians employment on a tenure-track basis. According to my calculations, approximately 62% of the advertised positions are tenure-track. Specifically, 21 of the 34 faculty positions are listed as tenure-track. The remaining faculty positions include:

2 clinical track,
6 contract attorney positions (2 Multi-Year Renewable, 1 Long-Term, 1 Renewable, 1 Contract Clinical Faculty, 1 Look-See Visiting Appointment)
3 do not specify employment status, and
2 are listed as non-tenure track.

Moreover, if the 2 clinical track positions hold true to the commonly accepted “Clinical Track” definition as being substantially similar to tenure pursuant to ABA Standard 405(c), affording "full-time clinical faculty members a form of security reasonably similar to tenure," that raises the percentage to about 71%. This same argument applies to the 2 multi-year renewable contract positions, which then raises the percentage of tenure-track, or reasonably similar to tenure, positions to just about 73.5%.

Thus, the 4 that do not specify employment status, 4 of the 6 contract positions, and the 2 non-tenure track schools will find they are competing in a market overwhelmingly offering tenure-track or "reasonably similar to tenure" employment.

It is also possible the schools that do not specify employment status may in fact offer tenure-track employment, or otherwise comply with 405(c). Similarly, the contract attorney positions may in fact all be long-term or multi-year renewable contracts. In any event, the trend is clear. -jl

Updated: 2009-2010 Clinical Law Professor Positions and Teaching Fellowships

The following law schools have announced 2009-2010 clinical faculty positions and fellowship opportunities in the CLEA Newsletter, AALS Placement Bulletin and various listservs:

American University, Washington College of Law, Tenure-Track Clinical Faculty

University of Baltimore, Tenure-Track or Tenured, Immigrant Rights Clinic

Barry University, Look-See Visiting Appointment, Immigration Clinic

UC - Berkeley, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic

Charlotte, Tenure-Track or Fixed-Term Renewable Contract, Inaugural Clinic Faculty

University of Connecticut, Long-Term Renewable Contract, Assistant or Associate Clinical Professor, Intellectual Property Clinic, Entrepreneurship Clinic, beginning January 1, 2009.

CUNY, Tenure-Track, Immigrant and Refugee Rights Clinic

University of Colorado, Criminal Defense Clinic

Columbia Law School, Assistant Dean & Director, Center for Public Interest Law

DePaul University, Two Tenure-Track Positions

Faulkner University, Non-Tenure-Track, Family Violence, Elder Law Clinic

Fordham, Contract Clinical Faculty, Samuelson-Glushko Intellectual Property and Information Law Clinic

Franklin Pierce, Tenure-Track, Professor and Director, Social Justice Institute

Georgetown, Tenure-Track, International Human Rights Clinic

Georgetown, Clinical Graduate Teaching Fellowships (15-17 available fellowships). Descriptions of each fellowship and application deadlines available online.

Harvard, Clinical Fellow, Housing Clinic - Legal Aid Bureau (18 month appointment, beginning January 2009, apply online)

Harvard, Two-Year Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Center for Health Law, Biotechnology and Bioethics

University of Houston, Multi-Year Renewable Contract, Immigration Clinic

Indiana University - Bloomington, Clinical-Track, Director  - Nonprofit Legal Clinic

Indiana University - Indianapolis, Clinical-Track, Civil Practice Clinic

Louisiana State, Clinical Faculty, Spring 2009 and 2009-2010 academic year

University of Louisville, Tenure-Track, Clinical Faculty

Loyola (Los Angeles), Summer Fellowship (two available), Center for Juvenile Law and Policy

University of Maryland, Tenure-Track, Mediation Clinic

University of Miami, Tenure-Track, Director of Litigation Skills Program

University of Michigan, Long-Term Contract, Urban Communities Clinic

University of Mississippi, Tenure Track, Civil Litigation Clinic

University of New Mexico, Tenure Track, Clinical Program and Indian Law Program

UNC (Chapel Hill), Tenure-Track, Tenured or Fixed-Term Contract, Intellectual Property Clinic

UNC (Chapel Hill), Tenure-Track, Tenured or Fixed-Term Contract, Civil Law Clinic

University of North Dakota, Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Civil Litigation Clinic

Ohio State, Tenure-Track or Visiting Positions, Clinical Faculty

University of Pennsylvania, Renewable Contract, Clinical Supervisor & Lecturer, Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic

Quinnipiac University, Tenure-Track, Clinical Faculty

Roger Williams, Tenure-Track or Tenured, Clinical Faculty

St. John's, Fellowship (Minimum of 2yrs), Child Advocacy Clinic

Seattle University, Tenure-Track, Domestic Violence Clinic

Seton Hall, Tenure-Track, Center for Social Justice

Suffolk, Fellowship, Juvenile Justice Center

Wayne State, Non-Tenure-Track, Clinical Faculty

Yale, Robert M. Cover Fellowship in Public Interest Law (2yr position)

If you do not see your school listed and would like to announce a position, please email me. -jl

Primer Series on Clinical Legal Education: First Installment

In assisting the re-launching of the Clinical Law Prof Blog, I thought it might be useful, particularly for newer clinicians, to highlight Clinical Legal Education scholarship and reports. When I started down the Clinical Legal Education path, I had the good fortune of doing so at the University of the District of Columbia – David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL). Just starting out, I was surprised to learn that the ABA did not have uniform standards for clinical programs, so clinics across the country were not required to offer a set amount of credit hours per clinic, and each credit hour awarded was not related to a fixed amount of student hours worked each week.

As a newer clinician, I find Clinical Legal Education scholarship and reports are invaluable to my growth as a teacher and as a lawyer. When I was on the AALS market, I interviewed for doctrinal and clinical positions. I often found myself thinking it would be wonderful to have the opportunity to teach in both disciplines within the same institution. Colleagues who do so unsurprisingly state their clinical teaching informs and positively influences their doctrinal teaching, and vice versa. I have also been privy to doctrinal faculty singing the praises of teaching by declaring, “It’s so much better than the practice of law.” I sing the praises of teaching because Clinical Legal Education allows me to continue to practice law and to work in the public interest. At UDC-DCSL, I was in the classroom four hours each week, teaching in the tax clinic seminar where we examined tax law, and tax practice and procedure through case law, the Code, the IRS, and in turn discussed how tax policy affected our clients. It was a wonderful integration of theory and practice.

So, the first installment in this Primer Series is the lauded 2007 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching report, entitled Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law. A summary of the findings is available in PDF format and a copy of the report may be purchased for $40.

The report hones in on five key observations:

1. Law School Provides Rapid Socialization into the Standards of Legal Thinking
2. Law Schools Rely Heavily on One Way of Teaching to Accomplish the Socialization Process
3. The Case-Dialogue Method of Teaching Has Valuable Strengths but Also Unintended Consequences
4. Assessment of Student Learning Remains Underdeveloped
5. Legal Education Approaches Improvement Incrementally, Not Comprehensively.

The report also provides a list of recommendations in the section entitled “Toward a More Integrated Model: a Historic Opportunity to Advance Legal Education” The report recommends law schools should:

1. Offer an Integrated Curriculum
2. Join “Lawyering,” Professionalism and Legal Analysis from the Start
3. Make Better Use of the Second and Third Years of Law School
4. Support Faculty to Work Across the Curriculum
5. Design the Program so that Students—and Faculty—Weave Together Disparate Kinds of Knowledge and Skill
6. Recognize a Common Purpose
7. Work Together, Within and Across Institutions.

-jl

Clinical Faculty Position at University of Maryland School of Law

The University of Maryland School of Law seeks applicants for a clinical faculty position in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution.  The primary roles of the successful applicant will be to teach and run an ongoing Mediation Clinic and to engage in scholarship related to mediation and dispute resolution.  The faculty member will also serve as director of the Center for Dispute Resolution at the University of Maryland School of Law (C-DRUM).  In addition, the faculty member will have the opportunity to teach additional conflict resolution courses.

The existing Mediation Clinic is a year-long clinic in which students are trained to mediate cases in the District Court for Baltimore City.  In addition, students in the clinic mediate a variety of cases that are referred by judges from the state trial courts, as well as by state and federal agencies.  C-DRUM is a comprehensive dispute resolution center that works collaboratively with public and private institutions to promote, enhance, and teach conflict resolution skills and to research and develop conflict resolution systems throughout Maryland and beyond.  Current C-DRUM initiatives include school-based conflict education programs, research for the Maryland judiciary on juvenile justice and family court processes, and design of dispute resolution systems for public agencies. The Director works closely with the Deputy Director to develop initiatives, write grant applications and perform work required under existing grants and contracts.

The Law School has a long tradition of clinical education, and is committed to maintaining and expanding its nationally ranked experiential learning program.  Candidates may be considered for continuous appointment to the Law School's tenure track.  A minimum of five years' relevant practice or comparable clinical teaching experience is preferred.  Applicants must be licensed to practice law in at least one state and be eligible to take the Maryland Bar if not already admitted to practice in Maryland. Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume to Professor Jana Singer, Faculty Appointments Committee, University of Maryland School of Law, 500 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 or to Prof. Singer via email.

Note: A listing of 2009-2010 clinical faculty positions is available here. -jl

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2008 William Pincus Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Clinical Legal Education

Washington-St. Louis Professor Peter Joy has issued a reminder that the deadline to submit nominations is October 24, 2008.  A copy of the original announcement follows:

The Awards Committee for the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education is now accepting nominations through Friday, October 24, 2008, for the 2008 William Pincus Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Clinical Legal Education. The Award, which the Section presents at the January AALS annual meeting, honors one or more individuals or institutions of clinical legal education for his/her/their/its (1) service, (2) scholarship, (3) program design and implementation, or (4) other activity beneficial to clinical education or to the advancement of justice.

Past recipients include:

1981 David Barnhizer (Cleveland State)
1982 Hon. Neil Smith (D. IA)
1983 William Greenhalgh (Georgetown)
1984 Robert McKay
1985 Dean Hill Rivkin (Tenn.)
1986 Tony Amsterdam (NYU)
1987 Gary Bellow (Harvard)
1988 William Pincus
1989 Gary Palm (Chicago)
1990 Bea Moulton (Hastings)
1991 Sue Bryant (CUNY)
1992 Elliott Milstein (American)
1993 Roy Stuckey (S. Carolina)
1994 Harriet Rabb (Columbia)
1995 Clinical Law Review
1996 Wally Mlyniec (Georgetown)
1997 Edgar Cahn (DC School of Law) and Jean Cahn (Antioch, posthumously)
1998 Steve Wizner (Yale)
1999 Katherine Shelton Broderick (U.D.C. School of Law)
2000 E. Clinton Bamberger (U. of Maryland, Emeritus)
2001 Peter A. Joy (Washington U. at St. Louis)
2002 Louise Trubek (Wisconsin) and Bernida Reagan (East Bay Community Law Center/Boalt Hall)
2003 Sandy Ogilvy (Catholic)
2004 Randy Hertz (NYU)
2005 J. Michael Norwood (New Mexico)
2006 David Binder (UCLA)
2007 Anthony V. Alfieri (Miami)
2008 John Elson (Northwestern

To nominate a person or an institution, send the name of the nominee and a nominating statement setting forth why the Section should honor the individual or institution, specifically referencing the award criteria outlined  above where relevant.  The Committee strongly encourages nominators to obtain some supporting letters for the candidate, given that its deliberations are assisted immensely by a variety of voices speaking about a particular nominee.  Please note that there is a limit on the amount of supporting material that will be considered. Supporting materials for  nominations include: nominating statement of no more than five  pages in length (required); a copy of the nominee's resume (required); a list of any scholarship, but not copies of the scholarship (required, but do not duplicate this if it is in the nominee's resume); no more than five letters or e-mails in support (no letter or e-mail should be more than four single-spaced pages long, exclusive of signatures, which may be multiple); and no more than five pages of any other materials.

The Committee encourages re-nominations of persons whom or institutions that have been previously nominated but not selected for the Award. Nominations and supporting materials will be accepted in electronic format only. Please send your nominations by e-mail to committee chair Peter Joy at BOTH of the following email addresses (email to BOTH to ensure receipt): joy@wulaw.wustl.edu  AND clinicawards@yahoo.com   -jl

2009-2010 Clinical Law Professor Positions and Fellowship Opportunities

The following law schools have announced clinical faculty positions, fellowship opportunities and related positions beginning in the 2009-2010 academic year:

American University, Washington College of Law, Tenure-Track Clinical Faculty

University of Baltimore, Tenure-Track or Tenured, Immigrant Rights Clinic

UC - Berkeley, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic

Charlotte, Tenure-Track or Fixed-Term Renewable Contract, Inaugural Clinic Faculty

CUNY, Tenure-Track, Immigrant and Refugee Rights Clinic

University of Colorado, Criminal Defense Clinic

Columbia Law School, Assistant Dean & Director, Center for Public Interest Law

Fordham, Contract Clinical Faculty, Samuelson-Glushko Intellectual Property and Information Law Clinic

Georgetown, Tenure-Track, International Human Rights Clinic

Georgetown, Clinical Graduate Teaching Fellowships (15-17 available fellowships). Descriptions of each fellowship and application deadlines available online.

Harvard, Two-Year Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Center for Health Law, Biotechnology and Bioethics

University of Houston, Multi-Year Renewable Contract, Immigration Clinic

Indiana University - Bloomington, Clinical-Track, Director  - Nonprofit Legal Clinic

Indiana University - Indianapolis, Clinical-Track, Civil Practice Clinic

Louisiana State, Clinical Faculty, Spring 2009 and 2009-2010 academic year

University of Louisville, Tenure-Track, Clinical Faculty

Loyola (Los Angeles), Summer Fellowship (two available), Center for Juvenile Law and Policy

University of Maryland, Tenure-Track, Mediation Clinic

University of Miami, Tenure-Track, Director of Litigation Skills Program

University of Michigan, Long-Term Contract, Urban Communities Clinic

University of Mississippi, Tenure Track, Civil Litigation Clinic

UNC (Chapel Hill), Tenure-Track, Tenured or Fixed-Term Contract, Intellectual Property Clinic

UNC (Chapel Hill), Tenure-Track, Tenured or Fixed-Term Contract, Civil Law Clinic

University of North Dakota, Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Civil Litigation Clinic

Ohio State, Tenure-Track or Visiting Positions, Clinical Faculty

University of Pennsylvania, Renewable Contract, Clinical Supervisor & Lecturer, Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic

Franklin Pierce, Tenure-Track, Professor and Director, Social Justice Institute

Roger Williams, Tenure-Track or Tenured, Clinical Faculty

St. John's, Fellowship (Minimum of 2yrs), Child Advocacy Clinic

Seattle University, Tenure-Track, Domestic Violence Clinic

Seton Hall, Tenure-Track, Center for Social Justice

Suffolk, Fellowship, Juvenile Justice Center

Wayne State, Non-Tenure-Track, Clinical Faculty

Yale, Robert M. Cover Fellowship in Public Interest Law (2yr position)

If you do not see your school listed and would like to announce a position, please email me. -jl

Howard University's Fair Housing Clinic to Host People's Law Day

Brian Gilmore, Adjunct Professor and Staff Attorney for the Fair Housing Clinic at Howard University School of Law has announced the law school will host a panel discussion entitled The Coming World: Fair & Affordable Housing in the 21st Century. The event will be held on October 17, 2008, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. and panelists include:

Mary Hahn, Director, Fair Housing Project - Washington Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law
Oramenta Newsome, Executive Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation ( LISC)
Wendell Pritchett, Law Professor, Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Law & Advisor to Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.

There is no cost for the session and reception, but registration is required. To register, please contact the Howard University School of Law Fair Housing Clinic at (202) 806-8267 or register online.

A copy of the program may be downloaded here. Download 2008_peoples_law_day1.pdf  -jl

Job Announcement: University of Mississippi Law School

Professor Deborah Bell has announced Ole Miss is seeking to add a new faculty member to their Civil Legal Clinic:

The University of Mississippi School of Law seeks applicants for a tenure-track faculty position for the Law School's Civil Legal Clinic. The Civil Legal Clinic is the law school's largest clinic, composed of multiple clinical offerings that have included Elder Law, Domestic Violence, Child Advocacy, Low-income Taxpayer, Legislation and Policy, Consumer, and Street Law Clinics. The Civil Clinic faculty is composed of a tenure-track faculty member and five adjuncts who supervise students in offerings within the Clinic. The tenure-track faculty member's responsibilities will include developing a clinic offering consistent with the Civil Clinic's educational and service goals, directing collaborative teaching of the classroom component of the Civil Clinic, and oversight responsibility for the Clinic as a whole, including supervision of grant-writing and reporting, and clinic design and development. The Director may also teach one or more other law school classes. The Director is expected to achieve excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service to the law school and community consistent with his or her clinical responsibilities.

Minimum Qualifications: A J.D. degree from an accredited law school, three years experience as an attorney, member of the Mississippi Bar or willingness to take the Mississippi Bar at first opportunity, distinguished academic record, teaching promise, record of scholarship or evidence of the ability to produce scholarship; a commitment to clinical teaching and public interest law practice.

How to Apply: Interested persons should register with the Association of American Law Schools or send a résumé and apply online at www.jobs.olemiss.edu.  In addition, Prof. Bell advises interested parties to forward materials to the Faculty Recruitment Committee at the address immediately below:

Lisa Shaw Roy
Jessie D. Puckett, Jr., Lecturer and Associate Professor of Law
Chair, Faculty Recruitment Committee
University of Mississippi School of Law
Lamar Law Center
P.O. Box 1848
University, Mississippi 38677
(662) 915-6813
lisaroy@olemiss.edu

The University of Mississippi is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA Employer. -jl

Job Announcement: Barry University School of Law

Professor Gerard Glynn has announced that Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law seeks to hire an Immigration Law clinician next fall:

Immigration Clinic Visiting Professor

Barry University School of Law seeks applicants with a demonstrated commitment to clinical legal education for a “look-see” visiting appointment to create an Immigration Clinic. The Immigration Clinic would be the third in-house clinic at the Law School.  Students currently work in the Children and Families Clinic and Earth Advocacy Clinic. 

Duties include working collaboratively with other teachers in the clinical program; direct supervision of third-year students in client representation and project work; development of curriculum, simulations, and advocacy materials; and joint classroom teaching.

The initial position would be a visiting faculty position with the hopes of converting the position into a permanent position when the School acquires sufficient funding.  If the position became permanent the faculty member would be on our tenure-track system.  In addition to the teaching responsibilities, the faculty member would be expected to achieve excellence in scholarship and service to the school and community.  The position can begin as soon as January 1, 2009. 

The Barry University is a Dominican Catholic university.  The main campus is in Miami Shores, Florida.  The Barry University School of Law is located in Orlando, Florida, a vibrant and sunny place to live and to attend school. The Law School received full accreditation from the American Bar Association in December 2006. Barry University is an equal opportunity employer and people of color, women and others with diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

QUALIFICATIONS - J.D. degree or its equivalent. A minimum of three years of post-law school work experience is required and five years of such experience is preferred. Substantial experience in trial and appellate deportation defense is strongly preferred. Clinical teaching or supervisory experience is also preferred. A record of scholarship or evidence of the ability to produce scholarship is required.  Bar membership and willingness to seek admission to the Middle District of Florida Federal Court.

We will begin to review applications in early fall so interested candidates should apply as soon as possible. Please send resume and cover letter to:

Leonard Birdsong
Chair Faculty Recruitment Committee
Associate Professor of Law
6441 E. Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32807
lbirdsong@mail.barry.edu

-jl

Penland: Identifying and Implementing Competencies for Transactional Lawyers

Lisa Penland (Drake) has published What a Transactional Lawyer Needs to Know: Identifying and Implementing Competencies for Transactional Lawyers, Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, Vol. 5, 2008. Here is the abstract:

While many law schools are beginning to teach transactional skills to train transactional lawyers for the practice of law, a gap remains between the minimal transactional skills a young lawyer should have and those that the recent law school graduate actually possesses. The primary purpose of this article is to identify basic transactional competencies for transactional lawyers and provide resources and direction for obtaining those transactional competencies. The article will take a brief look at the history of formal transactional training in law school; identify basic transactional skills necessary to prepare a lawyer for transactional practice; and provide insight into attaining transactional competency.

Both the MacCrate Report and available statistics support the assertion that transactional practice is more than alive and well; it is equal and perhaps dominant to litigation practice. Additionally, even those litigation attorneys who proclaim they have never engaged in transactional practice have undoubtedly drafted the most basic of transactional documents - a settlement agreement. So, indeed, transactional competency is a must. However, while law schools are beginning to meet this real need, there is still a gap between what a transactional lawyer needs to know and what a law student learns in law school. -jl

Job Announcement: University of New Mexico School of Law

Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law has announced the law school is hiring for next fall, including a tenure-track or tenured clinician: 

The University of New Mexico School of Law invites applications and nominations for one or more faculty positions in its Clinical Program and its Indian Law Program, or both starting in the Fall of 2009.  A detailed Notice of Faculty Positions is available here:  Download notice_of_faculty_positions1.doc  -jl

SAVE THE DATE: GEORGETOWN SUMMER INSTITUTE ON CLINICAL TEACHING

Georgetown Professor Deborah Epstein has announced that the law school will again host a summer clinical teaching conference. A popular offering last summer, we are glad to hear it's being offered again.  Prof. Epstein provides the following details:

Georgetown University Law Center is pleased to announce that we will hold the second Summer Institute on Clinical Teaching from June 1-4, 2009.  During this four-day, intensive workshop on our campus, we will help a small number of experienced clinicians improve their teaching and supervision through plenary sessions, hands-on work, and numerous opportunities for individualized feedback.  All participants will be asked to submit a tape or a written description of a clinical challenge they have encountered; small group sessions will be devoted to thinking through strategies for resolving them.  Our hope is that clinicians will leave the Institute with a renewed sense of energy, a broader range of strategic ideas, and a connected community of peers from whom to continue to learn.

There will be no registration fee.  Georgetown will provide some meals during the workshop period, and those who wish to stay in the Law Center’s dormitory apartments may do so at low cost. We will circulate details about the Institute, including the faculty, the agenda, and how to apply, later in the fall. -jl

Job Announcement: University of Houston Law Center Immigration Clinic

Professor Ellen Marrus, has issued a clinical position announcement on behalf of the University of Houston Law Center for academic year 2009 - 2010. The announcement appears below:

The Law Center seeks applicants for a clinical faculty position in the Clinical Legal Education Program to teach and administer the Immigration Clinic. The Faculty member is designated as Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, or Clinical Professor, depending on qualifications and experience. The non-tenure track appointment will have the possibility of a multi-year, renewable contract with the first two years being a probationary period.

The salary range for the position is $60,000 to $80,000 for a ten-twelve month academic year. The position is responsible for teaching and administering the Immigration clinic, one of our in-house clinics. The individual appointed to clinical ranks in the Clinical Legal Education Program must, at a minimum, hold a JD Degree from an ABA-accredited law school and be licensed to practice law. Qualified candidates must have strong academic credentials and practice experience in the field of Immigration Law. Strong preference will be given to candidates with prior clinical teaching experience.

The University of Houston is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. Minorities, women, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Interested candidates should send a resume or c.v. to: Prof. Janet Heppard, Acting Director, Clinical Legal Education, University of Houston Law Center, 100 Law Center, Houston, TX 77204-6060. Telephone: 713-743-2094. Fax: 713-743-2195. Applicants should submit materials via e-mail to Prof. Heppard.  -jl

Conference: Second Biennial International Applied Storytelling in Law

Prof. Ruth Anne Robbins has announced the second Applied Storytelling Conference, Once Upon a Legal Time, Chapter Two: Applied Storytelling in Law will be held July 22-24, 2009 at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. The announcement is reproduced below:

Introduction
We are pleased to issue this Call for Proposals for the second biennial international Applied Storytelling Conference. The deadline is December 8, 2008. Building on the success of the first conference, held in London in 2007, this conference seeks to foster collaboration and dialogue about the skill of storytelling in law and about teaching storytelling and other skills to law students and practitioners. This conference will bring together academics, judges, and practitioners to explore the role of narrative in legal practice and curricular strategies that will prepare students to use story and narrative as they enter the practice of law.

Potential topics on the role of narrative in the practice of law may include (but please, feel free to be creative):
-using storytelling in litigation or transactional work or in legislative processes;
-the process of creating compelling legal stories as part of best practices;
-examining current models used to teach storytelling skills in education and/or practice;
-narrative and negotiation;
-the place of storytelling in legal reasoning;
-differentiating between stories and narratives and the uses of each;
-comparative storytelling in legal systems;
-the ethical limits of storytelling, whether with clients lawyers or judges;

Selected papers from the 2007 conference were published in two journals: 43 The Law Teacher (Thomson, 2007); and 14 Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute (LexisNexis, 2008). Volume 14 of Legal Writing is available on-line.

Format
The conference will include 45-60 minute presentations as well as roundtable discussions. Proposals may indicate a preference for format. We also encourage people to present works in progress for feedback.

Proposal Submissions
The deadline for submissions is December 8, 2008. Submissions should be made on the attached Submission Form and should be sent, preferably electronically, to: Prof. Steve Johansen, Lewis & Clark Law School 10015 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland, OR 97219

Logistical Details
Proposal Format: Please include a cover sheet, the form of which appears at the end of this document, plus a description or narrative. Proposal narratives can be as short as a few paragraphs but please do not exceed 2-3 pages of text including whatever partial or full bibliography you include.

Please make sure that your contact email address is included in the body of the proposal. That is how we will be communicating with you.

Selection Process: After all proposals are received, the Conference Program Committee will review all proposals. Submitters of proposals will be notified if their proposal has been accepted by January 15, 2009.

When and Where: The conference will take place from Wednesday, July 22 (opening reception) to Friday, July 24, 2007 (closing dinner) at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. The School is a short ride from downtown Portland, nestled on the edge of Tryon Creek State Park. Transportation to and from the conference hotel will be provided.

Costs to Participants: Final conference costs have not been finalized. We anticipate the conference fee to be approximately $350.

Housing: We have reserved blocks of rooms at the Heathman Hotel ($179/night), and the Downtown Marriott Hotel ($149/night). Both hotels are in the heart of pedestrian-friendly downtown Portland. For more details on the hotels, please visit their websites:

This conference is made possible through the generous support of the Legal Writing Institute and Lewis and Clark Law School. -jl

Scholarship Spotlight: Clinical Legal Education and the Public Interest in Intellectual Property Law

Christine Haight Farley, Peter A. Jaszi, Victoria F. Phillips, Joshua Sarnoff and Ann Shalleck (American) have published Clinical Legal Education and the Public Interest in Intellectual Property Law, St. Louis University Law Journal, Vol. 52, 2008.  Here is the abstract:

Clinical legal education provides a powerful methodology for students to learn about the relationships among intellectual property law theories, policies and practices; to encounter the experiences of persons who seek protection or who feel the legal regimes of intellectual property impinging on their ability to engage in educational, creative, innovative and culturally significant work; and to develop as lawyers. We describe in this article our motivations for forming an intellectual property law clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, the goals that we seek to achieve, and the tripartite pedagogical structure that we adopted - (1) a seminar built around a year-long simulation that addresses multiple lawyering skills and legal practice settings, (2) a wide variety of live-client student representations performed under close faculty supervision, and (3) weekly case rounds discussions focusing on public interest issues experienced directly by the students in their representations. We provide an example of a particular student representation that illustrates some of the benefits of our clinical model for teaching students about the public interest and intellectual property law doctrines within the framework of teaching about lawyering. We conclude with our reflections on student experiences and the ability of our clinical program to teach intellectual property law and lawyering in concrete factual and policy contexts, helping students better understand the interaction of theory, doctrine and practice in shaping the meaning and consequences of intellectual property regimes. Students came to understand law and lawyering and to see ways to shape their lives as lawyers, through analyzing and evaluating their responses to the interests of their clients, their actions in meeting the demands of a case, their understanding of the relationships among doctrinal areas, and the connection of their activities to the public interest. -jl

McGinley: Reproducing Gender on Law School Faculties

Ann McGinley (UNLV) has posted Reproducing Gender on Law School Faculties on SSRN.  Here is the abstract:      

This article demonstrates that there is a gender divide on law school faculties. Women work in inferior sex-segregated jobs and teach a disproportionate percentage of female-identified courses; more than 80% of law school deans are men. Men teach the more prestigious male-identified courses. Women suffer from differential expectations from colleagues and students and often bear the brunt of their colleagues' bullying behaviors at work. Using masculinities studies and other social science research to identify gendered structures, practices, and behaviors that harm women law professors, this article provides a theoretical framework to explain why women in the legal academy do not enjoy status equal to that of their male colleagues. Many of these practices appear to be gender-neutral, but tacitly perpetuate stereotypes and segregation that is harmful to women. This article makes visible the gendered nature of these structures and practices and challenges the notion of natural difference or "choice" as a cause of the disparity between men and women law professors. It concludes that only by making these gendered practices visible will women attain equal status on law school faculties. -jl

Joy & Kuehn: The Evolution of ABA Standards for Clinical Faculty

Peter A. Joy (Washington-St. Louis) and Robert R. Kuehn (Alabama) have published The Evolution of ABA Standards for Clinical Faculty, Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 75, No. 2, 2008.  Here is the abstract:

The value of clinical legal education courses and the faculty teaching those courses has long been contested. A focal point for this opposition has been resistance to the American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation standard that requires law schools to establish long-term employment relationships with clinical faculty and provide them with a meaningful voice in law school governance. By integrating clinical faculty into law schools, the ABA aims to advance the value of clinical legal education and the professional skills and values it promotes. In the decades since the ABA created the first clinical faculty standard, clinical legal education in the United States has developed as pedagogy and the number of clinical faculty has greatly increased. Despite these trends, a recent decision by the ABA Accreditation Committee approving short-term contracts and the denial of meaningful participation in faculty governance for clinical faculty demonstrates that the debate over the appropriate status continues. In this debate, there is often little or no mention of the history of the accreditation standard in question, perhaps because no historical account of its evolution exists. In this article, the authors fill that gap in the literature by tracing the evolution of the ABA standard concerning clinical faculty status.

The article begins with a discussion of the role of the ABA in legal education and a brief history of the development of clinical legal education. It then discusses the events leading up to the initial adoption in 1984 of a standard addressing clinical faculty and to the strengthening of the standard in 1996. The authors conclude by addressing changes to the standard in 2005 and how those changes have revived the debate over the status of clinical faculty. By surfacing the historical debates and the evolution of the standard for clinical faculty, the article provides the basis for reasoned, informed decisions by the ABA and the legal academy concerning the value of clinical legal education and the role of clinical faculty in law schools. -jl

Scholarship Spotlight: Law Clinics and Collective Mobilization

Sameer Ashar (CUNY) has published Law Clinics and Collective Mobilization, Clinical Law Review, Vol. 14, pp. 355-414, 2008.  Here is the abstract:

Poor people are not served well by the kinds of advocacy currently taught and reinforced in most law clinics. The canonical approaches to clinical legal education, which focus nearly exclusively on individual client empowerment, the transfer of a limited number of professional skills, and lawyer-led impact litigation and law reform, are not sufficient to sustain effective public interest practice in the current political moment. These approaches rely on a practice narrative that does not accurately portray the conditions poor people face or the resistance strategies that activist, organized groups deploy. At the margins of the field, a growing number of law school clinics and innovative legal advocacy organizations have played a key role in developing a new public interest practice. These lawyers and law students support and stimulate radical democratic resistance to market forces by developing litigation, legislative, and community education methods aimed at advancing collective mobilization. This article offers a typology of clinical approaches, a critique of the canon, and a description of the features of an emerging alternative clinical model that promises to reconfigure public interest law. -jl