Clinical Law Prof Blog

One Benefit of the Economic Downturn: More Attorneys Engaged in Pro Bono Work

From the ABA Journal article Law Firms Switch Idle Lawyers to Pro Bono Work:

"There is at least one benefit to the economic downturn: More lawyers are volunteering for pro bono work. Several law firms have switched lawyers experiencing idle time to pro bono work, the American Lawyer reports. The magazine says these law firms are among those making a change:

• Dechert, which has moved seven associates to full-time pro bono work because of a slowdown in structured finance.
• Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft, which has increased pro bono hours.
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where pro bono hours have risen to 85 hours per lawyer through September, compared to 69 hours per lawyer last year.
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where new associates have more free time than usual to devote to pro bono."

Another Journal article Not Enough Legal Work to Go Around? What About Low-Income Clients? recounts how ABA President-elect Carolyn Lamm urged firms to consider placing idle lawyers on pro bono matters:

"One possible approach, said Lamm, a partner at White & Case in Washington, D.C., would be to work with law firms to create programs that assign lawyers to handle cases for low-income clients rather than let them go altogether. She acknowledged that lawyers assigned to such work would be likely do so at salaries far below what they were making at firms previously."

Meanwhile, the Journal continues to document the downside of the recession: Law Prof Predicts More Big Law Firms Will Collapse in ’09 and More Law Firms Likely to Freeze Associate Salaries, Consultants Say

-jl

FDIC Agrees to Extend Unlimited Protection to IOLTA Accounts

In an update on an earlier post, the ABA has announced:

Last month the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation extended its unlimited protection of non-interest-bearing accounts under the Temporary Liquid Guarantee Program to include Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts. As a result, clients’ funds deposited in IOLTA are fully insured regardless of the amount. The decision was applauded by the ABA, which joined the House Financial Services Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, more than 20 U.S. senators and other organizations representing lawyers nationwide in persuading the FDIC to include IOLTA in the expanded insurance program. "Had the FDIC failed to expand full coverage for IOLTA, lawyers would have had to consider abandoning IOLTA for fully insured non interest bearing accounts or moving IOLTA funds from community banks to the larger ‘too big to fail’ banks," noted ABA President H. Thomas Wells in a recent statement praising the FDIC’s actions. "Abandoning IOLTA would have been catastrophic for IOLTA programs in all 50 states, which provide funding for legal aid for the poor." Interest on IOLTA accounts are the second largest source of funding for legal services to low-income Americans.

-jl

Job Announcement: Seattle Law Seeks Two Legal Writing Professors

Seattle University School of Law is currently accepting applications for two positions teaching legal writing. The positions are contract positions with a three-year initial contract that begins on August 1, 2009. Seattle University is an established leader in the field of legal writing: It founded the Legal Writing Institute, it has hosted seven Legal Writing Institute summer conferences, and its faculty has published numerous books and article relating to legal writing. As a result, for the last four years, U.S. New and World Report has ranked Seattle University’s legal writing program as one of the top two legal writing programs in the United States.

Individuals teaching legal writing at Seattle University receive extensive training in teaching legal writing. Currently, individuals teach both a first-year course that introduces students to legal research, legal reading, legal analysis, and effective writing, and a second-year course that introduces persuasive writing and oral advocacy. Professors are in the classroom seven hours a week, spend about ten hours a week meeting with students on a one-to-one basis, and spend about 20-25 hours a week critiquing and grading student writing. In filling the positions, Seattle University is looking for candidates with a strong academic record, experience working as a judicial law clerk or as an attorney, teaching experience, excellent writing skills, and excellent interpersonal skills. The Hiring Committee will begin reviewing applications on February 2, 2009. The positions will close when both positions are filled.

Seattle University, founded in 1891, continues a more than four hundred and fifty year tradition of Jesuit Catholic higher education. The University’s Jesuit Catholic ideals underscore its commitment to the centrality of teaching, learning and scholarship, of values-based education grounded in the Jesuit and Catholic traditions, of service and social justice, of lifelong learning, and of educating the whole person. Located in the heart of dynamic Seattle, the University enrolls approximately 6,800 undergraduate and graduate students in eight colleges and schools. Students enjoy a university ethos characterized by small classes, individualized faculty attention, a strong sense of community, a commitment to diversity, and an outstanding faculty.

Individuals interested in the position should send a letter of application, a resume or vitae, a writing sample that has not been edited by another person, and the names and contact information for three references either by email or by mail to the following address:

Professor Bryan Adamson
Seattle University School of Law
901 12th Avenue
P.O. Box 222000
Seattle, WA 98122-1090

More information about Seattle University’s writing program is available here, or contact Professor Laurel Currie Oates or Professor Mary Bowman.

Seattle University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Finding prejudicial discrimination inconsistent with the mission of the University and the spirit of free academic inquiry, Seattle University does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, familial status, sexual orientation, or disability. This policy complies with the spirit and the letter of applicable federal, state, and local laws. -jl

Law and Society Early Career Workshop, May 26-27, 2009 in Denver, Colorado

The Law and Society Association is pleased to announce the first Early Career Workshop to be held May 26-27, immediately preceding the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association in Denver, Colorado, USA. We invite applications from scholars in the early stage of their careers (first three years of initial appointment or in a post doc) in any field whose scholarly interests include sociolegal studies. The Association strongly encourages applications from scholars who have not participated in LSA meetings before, in addition to scholars who have participated one or many times before. The Early Career Workshop encourages new faculty to move their research and writing toward law-and-society topics and encourages people who are already comfortable with one methodological approach to consider others. For those trained as lawyers, social science may seem a bit daunting. For those trained in one social science, other methodologies from other fields may seem foreign. But for all concerned, it might be useful to know these other methods. In this Early Career Workshop, we will help people to make transitions to new kinds of law-related work with a focus on questions of methodology. As a result, we will ask: How do law-and-society scholars do their work? And how can newcomers to the field increase their methodological range?

This workshop will offer insight into three different streams of research methodology and will allow participants to start to come to grips with methods that they have not tried before. The three streams are:
- formal modeling and quantitative approaches -- focusing on countable and quantifiable elements of legal phenomena
- ethnographic/qualitative methods -- focusing on experience-based methods of observation and interviewing
- historical/textual analysis -- focusing on the analysis of documents, from archives to cases

The sessions within each stream will consider questions like:
- how can new researchers in the field find appropriate data to analyze?
- what are the key strengths and limitations of particular methods?
- how would researchers learn more about how to use the particular approach?
- what are the specific issues that arise in adapting these generic methods to legal settings?

In addition, participants will be asked to submit a current working paper or project description in advance of the workshop and will be given individual feedback from faculty in individual meetings (with one or two faculty) during the workshop. The workshop will be structured to allow for informal discussion and networking over meals and during breaks.

This year’s planning committee is co-chaired by Tom Baker (University of Pennsylvania) and Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton University) and include s Richard Brooks (Yale University), Malcolm Feeley (University of California, Berkeley), Alexandra Huneeus (University of Wisconsin), Sally Merry (New York University), Lisa Miller (Rutgers University), Sara Parikh (Leo J. Shapiro & Assoc.), and Vicki Schultz (Yale University).

Twenty scholars will be selected to participate in the Workshop. Applications must be received by February 15, 2009. Applications should contain the following four items:
1. cover sheet, which can be downloaded here,
2. current CV,
3. 1-2 page letter describing research and teaching interests, and
4. 2 page description of a current research project.

These documents should be combined in into a single file, in the order listed above, named for the applicant as follows: “LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_ECW.file-type” File type should be .doc, .wpd, or .pdf. Send the file as an attachment in an email to ECW@lawandsociety.org.

Participants should plan travel to arrive on Monday, May 25th. For those not reimbursed by their home institution, LSA will offer up to $500 toward the costs of travel and two nights’ accommodations. If you have questions about the submission format please get in touch with Lissa Ganter. -jl

Conversations on 'Community Lawyering': The Newest (Oldest) Wave in Clinical Legal Education

Karen Tokarz (Washington-St. Louis), Nancy Cook (Minnesota), Susan Brooks (Drexel), and Brenda Bratton Blom (Maryland) have published Conversations on 'Community Lawyering': The Newest (Oldest) Wave in Clinical Legal Education, Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, Vol. 28, 2008. Here is the abstract:

This Article explores the pedagogical and professional challenges and rewards of community lawyering and clinical legal education. The authors are clinical law faculty who self-identify as community lawyers and teachers of community lawyering clinics. They have gathered in recent years with a larger group of similarly engaged colleagues to discuss what is meant by community lawyering, how it is taught, and how it is practiced. This Article seeks to capture some of those conversations, crystallize some of the ideas that have arisen out of the discussions, and examine the implications of these ruminations for future directions in clinical legal education.

-jl

Victory for University of Washington's Innocence Project Northwest

University of Washington Law School Associate Dean Lisa Kelly has announced:

"A wonderful story ran in the Seattle Times yesterday and on the front page of the Seattle PI today about IPNW’s successful effort to secure the release of James S. Anderson who has spent five years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Now, only the snow is keeping him from his family in Los Angeles. Jackie McMurtrie and former students, Boris Reznikov and Christopher R. Carney, worked tirelessly to prove that James S. Anderson was in Los Angeles when the armed robbery for which he was convicted took place. Congratulations for the truly heroic work that the IPNW clinic does. I am sure that this is the best gift that James Anderson will ever receive."

The Seattle Times story UW Law Student Uncovers Evidence That Frees Man Convicted of Tacoma Robbery is available here. -jl

ABA Tax Section Survey Shows Need to Match Pro Bono Volunteers with Low Income Taxpayer Clinics

The Pro Bono Committee of the ABA Tax Section has published a report on a survey of Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs). The Press Release noted:

The American Bar Association Section of Taxation conducted a survey of Low Income Taxpayer Clinics around the country to gauge their need for assistance from pro bono attorneys. LITCs represent low-income taxpayers before the IRS in audit, appeals, collection and federal tax litigation issues; their services are available free or for a nominal fee. Representatives from more than half of the nation’s 150 LITCs responded to the survey. While most reported a need for increased tax services for the poor, they cited a lack of personnel and resources necessary to manage and train pro bono volunteers to help in the clinics. Clinic staff also noted several barriers to seeking outside assistance, including the lack of qualified, interested pro bono volunteers, too little time to organize them and too few resources to provide adequate training.

In response to the survey results, the ABA Tax Section is developing an online pro bono match program for those Low Income Taxpayer Clinics that seek outside tax assistance for current and potential clients. The service will enable LITC personnel to go online and describe their needs, while allowing section members who are interested in pro bono work to sign up and locate the clinics that need their help. The section will also develop training materials to help members become familiar with issues specific to LITC clients, such as the earned income tax credit, stimulus payment protocols and English as a Second Language issues. Through its outreach to taxpayers, the section will also help publicize the LITCs and the tax assistance they provide nationwide.

More information about the ABA Tax Section and its pro bono efforts is available here. -jl

American University Washington College of Law Seeks Visiting Professors and Practitioners-in-Residence

Professor Robert Dinerstein, Director of Clinical Programs at American University, Washington College of Law has posted the following:

Visiting Professors - American University, Washington College of Law is seeking applications for one or more Visiting Professors for all or part of Academic Year 2009-10 in the following clinics: International Human Rights Law Clinic (academic year), Community and Economic Development Law Clinic (academic year), and General Practice Clinic (fall or spring semester). American University’s in-house, “live-client” Clinical Program is respected for its leadership in scholarship, development of clinical methodology, contributions to increasing access to justice for under-served clients and breadth of offerings. The Visiting Professor will supervise casework, co-teach the weekly seminar and case rounds, and engage in course planning and preparation with the clinic’s director or tenured faculty member. The Visiting Professor will also teach a course outside of the clinical curriculum.

Minimum qualifications include a JD degree, outstanding academic record, three years’ experience as a lawyer and membership in a state bar. Appointment as a Visiting Professor is limited to those who are faculty members at another law school to which they are eligible to return. American University is an EEO\AA employer committed to a diverse faculty, staff and student body.

Applications consisting of a curriculum vitae and cover letter should be e-mailed to Professor Brenda Smith, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, with copies to Professor Robert Dinerstein, Director of the Clinical Program.

Practitioners-in-Residence - American University, Washington College of Law is seeking applications for Practitioners-in-Residence for academic years 2009-10 and beyond in a number of our in-house clinics. American University’s in-house, “live-client” Clinical Program, comprising nine (9) in-house clinics and serving approximately 240 students per year, is respected for its leadership in scholarship, development of clinical methodology, contributions to increasing access to justice for under-served clients and breadth of offerings.

At this time, it is anticipated that we may have openings in the following in-house clinics: criminal justice clinic; disability rights law clinic; domestic violence clinic; international human rights law clinic; and women and the law clinic. The Practitioner-in-Residence Program is a program designed to train lawyers or entry-level clinicians interested in becoming clinical teachers in the practice and theory of clinical legal education. Many graduates of the Practitioners-in-Residence program have gone on to tenure-track teaching positions at other law schools. Practitioners can serve in these positions for up to three (3) years. Practitioners supervise student casework, co-teach weekly clinic seminars and case rounds, and engage in course planning and preparation with the clinic’s tenured faculty. They also teach a course outside of the clinical curriculum. The Practitioner-in-Residence Program provides full-year training in clinical theory and methodology and a writing workshop designed to assist Practitioners in the development of their clinical and doctrinal scholarship.

Contact:
Robert Dinerstein
Professor of Law
American University, Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Room 460
Washington, D.C. 20016-8181
(202) 274-4141
(202) 274-0659 (fax)

-jl

SAVE THE DATE: Third Annual Indian Law Symposium and Workshop June 7-9, 2009

The Third Annual Indian Law Clinics and Externship Programs Symposium and Workshop will be held June 7-9, 2009 in New Mexico. Details:

Sponsors
Southwest Indian Law Clinic, UNM School of Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Contributors
The Tribal Law Practice Clinic Washburn University School of Law
Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Where: Isleta Casino & Resort, Pueblo of Isleta (located just south of Albuquerque, New Mexico)

For: Professors, Directors, Clinicians and Staff of Indian Law, Poverty Law, Economic Justice and Community Lawyering Clinics and those interested in carefully considering their work with Communities through the provision of legal representation.

Goal: To dedicate time and space for Indian law clinics and other clinicians working with minority populations to work in solidarity on Poverty Law and Community Lawyering issues, to discuss our shared mission and differing perspectives, and to support new ideas

Watch for more program details coming soon.

Contacts:
Professor Christine Zuni Cruz
Professor Barbara Creel
Southwest Indian Law Clinic
UNM School of Law
505-277-5265

Professor Aliza Organick
Washburn University School of Law
Tribal Law Practice Clinic
785-670-1664

For registration information contact:
Mitzi Vigil
(505) 277-0405

-jl

George Washington Law School - Clinical Fellowship Program

George Washington Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Phyllis Goldfarb has issued the following announcement:

The Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics of The George Washington University Law School have established a two-year graduate clinical fellowship program. In recognition of the generous gift of Philip Friedman, the Fellows are known as Friedman Fellows. We have five inaugural Friedman Fellows for 2008-2010, and we are pleased to announce the availability of two additional two-year clinical fellowships to begin in the summer of 2009. These fellowships allow both new and experienced attorneys to obtain an LLM degree while examining and engaging in clinical legal education and public interest law.

Each fellowship is connected to a law school clinic. Although the clinics provide varying kinds of responsibilities and experiences, each allows the Fellow to co-teach and co-supervise, alongside experienced clinical faculty, the law students enrolled in the clinic. Every Fellow is provided the opportunity to learn about clinical teaching and public interest lawyering through the practice of engaging in it, studying it, receiving mentorship and support, and assisting clinical students in their lawyering work.

The fellowships begin with an orientation to clinical teaching, followed by two year-long courses in Clinical Teaching and Scholarship taught by the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. As part of this course sequence, Fellows receive specific instruction and guidance in teaching, supervising, and writing a publishable thesis. Fellows also enroll part-time in other classes, and receive an LLM degree upon completion of the class and thesis requirements of the LLM program.

We are currently seeking applications from candidates with strong academic, clinical, and lawyering experience for the 2009-2011 Friedman Fellowships, with a preference for applicants who have interest and experience in the following areas: family law, employment law, federal litigation, and administrative advocacy. Fellows receive an annual stipend between $40,000 and $50,000, tuition remission for the LLM program, health insurance and other benefits, and possible student loan deferment. Fellows must be members of a state bar.

Applicants should send letters of interest, resumes, a list of references, and a complete law school transcript by February 15, 2009. These materials should be sent to Associate Dean Phyllis Goldfarb or by mail to Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics, The George Washington University Law School, 2000 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20052. The George Washington University Law School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. -jl

AALS Section on Pro Bono and Public Service - 2009 Rhode and Drinan Awards

Loyola Clinical Professor and Director of the Public Interest Law Department, Sande Buhai, has announced:

The 2009 Deborah L. Rhode Award goes to Katherine “Shelley” Broderick of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL), in honor of her 10 years as Dean and 30 years of service to building the country’s quintessential public interest law school. Beginning as a junior clinical faculty member in 1979 at Antioch School of Law and working her way up through the full range of faculty and administrative positions at its daughter law schools, Dean Broderick has fought tirelessly for an institution that integrates theory and practice, mind and soul, nurturing the public spirit of all her students. UDC-DCSL is founded on the principle that all students benefit from providing substantial hands-on public service; each student provides a minimum of 740 clinical and public service hours – and quite often much more. Dean Broderick’s success in saving, protecting, improving and expanding the service opportunities of UDC-DCSL has resulted in literally hundreds of thousands of hours of student public service – 85,000 this year alone. All of her many nominators spoke of her “visionary leadership and unwavering commitment” in keeping her public interest law school alive during multiple times of crisis. Moreover, through her example, leadership, and scholarship, she has been a powerful proponent of a new model for American legal education in the 21st century. In the greater community, Dean Broderick has been the initiator and the catalyst for a mesmerizing number of public interest law achievements in every imaginable arena, several of which have significantly increased financial support for public service lawyering in the District. She has done all this while taking a keen interest in mentoring her own students, devoting countless hours to counseling and working with them as individuals.

The 2009 Father Robert Drinan Award goes to Eve Biskind Klothen, Assistant Dean for Pro Bono and Public Interest Programs at Rutgers School of Law – Camden. Eve’s distinguished and visionary career has included service as a legal services lawyer in Georgia, director of the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program, and director of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation. In al these roles Eve has created programs; mentored students, public interest professionals, and lawyers; and served the public with dedication. In her tenure at Rutgers, Eve has both dramatically expanded opportunities for students to engage in an array of pro bono activities and has been instrumental in building a broad Law School culture that values and rewards public service and makes it possible for more students to pursue careers in public service. Her efforts have resulted in numerous new and expanded programs, such as the Pro Bono Research Project, new pro bono projects in specialized areas such as tax assistance and immigration, and annual leadership training for student leaders at nearby law schools. In her work at Rutgers and throughout her career, Eve has always been guided by the dual goals of inculcating the pro bono ethic into the next generation of lawyers and serving more low income clients in South Jersey and Philadelphia. Now, at the Law School and indeed at all of the area law schools, she nurtures the next generation of public interest attorneys. The many people who supported Eve’s nomination noted that the central theme of her work at Rutgers and throughout her professional career is one of building partnerships. Eve’s unique contribution lies in how she promotes cooperation and collaboration to multiply the efforts of students, faculty, administration and community partners; she puts her own ego aside and shows various constituencies how they can work together.

The awards will be presented during the AALS meeting in San Diego on Thursday, January 8, 2009, immediately following the 4:00 p.m. program, Opportunities for Collaboration and Interdisciplinary Learning: Medical-Legal Partnerships. -jl

ABA Tax Section 2009 Public Service Fellows Announced

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 15, 2008 -- The American Bar Association Section of Taxation named two young lawyers as its first two Public Service Fellows. The Fellows will be directly involved in providing services to low-income taxpayers in the Washington, D.C. and suburban Chicago areas. The awardees are:
• Laura Newland, scheduled to earn her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in May 2009. After graduating, Newland will be working on tax-related matters at the AARP’s Legal Counsel for the Elderly program in Washington, D.C.
• Vijay Raghavan, currently an associate in the tax practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Chicago. He will be implementing a new tax law project with Prairie State Legal Services in Carol Stream, Ill.

Both fellows have committed to two years of service with their sponsoring organizations.

Click here for more information on the ABA Tax Section Public Service Fellowship. A copy of the press release is available here:Download PubSvcWinnersFinalRelease.doc -jl

Wake Forest Introduces Innocence and Justice Clinic

The Wake Forest University School of Law's new Innocence and Justice Clinic will give students the unique opportunity to examine the legal, scientific, cultural and psychological causes of wrongful convictions. The interdisciplinary course begins in the spring semester of 2009. Students will then apply their knowledge to actual cases by reviewing and investigating claims of innocence by inmates and, where appropriate, pursue legal avenues for exoneration and release from prison. Students will meet two hours a week to examine and discuss the substantive law that addresses the causes and remedies associated with wrongful convictions. Students will be placed in pairs and assigned actual cases to investigate situations in which inmates are claiming innocence. The class will review criminal files, interact with police investigators, contact prosecuting attorneys, gather documentation, prepare legal documents and memos and apply critical legal skills to a client’s case. Students will meet with faculty to discuss the ongoing progress of their cases and what needs to be accomplished to further the review and investigation of the inmate’s claim.

Topics covered in the classroom will include mistaken eyewitness identification; false confessions; “junk” forensic science; the role of forensic DNA testing; post-conviction remedies for innocence claims; the use of “jailhouse snitches” and cooperating witnesses; police and prosecutorial misconduct; and re-entry programs and post-conviction remedies. The class will discuss proper investigation and interview techniques with guest speakers from local law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices. Carol Turowski and Mark Rabil, co-directors of the Wake Forest Innocence Project, will teach the three-credit clinical course. In addition to the creation of the Innocence and Justice Clinic, the student-run Innocence Project has been made a formal student organization. The Innocence Project will explore joint projects with The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice to focus on educating the public about wrongful convictions; protesting executions and injustices in the system; and supporting families of those incarcerated, among others. “We hope through the new Innocence and Justice Clinic and the student Innocence Project to create collaborative learning experiences between the programs that fit in with the University’s goal of a more integrative learning experience,” Turowski said.

Associate Dean Ron Wright described the Innocence and Justice Clinic as “the latest component of our larger effort to enrich the experiential learning available to Wake Forest students.” The law school, under the direction of Dean Blake Morant, is expanding clinical opportunities, and exploring externships and other methods of integrating the classroom with the realities of legal practice. “Our current students, our alumni, and even some prospective students are very excited about this new clinic,” Wright said. The new clinic and the student organization are an outgrowth of the School of Law’s DNA Innocence Project that began during the 2007-2008 academic year. When the Forsyth County Bar Association began a project to identify prisoners who might benefit from DNA testing to demonstrate their innocence, it received so many requests that the Bar Association asked for help from Wake Forest law students. The Law School agreed to manage the project under the auspices of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence. -jl

Seattle Law School Seeks Externship Program Director

Professor Paul Holland, the Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic Director at Seattle Law School has posted the following position announcement:

Seattle University School of Law invites applications and nominations for the position of Director of Externship Programs to begin in Summer 2009. The School of Law is seeking a faculty Director who will build upon the strong foundation of our large and thriving Externship Programs (approximately 150 student externs across the fall, spring, and summer terms) and further deepen our commitment to providing a high quality educational and practice experience for our students. The Director of Externship Programs, working with the Director of the Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic and the Vice Dean, counsels and advises students on externship opportunities; administers and oversees all field placements; educates and trains field supervisors and conducts site visits; supervises associated adjunct faculty and administrative staff; develops and implements externship policies and procedures; oversees and develops the externship seminar curricula; and provides vision and leadership for the School of Law’s extensive and diverse externship offerings. The Director will be expected to teach at least one of the externship seminars and engage in professional development consistent with our 405(c) faculty contract standards. The Director will also work with other faculty and centers within the School of Law and University, as well as stakeholders in the community, to fulfill the school’s mission of educating for justice. The Director is expected to model the highest levels of professionalism, reflective practice, and commitment to academic excellence. Qualifications: J.D. degree and a minimum of 3 years of practice experience are required; teaching experience is strongly preferred; clerkship experience is a plus.

Seattle University School of Law educates ethical lawyers who distinguish themselves through their outstanding professional skills and their dedication to law in the service of justice. Faculty, students, and staff form a vibrant, diverse, and collaborative community dedicated to the mission of educating outstanding lawyers who are leaders for a just and humane world. The School of Law's commitment to academic distinction is grounded in its Jesuit Catholic tradition – one that encourages open inquiry, thoughtful reflection and concern for personal growth. Innovation, creativity and technological sophistication characterize our rigorous educational program, which prepares our graduates for a wide range of successful and rewarding careers in law, business, and public service. The School of Law occupies a state-of-the-art building in one of the nation's most vibrant and livable cities and is enjoying an exciting trajectory of programmatic growth and institutional advancement.

Founded in 1891, Seattle University is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the U.S. Dedicated to educating the whole person, to professional formation, and to empowering leaders for a just and humane world, Seattle University is located near downtown on 48 acres in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. U.S. News and World Report's "Best Colleges 2009" ranks Seattle University among the top 10 universities in the West that offer a full range of masters and undergraduate programs. There are currently over 7,500 students enrolled within the university's eight schools and colleges. Seattle University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. For more information on Seattle University generally, please visit www.seattleu.edu; for more information on the School of Law, please visit www.law.seattleu.edu.

Applications will be considered beginning January 12, 2008. Electronic applications are encouraged.

Contact: Annette E. Clark, Vice Dean and Associate Professor of Law, Chair, Externship Program Director Search Committee, Seattle University School of Law, 901 12th Ave, Box 222000, Seattle, WA 98122. Telephone: (206) 398-4069; Fax: (206) 398-4310. -jl

Save the Date: CUNY Conference on Immigration Policy

On Thursday, February 5, 2009, The Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies at CUNY will sponsor a half-day conference entitled National Concern, Local Action: Immigration Integration in New York. Gen. Colin L. Powell will serve as the luncheon keynote speaker. The conference is free and open to the public. Click here for more information on the conference and here to register. -jl

Suffolk Law Prof Kenneth King Nominated to Juvenile Court

From Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's Press Release:

Kenneth J. King, a Newton resident and graduate of the University of Illinois and Northeastern University School of Law, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Law with Suffolk University Law School’s Juvenile Justice Center. Prior to joining the JJC, King worked as both a private practitioner and government lawyer representing youth in a variety of matters including youthful offender and delinquency, care and protection, and termination of parental rights cases. “Over the course of his career, Ken King has demonstrated an unflagging commitment to juvenile justice,” Governor Patrick said. “There are few as qualified and well-suited to adjudicating these most sensitive and important of matters.” King would fill the vacancy on the Middlesex Juvenile Court created by the retirement of the Honorable Gail Garinger.

Professor King joins former Suffolk Law Prof Maureen Monk, whose appointment to the Probate and Family Court was confirmed earlier this year. -jl

Colorado Law Receives $5M Endowment to Bolster Experiential Education

The endowment, donated by the Schaden Family Fund, will enhance Colorado Law's clinical programs, externships, appellate and moot-court competitions, and voluntary pro bono work. It will enable the hiring of a senior professor to oversee the school's experiential education programs, and allow more students to participate.

"The Schadens' gift allows us to strengthen our program, and acknowledges the importance of experiential education," said Colorado Law associate professor and director of clinical programs Deborah Cantrell.

Colorado Law has been a leader in hands-on legal education since the school was one of the nation's first to establish its legal aid and defender clinic 60 years ago. Today, students can get academic credit working on cases in one of Colorado Law's nine clinics, in areas ranging from civil and criminal cases to entrepreneurial law to American Indian law. In addition to helping students connect theory with practice, Colorado Law's clinics provide free legal services for underserved clients who could otherwise not afford assistance.

Another aspect of Colorado Law experiential education is externships, in which 70 students now participate, at government agencies, corporate legal offices, nonprofits or private law firms. Students also gain experience in moot court competitions --Colorado Law's teams are among the best among U.S. law schools, with one team winning a national championship last year, and another placing second in the nation's most prestigious competition. In November, the Colorado Law team won the regional finals in the National Moot Court competition and will soon compete in the national championship in New York.

"In addition to giving greater coherence to our entire curriculum, from the theoretical to the practical, Colorado Law's Experiential Learning Program involves our students in the community -- instilling the legal profession's ideal of service to society, and meeting the needs of underserved people," said Dean Getches.

"I believe that experiential education is essential," said Richard F. Schaden. "This concept gives lawyers in training an opportunity to deal with real people with real problems."

The endowment will help Colorado Law forge links between these programs and classroom curriculum. "Suppose a student chooses to take my Family Law clinic, because they're really interested in family law," Cantrell said. "There may be a trial or moot-court competition related to it -- but they don't hear about it, because there's no central location where they can find these sorts of resources. This gift will enable these connections to be made."

The $5 million endowment is the largest of several recent Colorado Law gifts involving the Schadens. Richard Schaden provided substantial support for the Wolf Law Building, and another 2007 gift enabled the law school to double student moot-court participation. Richard F. Schaden, of Boulder County, is an aeronautical engineer, businessman, restaurateur, highly recognized trial lawyer, and founding partner of the aviation and public-interest law firm Schaden, Katzman, Lampert and McClune. His son Rick E. Schaden of Denver, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1987, and is founder, chairman, and (with his father) majority shareholder of Quiznos, building the company since 1991 to more than 5,000 franchises worldwide. Both Schadens are founding partners of Consumer Capital Partners, a nationally recognized private investment, concept development, strategic advisory, and causal marketing firm that is actively developing new restaurant and retail concepts including Smashburger, its latest.

A video news release on Colorado Law legal clinics is available here. -jl

University of Washington Professor Scott Schumacher Promoted

University of Washington Professsor Deborah Maranville, Director of the Clinical Law Program, has announced the promotion of Federal Tax Clinic Director Scott Schumacher. Prof. Maranville stated "I’m delighted to share the news that the faculty of the University of Washington Law School has voted unanimously to promote Scott Schumacher, Director of our Federal Tax Clinic to Associate Professor (WOT), tenure in position. Congratulations are also due Scott for the publication of his co-authored book, Tax Crimes, aimed at LLM tax students." Hearty congratulations to Prof. Schumacher and U Dub! -jl

Alfieri: Against Practice

Anthony Victor Alfieri (Miami) has published Against Practice, Michigan Law Review, Vol. 107, April 2009. Here is the abstract:

This essay examines the theory/practice dichotomy in legal education through the prism of the Carnegie Foundation's Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law. Descriptively, it argues that the Foundation's investigation of law school curricular deficiencies in the areas of clinical-lawyer skills, professionalism, and public service overlooks the relevance of critical pedagogies in teaching students how to deal with difference-based identity and how to build cross-cultural community in diverse, multicultural practice settings. Prescriptively, it argues that the Foundation's remedial call for the curricular integration of clinical-lawyer practices similarly overlooks the utility of critical pedagogies in teaching students not only how to understand difference, but also how to represent difference-based clients and communities here and abroad. The essay is divided into two parts. Part I explores the Carnegie Foundation's assessment of law schools in preparing students through contemporary case-dialogue and in integrating alternative practice pedagogies. Part II analyzes the ramifications of the Foundation's report for alternative curricular frameworks, particularly critical pedagogies grounded in difference-based identity and community, here briefly sketched in a study of the West Coconut Grove Historic Black Church project at the University of Miami Law School's Community Economic Development and Design Clinic. The case study demonstrates both the difficulty and the necessity of developing theory/practice pedagogies effective in dealing with difference-based identity in the context of representing communities of color. -jl

Skinner: A Clinical Model for Bringing International Human Rights Home

Gwynne Skinner (Willamette) has published A Clinical Model for Bringing International Human Rights Home: Human Rights Reporting on Conditions of Immigrant Detention, Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 2009. Here is the abstract:

This article describes the model an international human rights clinic designed and implemented in preparing an international human rights report regarding the conditions immigrant detention at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. This article describes the project's design, why the project was chosen, and how it was developed. It also measures the project's pedagogical outcomes against accepted legal clinical pedagogical principles. -jl

Clinical Law Prof Blog: Not Gender Neutral?

Not sure what to make of this analysis, but GenderAnalyzer rates the Clinical Law Prof Blog as follows:

Results:
We think http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/clinic_prof/ is written by a woman (86%).

Thanks to Prof. Caron at TaxProf Blog (rated 53% likelihood of a male author, but noted as quite gender neutral). It would be interesting to see the data behind the male-female calculus. Is the determination based on a blog's general subject matter? If so, does "clinical" translate into a female-dominated discipline? The Nonprofit Law Prof Blog is rated as having a 79% likelihood of being written by a woman, despite having six male editors and three female editors.

University of Maryland Clinical Program to Host 35th Anniversary Conference

The Clinical Law Program at the University of Maryland School of Law will present their 35th Anniversary Conference entitled Curriculum Reform: Linking Theory and Practice on Friday, March 6, 2009.

The program will continue the cycle of best practices discussions that have occurred across the country in response to the recently published Best Practices for Legal Education and the Carnegie Foundation Report, Educating Lawyers. The conference will focus on efforts of curricular reform, highlighting innovative programs in legal education that were implemented in response to these publications or otherwise fulfill their spirit, and discuss the centrality of clinical legal education to curricular innovation and reform.

Confirmed panelists include:

· Bryan Adamson, Seattle University School of Law

· Susan Bryant, CUNY School of Law

· Jon Dubin, Rutgers University School of Law

· Peter Joy, Washington University School of Law

· Dean Lisa Kloppenberg, University of Dayton School of Law

· Larry Marshall, Stanford Law School

· Todd Rakoff, Harvard Law School

· Dean Karen Rothenberg, University of Maryland School of Law

· Dean Rodney Smolla, Washington and Lee University School of Law

· Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, University of New Mexico School of Law

For more information and to register, click here. -jl