Clinical Law Prof Blog

Two Job Announcements - Seton Hall Law School's Center for Social Justice

The Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall University School of Law, located in Newark, New Jersey, is pleased to announce the job openings listed below.  The Center is home to eight clinics, as well as the International Human Rights/Rule of Law Project, the Urban Revitalization Project and a large pro bono program.  The clinics focus on the following areas:  predatory lending and foreclosure, education and prison reform, challenges to various aspects of the ‘War on Terror”, impact litigation, family law, immigration and human rights, immigrant workers’ rights, and juvenile justice.   

The positions include a generous salary and compensation package.  Interested individuals are encouraged to apply at their earliest convenience.  Review of applications will begin February 16, 2009, and will continue until the positions are filled.  To apply, please send a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, list of three references, and a writing sample to Denise Verzella, Administrative Director, Center for Social Justice, Seton Hall University School of Law, 833 McCarter Highway, Newark, New Jersey 07102 or via e-mail.   Please indicate for which position(s) you are applying.

Seton Hall's Law School is located in the heart of downtown Newark.  It is one block from Newark Penn Station (with trains and subway service to many parts of New Jersey and to New York City), one block from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and within walking distance of the state and federal courthouses, museums, and restaurants.  Manhattan is a short train ride away.  For more information on the clinical programs with the Center for Social Justice, visit the Center’s website and click here for more information on Seton Hall University School of Law.  Seton Hall University is an affirmative action, equal employment opportunity employer.

Practitioner-in-Residence
International Human Rights/Rule of Law Project
May 2009 to July 2010

Seton Hall University School of Law is seeking applications for a Practitioner-in-Residence for the International Human Rights/Rule of Law Project within its Center for Social Justice from May 2009 to July 2010 with the expectation of renewal of the position for one additional year.   

The Practitioner-in-Residence will work in collaboration with faculty in at least two sections of the Center for Social Justice:  the Immigration & Human Rights Clinic and the section of the Civil Litigation Clinic focusing on civil rights and challenges to “the War on Terror.”  The Immigration & Human Rights Clinic focuses on representation in claims arising under the Refugee and Torture Conventions, the Violence Against Women Act, Trafficking Victim Protection Act, human rights complaints before international tribunals, and field work on human rights and comparative refugee law issues  The Civil Litigation Clinic docket includes civil rights litigation, labor issues relating to human trafficking, challenges to immigration raids and local enforcement of immigration laws, and challenges to various aspects of the “war on terror.”  In addition, the clinic is one of the counsel in the Guantanamo Bay detainee litigation.   

The Practitioner–in-Residence will take a multi-disciplinary approach to protecting the rights of immigrant communities in New Jersey, with a special focus on immigrant women.  Examples of cases/projects undertaken by the Project include drafting amicus briefs before state and federal courts raising novel human rights arguments in cases impacting immigrant communities in New Jersey; drafting a model brief for immigration advocates regarding principles of family reunification and the best interests of the child under human rights law; representing individuals and groups who were arrested in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids; drafting and coordinating oral and written submissions with immigrants’ rights groups across the country for the U.S. visit of the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants; representing individual clients in asylum and trafficking cases; and preparing “Know Your Rights” materials.

Although the Practitioner-in-Residence will not be responsible for teaching a clinic section, she will supervise second-year students enrolled in Seton Hall Law School’s externship program, as well as first and second-year students participating in the school’s Pro Bono Program as they work on the Practitioner’s litigation and advocacy projects.   

All applicants must be members of a state Bar; New Jersey bar membership is strongly preferred but not required.  All applicants should have a strong academic record, an ability to be proactive and work independently, excellent litigation skills, and outstanding written and oral communication skills.  We welcome applications from those with at least five years of experience working in one or more of the International Human Rights/Rule of Law Project’s areas of concentration.   

Clinical Fellow
Civil Litigation Clinic
July 2009 to July 2011
 
Seton Hall University School of Law is seeking applications for a Clinical Fellow to work in our Center for Social Justice from July 2009 until July 2011.  The Clinical Fellow will work with two sections of the Civil Litigation Clinic that focus on civil rights impact litigation.  The Fellowship provides a unique opportunity to gain clinical teaching and public interest litigation experience in a supportive law school environment, while working closely with Professors in the Civil Litigation Clinics.   

The Clinical Fellow will assist with client intake, all aspects of civil litigation, supervision of clinical students, and the teaching of clinical seminars.  In addition, the Clinical Fellow may be responsible for the preparation of colloquia and community training manuals, networking with community and civil rights advocacy groups, and full case coverage during the summer months.

All applicants must be members of a state Bar; New Jersey bar membership is preferred but not required.  All applicants should have a strong academic record, and excellent writing and oral communication skills.  We welcome applications from new attorneys; preference will be given to applicants who had a clinical experience or other public interest service during law school, and/or have relevant post-graduate legal experience, including a clerkship.   

Job Announcement: University of Connecticut IP and Entrepreneurship Clinic

The University of Connecticut School of Law solicits applications for an assistant/ associate clinical professor of law to serve as a supervising attorney in the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic beginning July 1, 2009.  The position is subject to the Law School's policy on long-term renewable contracts for clinical faculty, which complies with ABA Standard 405(c).

An excellent academic record, significant law practice and/or clinical teaching experience, demonstrated research and writing ability, and membership in the Connecticut bar or the ability to become a member within one year of hire, are required. The ideal candidate will also have significant intellectual property experience, some transactional business-lawyering experience, and be a member of the Patent Bar.  Salary and rank are commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Potential candidates with questions regarding the position itself, their qualifications, or any related matter are encouraged to contact Associate Professor Hillary Greene, Director of the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at.   

Applicants should send a letter of interest and resume to Ms. Kathleen Lombardi, Program Coordinator, Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic.      

The University of Connecticut encourages applications from under-represented groups including minorities, women and people with disabilities.

-jl

Yet More Congratulations in Order for Washington-St. Louis

They are gaining a wonderful new colleague in Bob Kuehn. Professor Appell issued the announcement today:

It is our great pleasure to announce that Bob Kuehn will be joining the Washington University Law School faculty in July as Professor of Law. As most of you probably know, in addition to being a leader in clinical legal education and research, he is President-Elect of CLEA. His ties to Washington University are longstanding and deep. They include a productive (and useful) scholarly partnership with Peter Joy and a shared interest and expertise in environmental law and clinics with Maxine Lipeles, the Director of our fabulous Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, which Bob will co-direct with Maxine. Maxine feels particularly excited because this marks Bob’s return to teaching an environmental clinic, something he has not done for nearly a decade.  According to Maxine, Bob’s “work in many ways inspired the subsequent expansion of environmental clinics around the country.”  Maxine notes that it was Bob who first brought the environmental clinics group together at the January 1999 AALS meeting in New Orleans.

-jl

Visiting Faculty Position - California Western Law in San Diego

California Western School of Law in San Diego is looking for visiting faculty with Professional Responsibility and clinical/skills teaching experience to work in its new STEPPS Program.

STEPPS (Skills Training for Ethical and Preventive Practice and career Satisfaction) is a two-semester, second year course.  It combines professional responsibility and advanced legal skills including research, writing, interviewing, counseling, case planning, negotiation and mediation in a simulated law office setting. Students attend a large class each week in which they discuss professional responsibility and the fundamentals of the lawyering skills.  Students also participate in small class sections (simulated law offices with 16 students) each week.  They work on the simulated cases and use them as a basis for role plays and examination of issues of professional responsibility, ethics, problem solving and prevention and career satisfaction.  Much of the course is built upon the students’ simulated case work.

The candidate would be responsible for teaching the large class sections that focus on professional responsibility and lawyering skills.  The candidate would also supervise the adjunct faculty that lead the small law office sections.

For more information about STEPPS, see the article in the Complete Lawyer and the California Western website. Interested persons should contact Professor Janet Weinstein.  Candidates should send CVs and letters of interest to Professor Weinstein. 

California Western is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity.  Applications from individuals who will contribute to the diversity of the law school are encouraged.

-jl

ABA Tax Section Teleconference on National Taxpayer Advocate Report to Congress

The ABA Section of Taxation will hold a 90 minute teleconference eligible for CLE credit on Tuesday, February 10, 2009, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EST:

TELECONFERENCE DESCRIPTION

For the second year in a row the ABA Section of Taxation is pleased to present a special 90-minute teleconference featuring Nina Olson, IRS National Taxpayer Advocate, who will discuss the major findings and recommendations from the National Taxpayer Advocate's 2008 Annual Report to Congress. Ample time will be provided for Q&A.

FEES*: $35  Section of Taxation Members; $125 ABA Members; $15  Full-time LITC employees; $35  Young Lawyers; $35  Government / Academic / Non-Profit;  $150 All other registrants. FREE Full-time J.D., LL.M., or M.T. Candidates (No CLE Credit)

*The Tax Section is pleased to offer Tax Section members a reduced fee for this Special CLE Teleconference.

Click here for more information or to register for this program.  -jl

Law Clinic Victories at Washington-St. Louis

Professor Annette R. Appell, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at Washington-St. Louis, shares news of recent victories:

Washington University’s Civil Justice Clinic recently helped one of our clients toward a significant victory. Charity Sue Carey had served about a decade of her 30 year sentence for killing her cruelly abusive husband when, at the renewed request of fall 2008 semester clinic students and faculty, outgoing Governor Matt Blunt commuted her sentence. Since 2005, the Clinic worked to bring to light the extreme physical and sexual violence Ms. Carey suffered at the hands of her husband and the excessiveness of her thirty year sentence for his murder. Initially, the governor’s office was pessimistic about the merit of clinic’s renewed request for commutation, but during the winter break, Governor Blunt’s office called seeking more information about Ms. Carey and her case.  Civil Justice Clinic Managing attorney Brendan Roediger and law student Tom Smith sprung into action. And their holiday work paid off. Two days before the Governor’s term ran, Brendan and Ms. Carey received the incredible news that her sentence had been commuted from thirty years to ten years, making her eligible for release in April of this year. This means that it may not be much longer before she is reunited with her son. 

Numerous faculty, staff, and students worked tirelessly on Ms. Carey’s behalf over the years, including:  Professors Brendan Roediger, Adele Morrison, Kathy Goldwasser, Kim Norwood, Jane Aiken, C.J. Larkin, and Steve Gunn; Clinical Administrative Coordinator Katie Herr; and students Tom Smith, Erin Nave, Emily Vance, Anne Siarnacki, Colin O’Brien, Michelle Weltman, Sarah Kuehnel, Claudine Chastain, Tonya Oliver, Sarah Schneider, James Beal, Meredith Schnug, Laura Bernatowicz, Christallyn McCloud, Anna Scheible, Catherine Guy, Nnamdi Ezeife, and Pamela Dixon. More information is available here.

Additionally:

The Civil Justice Clinic won another victory on behalf of adult and child domestic violence survivors, this time from the judicial branch. Here, the court determined that petitioners for a child order of protection may not be charged for guardian ad litem fees or other necessary costs of litigation or for the appellate court docketing fee if they choose to appeal. The appellate decision vindicated the clinic’s arguments presented by Professors Katherine Goldwasser, Brendan Roediger, and clinic student Ann Bindu Thomas. Professors Kim Norwood and C.J. Larkin also worked on the case over the years. During the oral argument, Judge Mooney of the Eastern District described the students’ appellate brief as a great example for other attorneys. More information is available here.

-jl

SECOND GEORGETOWN SUMMER INSTITUTE ON CLINICAL TEACHING

Georgetown Law Associate Dean Deborah Epstein has provided more details on the second Summer Institute on Clinical Teaching:

On June  22-25,  2009, Georgetown University Law Center will hold  its second Summer Institute on Clinical Teaching.  During this four-day, intensive workshop on our campus, we will help clinicians with more than 5 years of experience improve their teaching and supervision through plenary sessions, hands-on work, and individualized feedback.

The Institute will be open to 21 participants.  All selected participants will be required to submit, in advance:

1.  A videotape/DVD of a clinical event on which you would like to get help and feedback; or

2.  A class plan that you will be willing to conduct with your small group during the Institute; as well as

3.  A written description of a difficult problem you have encountered as a clinical teacher.  We will attempt to develop effective ways to handle the issues raised.

4.  A short biography of your life as a clinician

5.  A description of your program

If possible, please also submit:

1.  Something you use in your clinic (an exercise, requirement, technique, etc.) that you have liked and are willing to share; AND.

2.  Your grading rubric, if you have one.

There will be no registration fee for the Institute.  Georgetown will provide the majority of meals throughout the workshop period, and those who wish to stay in the Law Center’s dormitory apartments may do so at low cost.

If you would like to participate, please complete the  application form  attached to the end of this message.

Faculty will include:

Muneer Ahmad -- American; Jane Aiken – Georgetown; Sameer Ashar -- CUNY; Sue Bryant – CUNY; John Copacino – Georgetown; Deborah Epstein – Georgetown; Conrad Johnson -- Columbia; Catherine Klein -- Catholic; Elliott Millstein – American; Wally Mlyniec -- Georgetown; Ann Shalleck – American; Abbe Smith -- Georgetown; Grant Wiggins – President, Authentic Education

Why an Intensive Institute?

In the fall  of 2008, in response to a clinic listserv discussion about fellowship programs, I posted a description of the Clinical Pedagogy course that the Georgetown faculty teaches for our clinical teaching fellows.  I was overwhelmed by the response.  Clinicians around the country, most of whom had been teaching for 5-15 years, sent messages saying they wished they could enroll in the class.  It struck me that there are few, if any, opportunities for experienced clinicians to sit back and reflect on their pedagogical choices.  The annual May AALS Clinical Section conference can be wonderful, but our community has become so large that there is little room, even in the conference’s small groups, for sustained focus on individual challenges.

Wally Mlyniec, Jane Aiken, and I began discussing what role Georgetown could play in meeting this need.  We decided to launch this program -- the Georgetown Summer Institute on Clinical Teaching – with the goal of helping a small group (approximately 21) of experienced clinicians rethink and refine their teaching and supervision methods. 

Our Goals

The Institute will offer participants the chance:

*  To clarify our goals as clinical teachers, ensure that our teaching methods are consistent with our goals, and identify potential new goals and approaches to re-energize our teaching.

*  To improve our listening skills so as to identify opportunities for learning as they arise during the student’s clinical experience.  We will investigate classic problems that arise in clinic that get in the way of our teaching and learning, including approaches to difficult conversations with students, teaching about cultural difference without assuming a majority audience, as well as unique problems brought by participants to the Institute. 

*  To develop strategies for purposeful learning in our direct supervision and seminar components. The Institute will draw upon experts in educational theory that trains teachers to choose teaching methods that are a function of our ultimate teaching goal to ensure that our teaching is effective and purposeful.   We will constantly be asking the questions, “Why did you do that?,” “How did it work?” and “What would you do differently?”

*  To create a group of peers who can share the unique challenges that clinical education poses and provide each other with continuing feedback and ideas well into the future.

*  To provide participants with a meaningful take-away from the experience. Participants will leave the week with particularized feedback on their own clinical teaching, insight into the strategies that work and those that don’t, ways to improve those strategies, and materials that address teaching methods and theory appropriate to the clinical setting.

We’re extremely excited about this opportunity to teach and learn, and are looking forward to spending intensive time with a small group of you this summer.

  - Deborah Epstein, Jane Aiken, and Wally Mlyniec

APPLICATION FOR GEORGETOWN SUMMER INSTITUTE ON CLINICAL TEACHING

Name:

School:

Number of years in full-time clinical teaching:

Types of clinics taught:

Two things you would like to get out of this Institute:

-jl

UW's Innocence Project Northwest Receives Gift and Grant

More good news from the University of Washington. Director of the Clinical Law Program Deborah Maranville writes:

I’m thrilled to report more good news on behalf of the University of Washington’s Innocence Project Northwest Clinic directed by my colleague Jackie McMurtrie.

First, an unsolicited gift from the $281,000 RiverStyx Foundation will fund a staff position and symposium for the clinic, investigative costs for cases, and more over the next two years. This gift funds the clinic’s first fellow. The gift also has founded the Integrity of Justice Project, a public policy and education effort. The IJP will work to foster a collaborative partnership among prosecutors, law enforcement, defense lawyers, the courts, and others to identify best practices and procedures that can improve the accuracy of determinations of guilt or innocence. It is co-sponsored by the IPNW Clinic and the Center for Justice in Spokane.

In addition, the IPNW Clinic partnered with the Washington State Patrol (WSP) Crime Lab Division and received more than $250,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice. The grant is part of $4.5 million the DOJ allocated to defray the costs associated with reviewing cases where DNA testing and evidence may prove innocence.  In Washington state, when a court orders post-conviction DNA testing, it is done by the WSP Crime Lab.  The grant funds will be used to hire a forensic scientist to compensate for additional workload stemming from post-conviction DNA cases, pay for outsourcing of tests not currently done by the WSP Crime Lab (e.g., mtDNA and Y-STR tests), and hire a paralegal to work with the IPNW Clinic. The paralegal will assist the IPNW Clinic’s identification, analysis, and investigation of state inmates’ significant claims of actual innocence in cases involving murder, non-negligent homicides, and forcible rape where DNA evidence has the potential to exonerate the inmate.

-jl

Job Opportunity at Seton Hall Law: Director of Skills Curriculum

Seton Hall Law seeks a Director of Skills Curriculum, which comprises the first through final year collection of skills courses as well as intra- and inter-school competitions.  The Law School’s recently adopted strategic plan aspires to a Skills Curriculum that approaches inculcation of skills holistically, reflecting coherence among the various pieces that currently comprise the curriculum.  The strategic plan emphasizes that most students do not become litigators, and that the curriculum should therefore reflect the skill set required of those who engage, inter alia, in training, counseling, investigation, and transactional practice.  It also recognizes, however, that there are certain skills common to every area of practice that should be contained in the required portion of the curriculum, such as fact-finding and oral presentation.   The strategic plan is being implemented with an eye towards the Carnegie Report and on-going discussions by the ABA Legal Education Committee about re-orienting accreditation standards towards a great focus on skills development.

The Director is responsible for the required Persuasion and Advocacy course and advanced litigation courses, including design of the curriculum, as well as hiring, training, and supervising the adjunct faculty.  The Director also coordinates the Skills Committee, develops and manages the skills budget, and develops written and web materials about the program.  At this time, the Director oversees the mock trial program as well.  The Director would also be expected to teach in some component of the Skills Program.

The several faculty and administrators who oversee the various segments of the skills curriculum, both full-time and adjunct, would report to the Director. The major exception is the clinical programs, housed in the Center for Social Justice, and externships, housed in the Office of Career Services, with which the Director would work closely to ensure a cohesive experience.  The Director of Skills Curriculum reports to the Associate Dean for Curriculum and is a long-term ABA Standard 405(c) contract 12 month position.  Salary is competitive. Applicants should have significant practice experience, as well as proven administrative and program-building experience.  Application Dead line – February 15, 2009. Respond to Maria Polimeni, Assistant to Associate Deans. 

-jl

Position Announcement: The Schaden Endowed Chair in Experiential Learning at Colorado Law

Professor Deborah Cantrell, the Director of Clinical Programs at Colorado Law, has issued the following position announcement:

Thanks to a substantial endowment, Colorado Law is establishing an expanded experiential learning program under the creative direction of an experienced practitioner-professor.  Applications from and referrals to highly qualified candidates for the chair are eagerly solicited.                                                                  

Experiential Learning:  Colorado Law is committed to providing its students an outstanding legal education that ensures they are prepared to enter the legal profession.  To do so, we are refining our approach to teaching practical and professional skills.  We propose to expand, enhance, and coordinate the courses and activities in which a law student applies knowledge and analytical abilities through the use of lawyering skills and instill in our students an awareness of a lawyer’s civic responsibilities and opportunities to serve and lead.  This will require, among other things, integration of experiential education in selected classes throughout the Law School and coordination of existing experiential programs with one another and with the full curriculum. Our goal is to create the best experiential education program in the nation. Experiential learning at Colorado includes: nine clinical programs; basic and advanced Trial Advocacy courses; externships in law offices of private firms, public agencies, and non-profits and in judicial chambers; numerous trial and appellate court competitions; and a new, voluntary public service pledge program. 

Duties:  The Schaden Chair will develop, coordinate, and sustain a first-rate and fully integrated Experiential Learning program at Colorado Law.  Specifically, the Chair will:

· Advise and oversee faculty, program directors, and students in all components of the program.

· Teach one course a semester, such as in Trial Advocacy, Professional Responsibility and Ethics, or Clinical Education.

· Perform administrative duties, including curriculum development, fund-raising, faculty support, and student counseling.  This will include oversight of the content and delivery of the Law School’s externship program, coordination of all trial and appellate court student competitions, and promotion and administration of the public service pledge program.  Working with and through the Director of Clinical Programs, the Chair will continue to build the strength and quality of clinical education.

· Engage in substantial outreach, including recruiting and engaging volunteer and adjunct practitioners to participate in programs including Trial Advocacy teaching and coaching and judging court competitions, developing opportunities with public and private law offices for student externships, and working with non-profit organizations and public agencies to advance the pro bono pledge program. 

· Serve as the faculty liaison charged with elevating the visibility and quality of practical and service education

· Assist in integrating experiential components of the curriculum in the School’s doctrinal and theoretical teaching mission.

· Coordinate experiential opportunities with law school departments such as Career Development, Academic Affairs, and Development.   

· Continue pursuing a scholarly agenda in a chosen field.

Qualifications:  The Chair must be:

· An experienced trial lawyer; appellate experience is also desirable.

· A legal educator with a record of scholarship and teaching that is worthy of tenure at Colorado Law.  Teaching experience is ideally in fields such as Trial Advocacy, Evidence, Trial Practice, clinical education, or Professional Responsibility. 

· An individual with a personal and professional character that inspires students to use their legal education and their privileges as lawyers to serve clients and advance society with excellence, commitment, and integrity.

Please direct applications and inquiries to: Dean David H. Getches University of Colorado Law School 401 UCB Boulder, Colorado 80309-0401.

-jl

Exploded Dream: Desegregation in the Memphis City Schools

Daniel Kiel (Memphis) has published Exploded Dream: Desegregation in the Memphis City Schools, Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2008. Here is the abstract:

This article is a comprehensive look at the story of school desegregation in the Memphis City Schools. Beginning with the Brown v. Board of Education decision that ended segregation in schooling, the article traces the steps taken in Memphis to put the Brown decision into practice. Following a period of inaction and delay, the Memphis City Schools experienced a relatively peaceful transition as token desegregation took place in the early part of the 1960s. However, after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis in 1968, the community's polarization was globally exposed and further progress on school desegregation was limited. After federal courts ordered busing to implement the Brown mandate, a quarter of the district's white students departed for the nearby Shelby County Schools or for a growing, and uniquely successful, system of private schools. Since the busing order, the white population in the Memphis City Schools has steadily declined so that by the 50th anniversary of the Brown decision, a district that had been 58% white and 42% black in 1954 was 86% black and 9% white in 2004. Using the Northcross v. Board of Education of the Memphis City Schools litigation as a guide, this article traces that history, putting Memphis in the context of the larger desegregation story.

-jl

After Brown: What Would Martin Luther King Say?

Martha Minow (Harvard) has published After Brown: What Would Martin Luther King Say?, Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2008. Here is the abstract:

The occasion of the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day Speech at Lewis and Clark Law School, following on the heels of the Supreme Court's rejection of two voluntary racial school integration plans, warrants revisiting the conception of equality that called for school integration, the prospects for equal opportunity without education, and remaining arguments for integration. "Integration" here means more than terminating legally-enforced segregation, and more than sheer mixing of people with different races and identities in the same setting. As Dr. King described it, integration involves the creation of a community of relationships among people who view one another as valuable, who take pride in one another's contributions, and who know that commonalities and synergies outweigh any extra efforts that bridging differences may require. Before the disillusionment accompanying the apparent failure of judicially-mandated school integration, integration was inseparable from access to opportunity as a goal of civil rights reformers from the 19th century through the middle of the 20th. W. E. B. DuBois and Martin Luther King, Jr. separately emphasized that racially separate instruction by teachers who believe in their students' capacities would be better than racially-mixed instruction by teachers who disparaged African-American children - but integration would be still better. Opposition to court-ordered desegregation remedies and judicial retreat occurred just as approval of racial mixing and even integration succeeded as cultural and political ideals. Current educational wisdom identifies strategies for equal educational opportunity apart from integration. These include curricular and academic supports that demand high standards, prepare minority students to achieve in a sometimes hostile world, and craft for each student the social identity of an achiever who is a member of a community of learners. Focused school reforms aligning the curriculum with standards, more "time-on-task" with longer school days, initiatives to recruit and support effective teachers, and shifts in school finance guided by standards of adequate education and comparable opportunities can mitigate the disparities still associated with racially distinct school communities. But as even the good arguments for socioeconomic integration reveal, failure to pursue racial integration - including efforts to create truly inclusive communities of mutual respect - can recreate racial segregation through tracking, special education assignments, and students' own divisions in lunch tables and cliques. Racial integration informed by the demographic changes making this a multicultural and multi-racial society remains a distinctive goal apart from other efforts to ensure equal educational opportunities. Justice Kennedy's separate opinion in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 along with the four dissenters create a fragile majority that would permit school systems and housing developers to local schools with the aim of encouraging racial integration, to develop programs designed to attract racially diverse groups of students, and to hold meetings and recruitment efforts to attract diverse groups of students and teachers. Contrary to the Court's majority opinion, pretending to have achieved color-blind as well as open opportunity - when we have not - disables individuals and communities from understanding what is going on and from becoming equipped to deal with it. In addition to the strategies for integration left open, families and students can choose integrated schools by their residential choices and by making their own lives look like the high-concept ads celebrating integration.

-jl

Dr. King and the Battle for Hearts and Minds

Wendy Scott (Maryland) has published Dr. King and the Battle for Hearts and Minds, New York University Review of Law & Social Change, Vol. 35, 2009. Here is the abstract:

In 1954, a unanimous Supreme Court held that laws requiring dual public school systems, separated solely on the basis of race, violated the rights afforded to African American children under the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection and Due Process clauses. Brown v. Board of Education marked the beginning of a judicial assault on what the Court in Loving v. Virginia called statutory schemes and state court decisions that served as "an endorsement of the doctrine of White Supremacy." Both Chief Justice Earl Warren and Dr. King recognized that the practice of White Supremacy did more than keep people separated. In Brown, Warren's opinion also validated the relevance of the psychic injury caused by what Dr. King often referred to as "the iron feet of oppression." Warren wrote that the segregation of children solely based on race "generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone." While Warren's conclusion remains hotly debated, Brown introduced personal stigmatic injury into school desegregation discourse. Dr. King embraced the centrality of the heart and mind in the struggle for social justice.

Part II juxtaposes Dr. King's thoughts on the evils of segregation and the necessity of integration with the development of desegregation jurisprudence after Brown. Part III traces the short-lived efforts of the federal judiciary to integrate public schools following Dr. King's death up to Parents Involved . Part IV summarizes the Parents Involved decision and compares the plurality's legal and social visions to that of Brown and Plessy. Part V hypothesizes about Dr. King's reaction to Parents Involved and takes a closer look at the importance of the heart and mind in the Brown opinion and Dr. King's thinking. In conclusion, I attempt to answer the prophetic question posed by Dr. King near the end of his life: "Where do we go from here?" in achieving and sustaining racial diversity in public education.

-jl

Northwestern's Supreme Court Clinic Victory in Chambers v. United States

Congratulations go out to Northwestern Law School on yesterday's important Supreme Court ruling:

On January 13, 2009, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a Northwestern University Supreme Court Clinic Case, Chambers v. United States, wherein the question presented was whether failing to report to jail was tantamount to an escape and, thus, a violent felony for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act sentencing enhancements.  In the unanimous decision the Supreme Court reversed the Seventh Circuit, cleared up a 10 to 2 circuit split on this issue, and rejected the government's position that an "aversion to penal custody" should always be treated as if it were an escape.   

Under the supervision of Clinical Professor Sarah Schrup, students in Northwestern’s Supreme Court Clinic participated in this case from the beginning.  Some of the Clinic’s very first students in the 2006-2007 school year worked on the cert petition and then students in later classes assisted with the merits briefing.  The Supreme Court Clinic also held a moot last fall for Rob Hochman, the Sidley partner and Clinic guest instructor who argued the case. 

Congratulations to the faculty and students in the Supreme Court Clinic for their significant contributions to this case!

-jl

Audio Conference: Tax Issues for Battered Women

Barbara Hart is pleased to announce an audio conference “Tax Issues for Battered Women and Sexual Assault Survivors” for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault program advocates and attorneys on tax issues confronting survivors of Violence Against Women.

Participant Eligibility:  Advocates and attorneys for battered women and sexual assault survivors who are employed by community based organizations.  State DV and SA coalition staff and direct service providers.  Legal services and LAV attorneys.

Date: January 21, 2009, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., EST

Faculty:  Nicole Appleby, Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, University of Michigan Law School and Mary O’Doherty, Economic Justice Project Director of KDVA (KY Domestic Violence Association); hosted by Barbara Hart, MuskieSchool
Topic:  Tax Issues for Battered Women and Sexual Assault Survivors. Nicole will briefly outline the range of tax issues that may be relevant to survivors. Tax preparation, EITC, rebates, "innocent spouse" provisions of the IRS Code, divorce, support, and bankruptcy implications.

Goals:• to provide advocates and attorneys serving survivors with information about tax credits and rebates; • to enable advocates and attorneys to identify potential tax issues for survivors, • to give advocates and attorneys the tools to make informed referrals to survivors about programs that can help with refunds, problem-solving re: tax liability and preparation of tax returns.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW   
Register online. For more information contact: Vicky Lynes 612-824-8768 ext. 100. -jl

Position Announcement: Hastings Civil Justice Clinic Teaching Fellowship

Professor Miye Goishi has posted the following fellowship announcement:

The Hastings Civil Justice Clinic seeks applications for a two-year clinical teaching fellowship program.  The fellowship is designed for lawyers with preferably at least five years of outstanding legal practice experience, who are interested in preparing for a career in law school clinical teaching.  One fellow will be selected for a full-time position beginning June 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2011. The Civil Justice Clinic takes its fellowship training commitment seriously.  The fellow will participate in a rigorous training program over the summer 2009 that will include extensive readings and discussions about clinical supervision and pedagogy as well as lawyering techniques and approaches.  The first semester, the fellow will work intensively with a mentor/co-supervisor.  The fellow’s supervisory responsibilities will increase thereafter, with the expectation that s/he will carry a full supervisory load in the second year. 

The Civil Justice Clinic consists of four different clinics with accompanying seminars.  The permanent staff includes six full-time clinical faculty members.  The clinical fellow's responsibility will be as a co-teacher and supervising attorney in the Individual Representation Clinic.  In this one-semester clinic, which is offered each term, students act as lead counsel, under careful faculty supervision, to take cases start-to-finish from the planning of an initial client interview to their culmination in a trial, administrative hearing, or settlement.  The Individual Representation Clinic practices in three different subject fields: wage & hour law, social security disability law, and San Francisco rent control law.  The other clinics within the Civil Justice Clinic are the Group Advocacy and Systemic Reform Clinic, the Community Economic Development Clinic, and the Mediation Clinic.  The Hastings Civil Justice Clinic is widely respected for its high quality representation of clients and its pedagogy, which closely integrates hands-on legal practice experiences and extensive readings, reflective written assignments, and classroom discussions on legal skills development and professional role conceptions.

Fellowship requirements: At least five years of legal experience in client counseling, advocacy, and litigation, as well as experience in or aptitude for supervising and teaching law students (or, if less than five years lawyering experience, exceptional training and experience in supervising or teaching students or other colleagues); California Bar admission; strong written and oral skills; considerable initiative; a collegial disposition; and a demonstrated commitment to public interest or pro bono lawyering.

Fellowship salary and benefits: Salary range of $55,000 to $65,000 annually depending on experience; excellent University of California medical, vacation, and other fringe benefits; and full access to all law school facilities.

Application procedure and materials: Please send to Professor Miye Goishi, the Director of the Hastings Civil Justice Clinic, a cover letter describing your prior legal, teaching, and other relevant experience; your aspirations regarding clinical teaching; and any other information relevant for assessing your potential as a clinical teacher and supervising attorney.  In addition, you must include a detailed resume and a sample of your advocacy writing of up to 10 pages. The deadline for submitting applications is February 13, 2009.  The address for hard copies is Hastings Civil Justice Clinic, 100 McAllister St., Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94102.  Electronic copies should be sent c/o Karen Amaya with “CJC Clinical Teaching Fellowship” on the subject line.

UC Hastings is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  All qualified persons including people of color, women, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ persons are encouraged to apply.  The Hastings Civil Justice Clinic is committed to diversity in the workplace.   

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Position Announcement: Project Coordinator for Juvenile Justice Grant at LSU Law Center

Professor Robert Lancaster, the Director of Clinical Programs at LSU Law Center has issued the following position annoucement:

Project Coordinator,  LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center

The position, funded through grant funds from the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for 18 months beginning January 2009, will function as Project Coordinator.  The position will support the Project Director in accumulating materials for best practices for clinical programs, curriculum development, mentoring options, and in developing a list of knowledgeable juvenile defense consultants. The position will be responsible for maintaining current knowledge of issues in juvenile defense and the juvenile justice system in Louisiana.  In addition, considerable time will be spent compiling agendas, writing reports, collecting materials from other clinics, and handling the arrangements for the symposium. The position will also conduct day-to-day activities required for the Model Juvenile Defense Practice & Policy Clinic Project as part of the Louisiana Models for Change Initiative.  These activities include coordinating activities, making all travel arrangements, making all meeting arrangements, coordinating visits by National Research Bank, other MacArthur consultants, and others. Qualifications Required: Bachelor’s degree and experience in juvenile defense or the juvenile justice system. Strong computer/internet skills and highly developed organizational proficiency. Preferred: J.D. Knowledge of juvenile justice operations in Louisiana. Experience as a defense attorney or as a professional officer of a juvenile court. Annual Salary: $60,000. Standard benefits. Deadline: Send letter of application and resume to frank.adair@law.lsu.edu . Applicants will be considered beginning January 2009 and the position will remain open until filled.

The LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer.

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Berkeley La Raza Law Journal 2009 Student Writing Competition

The Berkeley La Raza Law Journal (BLRLJ) at UC Berkeley School of Law is sponsoring its first annual student essay competition designed to promote scholarship that addresses issues which affect the Latino community in the U.S and abroad. In this inaugural year, BLRLJ seeks submissions that discuss contemporary problems faced by underserved rural communities and the legal avenues through which their conditions can be improved.

In 1972, Michael Bennett and Cruz Reynoso co‐authored California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA): Survival of a Poverty Law Practice. 1 Chicano L. Rev. 79, 1972, which discusses the formation of the nation’s first impact litigation practice dedicated to representing underserved rural communities throughout California. Bennett and Reynoso described how CRLA sought to make the legal system work for underrepresented Chicanos and how the organization survived amidst great opposition from local bar associations, industry leaders, state and federal legislators, and then California Governor Reagan. In their perspective: the problems of the poor result far less from unjust rules than from an inequitable distribution of wealth and power and that the lawyers serving them must focus on building legal institutions which can enhance the power of the poor client to economically and politically cope for himself.

In response, student submissions for this essay competition should address the following:

- How far have we, as a society, progressed with respect to providing effective advocacy for rural communities since the formation of CRLA?

- How should we assess current programs providing legal services for underrepresented rural communities in California and throughout the nation?

- What should the current generation of leaders do to improve the conditions underserved rural communities are facing?

Submissions are encouraged to propose policy solutions or model programs related to impact litigation and/or direct services.

Award
The author of the winning submission will receive a $2,000 award and have his or her paper published in Volume 20 of the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal (BLRLJ). BLRLJ will also consider other submissions for publication.

Criteria
Submissions must meet the following criteria:
• Be an original and unpublished work.
• Be sent as both a PDF and Microsoft Word attachments to blrlj.writingcompetition@gmail.com
• Be double‐spaced in 12‐point Times New Roman font, use one‐inch margins, and be at least twelve (12) typed pages.
• Include a cover letter with the author’s name, current address, current telephone number, and current e‐mail address.
• Include citations at the bottom of each page that conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th Edition).
*BLRLJ will consider all submission for publications and reserves the exclusive publication rights to all submissions selected for publication.

Deadline: March 1, 2009. Any questions may be submitted via email. -jl

Rand: Is Case Theory Value Neutral in Public Benefits Cases?

Spencer Rand (Temple) has published Creating My Client's Image: Is Case Theory Value Neutral in Public Benefits Cases?, Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, Vol. 28, 2008. Here is the abstract:

Effective case theory demands that an attorney consider with the client the way that pursuing the theory comports with the client's self-image. This is particularly evident in public benefit cases as they are very value laden. Benefits are doled out using a two-tier system of social insurance and public assistance depending on whether we favor the reason that help is sought. People categorized as having personal traits leading to their need, like old age, blindness, and disability, benefit from our FICA social insurance system, getting higher benefits and having their welfare marketed as a pension with little stigma. People who are unemployed long term or just need help to support their families do not benefit from the FICA system, even if they have paid into it. They are confined to our public assistance system with fewer benefits and the stigma of welfare. Many people do not want to see themselves or be seen as getting welfare. Case theories that push people to into the social insurance or public assistance system fail when they do not consider this factor.

This article uses the public benefits case to suggest a teaching a method for creating effective case theories that recognizes the need to determine if self-image is at issue for the client. Students study master narratives developed around legal issues. The master narrative surrounding public benefits is gone into in some detail. Students also study community narratives or alternative narratives that could influence personal narratives in the stories and decision making of their clients. After doing so, students are to listen for these narratives and personal narratives of their clients to develop effective case theories for their cases that comport with their client's self-image.

-jl

National Taxpayer Advocate Releases 2008 Report to Congress

From the IRS Newsroom:

National Taxpayer Advocate Urges Tax Simplification and Compassionate Treatment of Taxpayers Hit by Recession
 
WASHINGTON — National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson today released her annual report, urging Congress to greatly simplify the tax code and recommending measures to reduce the burden on taxpayers who are struggling to pay their tax bills.

The report takes note of the serious financial difficulties facing many Americans in light of the ongoing economic downturn. “It is imperative for the IRS to consider the circumstances of taxpayers facing economic hardship before initiating enforcement actions,” Olson wrote.

When the IRS contemplates taking an enforced collection action such as a levy, a lien or an asset seizure, both the tax code and IRS procedures require that IRS personnel consider whether the collection action will impose an economic hardship on the taxpayer. Despite these requirements, “current IRS guidance provides little direction to help IRS employees identify taxpayers who are experiencing economic hardship and prevent undue economic burden,” Olson wrote.

Call for Tax Simplification

The report designates the complexity of the tax code as the most serious problem facing taxpayers. According to data compiled by Olson’s office, U.S. taxpayers and businesses spend about 7.6 billion hours a year complying with tax-filing requirements. “If tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States,” the report says. “To consume 7.6 billion hours, the ‘tax industry’ requires the equivalent of 3.8 million full-time workers.”

The report estimates that U.S. taxpayers spend $193 billion a year complying with income tax requirements, an amount that equals 14 percent of the total amount of income taxes collected. One count shows the number of words in the tax code has reached 3.7 million, and over the past eight years, changes to the tax code have been made at a rate of more than one a day – including more than 500 changes in 2008 alone. Individual taxpayers now find the tax rules so overwhelming that more than 80 percent pay transaction fees to help them file their returns – about 60 percent pay a preparer to do the job and another 22 percent purchase tax software

Two examples of tax law complexity:

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) effectively requires taxpayers to compute their taxes twice — once under the regular rules and again under the AMT regime — and then to pay the higher of the two amounts. Absent repeal or continuing AMT patches, the AMT will affect 33 million taxpayers in 2010. Although the AMT was originally conceived to prevent wealthy taxpayers from escaping tax liability through the use of tax-avoidance transactions, 77 percent of the additional income subject to tax under the AMT today is attributable to the disallowance of deductions otherwise allowed for state and local taxes and personal and dependency exemptions. “Few people think of having children or living in a high-tax state as a tax-avoidance maneuver, but under the unique logic of the AMT, that is essentially how those actions are treated,” the report notes.

The tax code provides tax breaks to encourage taxpayers to save for education and retirement. However, the number of such tax incentives has grown to at least 27 and the eligibility requirements, definitions of common terms, income-level thresholds, phase-out ranges and inflation adjustments vary among the provisions. This complexity undermines the intent of the incentives, as taxpayers can only respond to incentives if they know they exist and understand them.

Olson recommends that Congress substantially simplify the tax code. The report includes a series of recommendations, including recommendations to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax; streamline education and retirement savings tax incentives; simplify the family status provisions of the tax code; simplify the rules under which workers are classified as employees or independent contractors; reduce sunset and phase-out provisions and revise the overall penalty structure. More broadly, Olson recommends six core principles on which fundamental tax reform should be based. (For details, see Most Serious Problem: The Complexity of the Tax Code and corresponding items in the Legislative Recommendations section of the report.)

The full news release is available here, a full copy of the report is here and the Executive Summary is here.  -jl

Summer Internship Program with Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia

Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia (BABSEA) is preparing to host the 6th Annual BABSEA International Legal Studies Internship Program from May through August, 2009. The internship program seeks to connect the skills of aspiring lawyers and law-related persons from around the world with a project that will give them insight into social justice and public interest law internationally and specifically in Southeast Asia. The internship aims to produce a tangible work product that will be utilized in the communities in which BABSEA work and will directly result in disadvantaged populations gaining greater awareness of and access to their legal systems, as well as helping to provide support to our partner universities and organizations.

Deadline for Applications:
Early acceptance consideration deadline is January 15, 2009 and the overall deadline for applications is February 15th, 2009. Later applications may be considered depending on circumstances.

More information:
Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia,legal internship program informational pdf: Download BABSEA_2009_Legal_Studies_Internship_Program_2009.pdf, Contacts:  Mr Sorachat (Aom) Julamon or BABSEA Director Bruce A. Lasky

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Northwestern Faculty Position - Children and Family Justice Center

Northwestern University School of Law invites applications for a clinical faculty position beginning in the 2009-2010 academic year in the Bluhm Legal Clinic’s Children and Family Justice Center.  Candidates will be considered for appointment to the Clinical Faculty of the Bluhm Legal Clinic of the Northwestern Law School at a level commensurate with experience and qualifications. We seek applicants for this clinical faculty position with at least ten years of experience in representing juveniles charged with crimes in the juvenile and criminal courts and an interest in their right to an appropriate education and in administrative hearings involving school discipline.  Experience in handling trials, appeals, post-conviction, class actions, school expulsion and suspension, special education, and other collateral legal matters involving juveniles is strongly preferred.  We also seek candidates with distinguished academic records and practice experience, a strong commitment to clinical legal education and teaching, experience in advocacy work on juvenile justice-related policy issues, and an interest in publishing.

The Bluhm Legal Clinic currently includes clinical faculty teaching in its Children and Family Justice Center (juvenile justice delinquency and criminal cases involving adolescents, and the related civil legal matters such as education law, and immigration and asylum matters), The Center on Wrongful Convictions, The Center on International Human Rights, the Small Business Opportunity Center, and other clinical programs that include civil litigation (predatory lending cases, civil suits arising from wrongful convictions, an landlord tenant cases), and criminal defense.

Northwestern University School of Law is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and encourages nominations of and applications from women and minority candidates.

Applications must be submitted by February 1, 2009. Please send your curriculum vitae and cover letter to Julie Biehl . 

-jl

2009 Bellow Scholars Announced

The Clinical Section's Lawyering in the Public Interest Bellow Scholar Commitee has announced this year's Bellow Scholars:

Michael Gregory and Susan Cole, Evaluating Advocacy in Trauma-Sensitive Schools (Harvard)

Faith Mullen, Access to Justice and Community Involvement in the DC Office of Administrative Hearings (Catholic)

David Santacroce, The Consequences of Institutionalization for the Teaching-Service Mission of Clinics (Michigan)

Mary Spector, The Impact of Debt Collection Litigation on Consumers and Courts (Southern Methodist)

The recipients will be acknowledged at the clinical section luncheon in San Diego, and will present their work in a concurrent session at the May clinical conference in Cleveland. Our third annual Bellow Scholar Workshop to support the scholars will be held next fall at Penn Law School in Philadelphia.

The recipients were chosen from among an exemplary group of applicants. The committee looks forward to working with them in the coming years and especially to seeing the outcome of the important projects on which they've embarked. In the mean time, please join us in congratulating them!

Happy New Year,
Bellow Scholar Committee

Dean Rivkin, Co-Chair
Jeff Selbin, Co-Chair
Sameer Ashar
Brenda Bratton Blom
Juliet Brodie
Jeanne Charn
Alan Lerner
Joe Tulman

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Save the Date: Equal Justice Conference May 14-16, 2009 in Orlando, FL

The 2008 Equal Justice Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida from May 14 – 16, 2009.  Updated conference information is available online, including:

- registration options

- discounts

- hotel accommodations

- travel and

- scholarship information. 

-jl

New Year, New Members on the CLEA Board

The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) President Michael Pinard has issued the following announcement:

The CLEA Board is happy to announce that Bob Kuehn (Alabama) has been elected CLEA Vice-President, and that Esther Canty-Barnes (Rutgers), Leigh Goodmark (Baltimore), Kate Kruse (UNLV), Binny Miller (American), Jeff Pokarak (Suffolk), and Yoli Redero (Vanderbilt) have been elected to serve as board members. The CLEA Board appreciates deeply all of the individuals who ran for board positions, as well as our membership who voted to fill these important positions. We look forward to working with you and for you in the New Year.

-jl