Program Update from the Clinical Program at UConn Law

Via Prof. Jessica Rubin: 

The University of Connecticut proudly announces the following developments in our clinical programs, expanding UConn Law’s involvement in our communities and opportunities for our students:

New Clinics

Housing and Eviction Defense Clinic – UConn School of Law launched a Housing and Eviction Defense Clinic that will provide representation and legal advocacy to tenants. Supported by a grant from the Connecticut Fair Housing Center and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the clinic will serve low-income tenants who are facing the threat of eviction. Pictured below are new clinic faculty members Catharine Freeman, Director, and Alex West, Associate Director.  

Disability Rights Clinic – UConn School of Law joined forces with Disability Rights Connecticut to offer a clinic providing legal advocacy for people with disabilities. Students participating in the new Disability Rights Clinic help clients with legal problems involving housing, education, employment, health care, and other issues. Students work under the supervision of Deborah Dorfman, executive director of Disability Rights Connecticut, and other lawyers on the agency’s staff.

New Clinicians

Rachel Reeves joined the law school as an assistant clinical professor of law and director of field placement and pro bono programs. She is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law, where she directed the field placement program for seven years. Reeves also led the Rural Practice Fellowship, a collaborative project within and outside Maine Law that works toward alleviating the widening justice gap in Maine’s rural communities.

 

Diana R. Blank is a visiting assistant clinical professor appointed to a three-year term as the William R. Davis Clinical Teaching Fellow, joining Professor Jon Bauer in the Asylum and Human Rights Clinic. She is a graduate of Yale Law School. Blank previously served as a staff attorney for the New Haven Legal Assistance Association, specializing in family law and immigration law, and as a visiting clinical lecturer in law at the Yale Law School, where she co-founded and co-taught the Legal Assistance Immigrant Rights Clinic.

 

Catharine Freeman joined the law school as a visiting assistant clinical professor to serve as the Director of UConn’s new Housing and Eviction Defense Clinic. Freeman has had a long career as a housing lawyer for Connecticut Legal Services and brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and community involvement.   

 

Alex West joined the law school as a visiting assistant clinical professor to serve as the Associate Director of UConn’s new Housing and Eviction Defense Clinic. West was most recently a lawyer with SouthCoast Fair Housing, and an adjunct professor teaching Mental Health Law at New England Law School. West is a long-time advocate for fair housing laws, policies, and services.

Promotions

Jessica Rubin, Clinical Professor and Director of UConn’s Animal Law Clinic, became UConn’s Associate Dean for Experiential Education in July 2022.  Rubin succeeds Jennifer Mailly. 

Retirements

Jennifer Mailly, former Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Director of Field Placements, retired and is now Clinical Professor Emerita, continuing to teach Civil Procedure and mentor students.

Barbara McGrath retired after 22 years directing the Connecticut Urban Legal Initiative, a nonprofit legal transactional clinic. McGrath educated law students and provided legal services to nonprofit groups. She also served as founder and Executive Director of a statewide public-private partnership, the Community Economic Development Fund.