Clinic- Neighborhood Justice Seminar

Catalog description

Students in the Neighborhood Justice Clinic will represent clients in cases and advocacy projects involving civil legal issues affecting low-income communities in Westchester County. Students represent temporarily jobless low-wage workers whose applications for unemployment benefits have been denied. Students are responsible for all aspects of their clients’ cases, including representation at adversarial hearings. Students also provide legal support to grassroots organizations that are advocating for low-income communities in Westchester County. These projects will involve less-traditional forms of lawyering, such as engaging in policy and legislative advocacy and analysis, creating self-help materials, developing community education trainings and materials, or providing other types of lawyering work in support of organizations serving the community. The seminar portion of the clinic will be a practice-oriented examination of advocacy on behalf of low-income individuals and communities and of social justice lawyering generally. There are no prerequisites, but prior or simultaneous enrollment in Professional Responsibility, Evidence, or Trial Advocacy would be helpful. Permission of the professor, based upon application and interview, is required. The clinic is open to students in their second, third, or fourth year of law school. ULSR