PUBLIC INTEREST LAW SEMINAR & CLINIC (Engler, New England Law School)
Equal access to justice for all is a bedrock principle of our democracy, but what does that mean? What constitutes equal access? How is justice defined? And how, as a practical matter, can this principle be realized for the vast number of people whose low and moderate incomes preclude their hiring an attorney. This course will explore these and other questions which arise and emerging initiatives designed to assist self-represented (pro se) litigants, and the responsibility of the courts in access to justice.
PROBLEM SOLVING IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST (Cummings, UCLA)
Units include: 1) Introduction to Course: Perspectives on Public Interest Lawyering; 2) Introduction to Case Study: The Movement for Same-Sex Marriage; 3) Lawyering in the Policy Domain: Legislative Advocacy in the Path from Domestic Partnership to Marriage Equality; 4) Law and the Power to Change; 5) Litigation I: The Making of a Litigation Campaign—Risks and Rewards; 6) Litigation II: Litigating Against Same-Sex Marriage; 7) Civil Disobedience: A License to Wed; 8) Litigation III: The Marriage Cases and the Emergence of National Strategy; 9) Money, Media, and Community Education: The Campaign to Defeat Proposition 8 and Its Aftermath; 10) Race, Organizing, and the Politics of Prop. 8; 11) Research as an Advocacy Tool; 12) Losing in Court/Organizing to Win: Social Networking and Fundraising; 13) Who Speaks for the Cause?; 14) Assessing the Role of Law in the Movement for Same-Sex Marriage
CAUSE LAWYERS: PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (Southworth and Cummings, UCLA)
This course will consider lawyers who view themselves as serving a larger “cause” and therefore cut against the grain of conventional notions of client-centered service. We will examine the definition of “cause lawyer” and its relationship to traditional understandings of lawyers’ professional roles. In exploring the content of cause lawyering, we will discuss practice conditions that facilitate or interfere with serving causes; relationships between clients and causes; and similarities and differences among lawyers for various causes in terms of social backgrounds, practice sites, career tracks, strategies, participation in social movements, and connection to lawyer networks.
INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC INTEREST LAW (DeJarnatt, Temple University)
The course is designed to explore major lawyering issues confronting public interest lawyers in a variety of practice areas. The course is intended to integrate academic theory with study of actual practice experiences in public interest advocacy. Students will discuss the assigned readings, interact with guest speakers, complete a research paper on an approved public interest topic, and present the paper to the class while it is still in draft.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE (Hon. Judge Fein, Western New England College School of Law)
A survey course covering a number of the subjects under the access to justice umbrella: pro bono, right to counsel in civil cases, limited assistance representation, etc.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE (Maranville, University of Washington)
PUBLIC INTEREST LAW AND POLICY (Staudt, Chicago-Kent College of Law)
This course offers an overview of the issues faced by lawyers representing low income clients and lawyers who serve under-represented and disenfranchised groups. The course begins with an investigation of the meaning of public interest law. The bulk of the course covers the key cases decided and legislation passed since the 1960s when the Johnson Administration launched its war on poverty in the United States. Students work in teams to explore in depth a specific landmark case or legislative initiative, writing a full account of the case and presenting it with participating lawyers and litigants if feasible. These cases may include court decisions and legislation affecting income support for low income people including federal welfare programs, social security and state general assistance programs. Low income housing, medical care, nutrition and access to courts may also be explored. In addition, the course explores ethical issues that arise when lawyers represent low income clients and professionalism questions that are raised by the special role lawyers play in providing access to justice.