In-House Clinics

Access to Justice Clinic

While upper-income Americans have no difficulty getting high-quality legal help, much of the rest of America confronts a “justice gap” – that is, inadequate access to legal information, assistance, and representation. As a result, vast numbers of Americans “go it alone” in such areas of basic need as housing, debt, access to benefits, family law, and immigration. The Access to Justice Clinic explores what we can do to narrow this gap.

In the seminar, we examine not only such established approaches as rights to counsel, legal aid and pro bono services, but also more recent innovations, such as court-based help centers and “navigators,” improvements in the provision of legal information, technological solutions (such as remote hearings and legal apps), alternative licensing of legal professionals, simplification of legal procedures, and more. In the project portion, students work in teams on a semester-long project, typically in partnership with a legal non-profit, community organization or court. Projects may focus on changes to existing legal services or procedures to make them more accessible to unrepresented people; creating alternative routes for legal problem-solving, thus enabling people to avoid existing procedures altogether; or addressing some other current social-justice issue that has legal aspects.

Besides becoming more familiar with the justice gap and ways of addressing it, students gain skills and experience in collaborating with fellow students and with lawyers and community leaders, and in researching an issue and developing and supporting a proposal for change. (The clinic does not directly represent individual clients.)

The Clinic is a 4-credit graded course taught by Prof. Len Rieser.

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Community Lawyering Clinic

In the Community Lawyering Clinic and related Advanced Clinical Intensive, students are placed in the primary lawyer role for individuals in litigation and transactional matters.  Our present client base includes people with severe illnesses, like cancer and HIV, and people with severe disabilities.  Our most common representation is in administrative hearings in public benefits cases and with simple estate planning, like wills and living wills.  Students work with clients both in the Temple Legal Aid Office and at community medical and social service centers throughout the city.  In the fall semester, the class is paired with a serial writing class, Poverty Law (Law 1041), which allows students to learn about poverty law issues from a theoretical context while practicing poverty law in the clinic.  Registration for Poverty Law is handled separately. The Community Lawyering Clinic is a 4-credit clinic taught by Prof. Spencer Rand. Students can add the advanced clinic for 3 graded credits, either in the same semester or in a later semester.

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Family Law Litigation Clinic

The Family Law Litigation Clinic provides direct legal advice and representation to low-income litigants in various family law matters. Under the supervision of the Clinical Professor, clinic students handle all aspects of clients’ cases, including intake interviews, case selection, development of case plans, drafting of pleadings, counseling of clients, negotiation with opposing counsel or parties, development of trial strategy, trial preparation and court appearances. The Family Law Litigation Clinic is ideal for students who are interested in gaining more direct individual client experience and in-court trial advocacy experience. The Family Law Litigation Clinic is a 4-credit clinic, consisting of a 2-credit pass/fail clinic and a 2-credit graded seminar, and is taught by Prof. Sarah Katz.

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Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic

(Not offered in Spring 2025)

Students who participate in this Clinic will work on appeals pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, providing pro bono representation to appellants in immigration appeals, habeas corpus proceedings, prisoner litigation, or similar matters as appointed by the Court.  The Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic has partnered with a Philadelphia-based law firm, The Tucker Law Group, which will supervise the appeals.  Students will also work under the supervision of the Clinic professor. A team of three students will be assigned to each appeal.  Only 3L and 4LE students are eligible to participate in the Clinic. The Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic is offered in the Fall semester and is a 4-credit clinic, consisting of a 2-credit pass/fail clinic and a 2-credit graded seminar. Because these appeals typically remain pending for the entire academic year, students who participate in the Fall clinic will be encouraged to take the Advanced Clinic Intensive in the Spring, which is a graded, three-credit clinic without a classroom component.  The Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic is supervised by Prof. Mary E. Levy.

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Low Income Taxpayer Clinic

The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) provides free legal representation to qualifying taxpayers who have federal tax controversies. Students and attorney volunteers, working under the supervision of the Prof. Omeed Firouzi, represent low income taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court in audits, appeals, collections and federal tax litigation. 

Students enrolled in the clinic (4 credits, graded) learn substantive and procedural tax law, case management, and lawyering skills. Students also give presentations to community groups and nonprofit organizations to help taxpayers know their rights and responsibilities. Additionally, students may have an opportunity to participate in special projects such as filing amicus briefs or submitting comments on proposed regulation or other administrative guidance. 

During the clinic portion of the course, students serve as the primary advocates for their clients and have direct responsibility for their cases. Case work includes extensive client contact. Students will conduct factual investigations and research legal issues to develop, present, and argue cases on behalf of vulnerable taxpayers who would otherwise not have access to justice. The clinic experience teaches lawyering skills applicable across numerous practice areas. Students are encouraged to enroll whether they have an existing interest in tax or simply seek an immersive law practice experience. LITC students play a crucial role in ensuring a fair tax system for low income individuals and those with limited English proficiency who speak English as a second language. Students’ work is impactful and sometimes life changing.

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Social Justice Lawyering Clinic

(Not offered in Spring 2025)

In the Social Justice Lawyering Clinic, students engage in: (1) representing a low-income client in a civil legal case affecting the client’s economic security (e.g., employment, housing, consumer debt); and (2) collaborating with a community-based organization, legal nonprofit, or coalition on a systemic advocacy project. Such systemic advocacy projects might involve engaging in community education, authoring policy briefs and white papers, or participating in legislative advocacy. Most systemic advocacy projects have focused on immigrant and worker rights, although they can involve other economic justice and civil rights issues confronting underserved communities in Philadelphia. The Social Justice Lawyering Clinic provides students with the opportunity to engage in multifaceted lawyering required for today’s social justice lawyers. The Clinic is a 2-credit graded seminar plus a 4-credit pass/fail clinic, and is taught by Prof. Jennifer Lee and Prof. Len Rieser.

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Systemic Justice Clinic

(Not offered in Spring 2025)

In the Systemic Justice Clinic, students will work with community groups and public interest legal organizations on one of the most pressing concerns in civil rights today – that almost any interaction with the mechanisms of the criminal legal system can result in a lifelong deprivation of a person’s rights, and that these interactions and resultant deprivations fall disproportionately upon racial minorities and the poor. Projects will include policy campaigns and legislative advocacy around collateral consequences such as barriers to employment, education, housing, and public benefits; civil disabilities; and fines and fees associated with private contractors. Students may also have the opportunity to work on criminal justice reform, policing, and inmates’ rights issues, and to engage in community education projects. The Systemic Justice Clinic is a 2-credit graded seminar plus a 3 credit pass/fail clinic, and is taught by Prof. Shanda Sibley.

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Tech Justice Clinic

Tech justice is an emerging critical legal agenda that addresses the intersection of data-fueled innovation, the rapid integration of new data-driven tools without adequate safeguards, and social justice movements. This clinic aims to serve in the pursuit of redress for harms experienced by individuals and communities who often bear the brunt of technological advancements without having a say in their development and implementation. The clinic prepares students as legal practitioners equipped to navigate the emerging field of tech justice and related law and technology, public interest, and social justice practice areas.

Legal practitioners in the tech justice field require a diverse set of skills that go beyond traditional project-based advocacy and client representation. They must navigate spaces with minimal accountability, such as public procurement processes and jurisdictions lacking the rule of law, and work with victims and survivors who have no established legal aid or public health platforms. Practitioners must engage in various legal activities, from local and federal rulemaking to constitutional litigation and direct work with victims of online harms. They need to apply a critical approach to understanding power structures and their implications for achieving project goals, conduct transnational analysis, and creatively use law in its development and effects. The clinic emphasizes a transnational perspective, addressing majority-minority world inequities and their influence on regulatory environments.

The course combines seminar and clinic components. The seminar provides a comprehensive exploration of current research, advocacy, litigation, and organizing efforts to reshape the information society. Topics include the ethical, philosophical, and practical implications of technologies such as artificial intelligence, biometrics, and digital finance. Students participate in collaborative projects with external organizations, addressing systemic issues related to tech justice. These projects involve a wide range of activities, from legal research and drafting litigation materials to engaging directly with victims and survivors of tech-related harms, to working with advocates and developing innovative legal claims in active litigation in foreign and domestic jurisdictions.

Through project work and seminar sessions, students will learn to apply critical perspectives on datafication and marginalization, understand the limitations of existing ethical frameworks, and analyze regulatory proposals using critical theory. This holistic approach aims to prepare students for movement lawyering, where legal skills support broader social justice movements.

The iLIT Tech Justice Clinic is a 4-credit graded course taught by Prof. Laura Bingham.