Community Lawyering Clinic (Prof. Spencer Rand): 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. (Community Lawyering Clinic is 3 pass/fail credits. Student certification is preferred but not required.)
Family Law Litigation Clinic (Prof. Sarah Katz): The Family Law Litigation Clinic provides direct legal representation to low-income litigants in child custody, child and spousal support, adoption and other 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. (Family Law Litigation Clinic is 4 credits. Students must be eligible for certification.)
Social Justice Lawyering Clinic (Prof. Jennifer Lee): The Social Justice Lawyering Clinic represents individuals and organizations on critical issues affecting low-income individuals in the region, with a particular focus on low-wage workers and immigrants. The clinic docket includes employment cases at all stages of proceedings before the state and federal courts. The clinic’s non-litigation work consists of the representation of grassroots organizations, legal nonprofits, and other entities involved in policy and legislative reform efforts, media advocacy, and community education. All students handle at least one litigation and one non-litigation matter, which provides the opportunity to learn lawyering skills associated with today’s diverse advocacy approaches to effectuate social justice. (Social Justice Lawyering Clinic is 6 credits: 2 graded; 4 pass/fail).
Access to Justice Clinic (Prof. Len Rieser): In the new Access to Justice Clinic, students work with legal aid organizations, courts, and other organizations that are developing innovative ways of expanding legal help to people who are currently unrepresented. Projects may include efforts to expand the availability of counsel; innovative uses of technology; the development of court-based “help centers;” and more. The focus is on identifying barriers to access to justice and advocating for policy solutions rather than on individual representation. Students will gain skills and experience in collaborating with lawyers concerned with access-to-justice problems; in understanding how administrative agencies and courts operate, and how people of limited means experience our judicial system; in identifying barriers to justice and developing strategies for change; and in written and oral advocacy. (The clinic is a 4-credit graded course.)