Hope as a Discipline: The Role of Legislative Clinics and Projects

Go Back

Session Type: Lightning Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Franciscan B

Floor: Ballroom Level

As recognized by the conference theme, clinicians must train our students to change institutions of law in radical and innovative ways. Our goal is to do that in the context of legislative advocacy. We will provide you with a framework to develop legislative and policy advocacy clinics or to supervise such projects in other clinics. We will outline some of the structural differences that define how legislative advocacy differs from other forms of lawyering, including: the absence of any clear rules of procedure/engagement; the existence of multiple decision-makers—and no guarantee of access to them; and all communications are “ex parte”. Other factors, which we discuss in the session, also make it challenging to use traditional, non-directive supervision techniques. We will explore a number of questions clinical faculty should consider before taking on legislative advocacy and learning projects. These include: • Why am I taking on this project: How will it benefit our community partner and how will it enhance our students’ learning? • How crowded is the advocacy field on this issue? • How well do I—and my community partner—know the issues? • Is our community partner eager to be part of the students’ learning process? We will introduce you to these (and other) concerns, respond to your questions, and facilitate learning among those present. We have a responsibility to push legislatures—which often operate with an astounding lack of transparency and elitism—to function more democratically and to pursue more equitable solutions. We seek to instill in students the necessary capacities to fulfill these goals and hope you will join us in this mission