Unified Justice: Advancing Holistic Legal Education through Structured Cross-Clinic Collaboration

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Waterview D

Floor: Lobby Level

A decade after Freddie Gray's tragic death, this presentation supports the conference theme of "Reexamining the Role of Lawyers and the Responsibilities of Clinical Teachers in Society." By reimagining clinical education through a structured cross-clinic collaboration model, the University of Denver seeks to prepare students to navigate the interconnected complexities of modern legal practice and equip them to tackle societal challenges. “Unified Justice: Advancing Holistic Legal Education through Structured Cross-Clinic Collaboration,” will focus on permeating the various barriers that may preclude or otherwise hinder clinic-to-clinic collaboration. Specifically, the panel will address how the University of Denver’s Student Law Office combines various practice areas in order to best represent clients, initiatives, or other areas of advocacy under one roof. Specifically, the panel will discuss examples of collaborative projects demonstrating how professors incorporate cross-clinic work into their curriculum; a rubric designed for evaluating student performance in cross-clinic collaborations; and a bibliography of resources on interdisciplinary legal education. This model mirrors the actual practice of law in that practitioners are sometimes required, ethically and professionally, to educate themselves on unfamiliar areas of law, as well as seek guidance from other professionals who may specialize in the area at issue. By encouraging student attorneys to expand the boundaries of their knowledge and skills, the University of Denver hopes to provide them the necessary tools to succeed on the NextGen Bar Exam and ultimately become holistic practitioners.