Generalized calls to abolish ICE have grown popular on campuses across the nation. Recently, law student activists and scholars have exposed the ways in which law schools’ reliance on duopolies RELX PLC and Thomson Reuters, parent companies to LexisNexis and Westlaw, respectively, support the creation and expansion of products used by ICE and law enforcement to surveil, detain and deport immigrants. As a result, law students have called upon their law school deans to “end the contracts” with parent company RELX and Thomas Reuters. Clinicians confronting this reality must juggle their desire to support efforts to immediately end data sharing practices that harm immigrant communities while balancing their legal and ethical responsibilities in representing individual clients. Our session will dig into these tensions and engage in meaningful dialogue to begin exploring how we divest from tech duopolies so intrinsic to legal work and teaching.
Method of Workshop:
The workshop will begin with a presentation by clinicians and other law faculty (including library faculty and other subject matter experts) that will utilize multimedia, including documentary clips, readings, and course syllabi. Topics will include (1) explanation of how RELX and Thomas Reuters operate as data brokers for ICE, (2) the dilemma faced by clinicians in considering reduced reliance on Lexis Nexis and Westlaw, (3) the difficulties faced in finding reliable alternative tools, and (4) how clinics can support student organizing on campus. The presenters will then utilize breakout groups to facilitate discussion of these topics, tensions, and potential solutions.