This session explores the following questions: Why engage in discussions regarding the intersection of identity and the law in transactional and other non-litigation clinical programs? What choices exist for increasing discussions regarding identity in these newer clinical programs? What are the benefits, risks and challenges in exploring identity issues in the non-traditional context of these programs?
Reflecting on our past teaching experiences, our programs came to recognize the importance of more deliberately integrating issues of identity into teaching in transactional clinical programs. Given the emergence of more non-litigation clinical programs and an increasingly multi-cultural and global lawyering environment in this area of practice, we will explore the values of teaching identity in these contexts.
Through a mock class presentation and discussion of some concrete teaching takeaways, the session will introduce the approaches employed in the American University Washington College of Law's Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic and the University of Baltimore School of Law's Community Development and Family Law Clinics. We will share what has inspired us to more deliberately integrate issues of identity into our clinical programs.
Through these interactive exercises and conversations, we will explore the value and necessity of teaching identity in transactional clinical programs. What are the different approaches? What are the challenges of integrating issues of identity into transactional clinical programs? What factors should we consider in undertaking this integration? How does it serve student needs, client needs, and institutional needs in the emerging legal marketplace? As a group, we will brainstorm and evaluate considerations for developing a methodology for teaching issues of identity in transactional and non-litigation clinical programs.