The market downturn has meant that the
eligible population for free legal services has increased dramatically at the
same time that funding for legal aid offices has dwindled. This “new normal”
poses unique challenges for community-facing clinics. Due to the combination of
increased need for legal services and lack of available resources, clinics face
increased pressure to fill the widening justice gap. How clinics decide to allocate their precious
resources could have unintended effects in the communities where they work. The
decision to prioritize one case or project over another may empower one group
or population while leaving another without adequate access to justice. In this sense, case and project selection may
aggravate inequality between groups and create tensions within a community.
This talk will explore how clinics might
more democratically and transparently engage with the communities in which they
work. The presenter will explore how
clinics can adopt a range of strategies to identify the collective desires and
demands of a community. Specifically,
she will examine possible mechanisms of accountability in clinic design,
community involvement in case or project selection, and guidelines for
community engagement. Further, she will
explore how clinics can facilitate opportunities for deliberation and consensus
building across groups.