Looking Within: Exploring Inter-Clinic Collaborations

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Franciscan C

Floor: Ballroom Level

Clinicians are often heard to bemoan that their programs are “siloed,” with minimal interaction between the various clinics of in-house programs. Meanwhile, we often look to external partners to serve as referral sources, and to provide supplemental training and supervision of law students. While these external partnerships provide valuable resources and learning opportunities for students, this session will flip the paradigm and explore internal partnerships that have developed within clinical programs across the country. An often-untapped resource, intra-clinic collaborations provide meaningful opportunities for students and faculty to work together to meet the needs of clients and to improve students’ capacity to practice law in multi-practice or holistic settings. Intra-clinic collaborations model the firm environment where departments in law firms may support each other through advising, simulating, or serving as co-counsel. Faculty from four different law schools will share models of inter-clinic collaborations from their institutions. These models range from the development of a new temporary clinic comprised of students from three other clinics to address housing instability, providing workshops on a particular subject matter for clients of another clinic, representation of clients across clinics on matters that intersect, clinic-wide simulations and universal course evaluations, and clinic-wide seminars and case rounds. After exploring the different models, the panelists will invite participants to identify ways to address common challenges to inter-clinic work. The diversity of clinical subjects including mediation, media rights, and immigration and human rights, will cover a wide range of professional and ethical considerations. At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to brainstorm opportunities for intra-clinic collaborations within their own institution.