Collaborative Litigation Strategies: Fighting for Collective Change Through Individual Defense

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Session Type: AALS Programs

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Wabash Room

Floor: Third Floor

Achieving criminal justice reform through criminal defense work has traditionally been viewed as limited due to the requirements and constraints of representing an individual client facing criminal charges. This session will examine the inventive and original approaches of several criminal defense clinics across the country to advocate for broader social justice reform by collaborating with others in the criminal defense bar and collectively pursuing a coordinated legal strategy that both helps the individual client and pushes for systemic change. These strategies have the potential to reframe how criminal defense clinics choose their cases, shape case strategies, and view their role in criminal justice reform. Session participants will participate in a brainstorming exercise that will help them identify areas of their own clinical docket or community concerns that might be appropriate for collaborative or coordinated strategies.