AALS Section on Pro Bono

After a terrific Section program at the AALS Annual Meeting in cloudy (☹) San Diego earlier this month, your new Section co-Chairs are reinvigorated and ready to dive into our Section work for the coming year. Below you will find some highlights of our Section’s Annual Meeting program and awards ceremony, as well as some important Section events and programs coming up in February that we hope you’ll plan to attend.
 
We are excited to start a new year and hope to inspire you, our Section members, to stay engaged with the Section and help us build and energize this wonderful community of law school pro bono professionals committed to instilling a pro bono ethic in our law students and increasing access to justice in whatever ways we can. Though our positions may sometimes be undervalued by our institutions, the work we do could not be more important.  As our wonderful 2022 Section Chair, Angela Schultz said in her final 2022 Section newsletter:

“Pro bono legal service is a key part of health, safety, and security for our communities. Evictions are avoided. Consumer debt is mitigated. Domestic violence may be prevented. Child support is paid. People find answers and sometimes find closure through pro bono service.”

And, speaking of Angela, we want to thank her for a terrific year of Section leadership.  Angela has been a tireless and inspiring leader who, among other accomplishments, established the AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll during her tenure and planned an excellent Annual Meeting program.  She did it all with her wonderful sense of humor.  Thank you so much, Angela!!!

And thank you to all of you for being a part of this Section. Please join us at our first meeting on February 23^rd at 1pm ET.

We cannot express sufficient gratitude to our outgoing Chair, Angela Schultz, for all she did to guide us over the course of the last year. Under her leadership, we changed our Section name, launched the Pro Bono Honor Roll, and continued to connect with Section members all over the country. We are thrilled to welcome our incoming Section leadership and can only hope to continue our dynamic Section’s inspiring work. Many thanks to those continuing their service to the Section and to those who have newly joined in a leadership role!

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2023

	Name	School
Co-Chairs	Darcy Meals & Eliza Vorenberg	Georgia State University College of Law; Roger Williams University School of Law
Co-Chairs Elect	Deborah Schlosberg & Janine Dunlap-Kiah	Berkeley School of Law; Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Secretary	Allison Constance	UNC School of Law
Finance Chair	Stephen Rispoli	Baylor University School of Law
Immediate Past Chair	Angela Schultz	Marquette University Law School
Members at Large	Julia Vázquez	Southwestern Law School
	Michelle Takagishi-Almeida	Southwestern Law School
	Meredith Schnug	University of Kansas School of Law
	Sue Schechter	Berkeley School of Law
	Tonya Jupiter	Tulane University School of Law

It was great seeing many of you for our Section’s session, Incorporating Access to Justice & Pro Bono Across the Law School Curriculum. The session, moderated by incoming Co-Chair Darcy Meals, offered attendees an array of examples of how to expose students to the realities of the justice gap and the potential power they have to improve the ways in which our legal system might serve lower-income litigants. Jim Sandman, President Emeritus of the Legal Services Corporation and Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law, shared alarming statistics about the state of access to justice and set the stage for a conversation about the importance of making law students (and faculty) aware of the extent of the need in this country. Stacy Butler, Director of the Innovation for Justice Program at the University of Arizona School of Law, talked about the value of collaborative, multi-disciplinary approaches to making the legal system more user-friendly. Lauren Sudeall, Faculty Director of the Center for Access to Justice at Georgia State University College of Law, outlined her team-taught course, Access to Justice: Law Reform, which gives students a chance to design their own proposals using user-centric principles and best practices in legal design. Finally, Julia Vazquez, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Community Lawyering Clinic at Southwestern Law School, described a collaborative experiential course she taught in conjunction with community partners at both Southwestern and UCLA Law, utilizing technology to help students work with migrants seeking asylum at the border. In each of the courses the panelists described, students gain an understanding of the ways in which the legal system falls short of meeting the needs of lower-income litigants and how students might use their skills to better serve vulnerable populations. Attendees left the session better equipped to weave these important opportunities and principles into their doctrinal classes through court observation, guest speakers, pro bono opportunities, and simulation exercises.

We were also thrilled to honor our three award recipients, each of whom stands out on their campuses and in the legal profession as a leader in promoting access to justice and pro bono service. Their work is inspiring and ongoing, and it was a pleasure to recognize them for all that they do. Congratulations to Russell, Stephen, and Deborah!

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Lifetime Achievement Award

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Access to Justice Award

Emerging Leader Award

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Maximizing Law Student and Organization Benefits
During Experiential Learning Placements

Presented by Leah Nicholls, Public Justice

February 28, 2023 12:00-1:00 pm EST

Zoom
Meeting ID: 952 4869 9437

Our previous education enrichment session recordings and materials are now available online here >>

Congratulations again to our inaugural AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll awardees! The Honor Roll acknowledges and highlights the exceptional work of individuals engaging in, expanding, and/or supporting their law school community in providing pro bono legal services.

We were thrilled to feature 58 law schools and nearly 140 individuals on this year’s AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll. Congratulations and thank you for your service! The complete list of honorees is available here: https://www.aals.org/awards/pro-bono/.

The Practising Law Institute (PLI) offers continuing legal education programs on a number of topics relevant to pro bono practice, such as Ethical Issues in Pro Bono Representation; Lawyering from a Trauma-Informed Perspective; Introduction to Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality; and Vulnerable Populations and Immigration Relief, just to name a few. If you work for a 501(c)(3) organization with at least one staff attorney and provide or coordinate direct pro bono service, you may qualify for PLI’s Pro Bono Privileged Membership.

For further details and to apply, visit https://www.pli.edu/membership/join and scroll down to “Pro Bono Membership.”

Where we have come from and where we are going…

With January around the corner, we approach the opportunity to gather with each other in San Diego at the AALS Annual Meeting. Whether you will be there or not, I hope you enjoy some highlights in this newsletter about the upcoming Annual Meeting, the worthy recipients of our Section awards, the service project we have planned, and details about our exciting annual meeting session.

A few virtual gatherings are also planned. Mark your calendars and save the zoom links for two upcoming education enrichment sessions detailed in this newsletter. Also included in the newsletter here is a link to join an online community conversation focused on what’s bringing you (us) hope for the new year. If you have colleagues who would enjoy any of these activities, please feel free to pass along the information and invite them to join. 

Even with so many challenges in our world, we have much to be grateful for, including the service our section members and our students provide. Pro bono legal service is a key part of health, safety, and security for our communities. Evictions are avoided. Consumer debt is mitigated. Domestic violence may be prevented. Child support is paid. People find answers and sometimes find closure through pro bono service. Some of the people engaging in pro bono service through our law schools are being celebrated in the inaugural AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll. Enjoy perusing the list and consider who you will highlight for their service next year.

If you will be in San Diego, I hope you’ll come and say hello. On Thursday, find me at 11 a.m. “I Love a Clean San Diego” service project, or later in our Section’s 3 p.m. session, “Incorporating Access to Justice & Pro Bono Across the Law School Curriculum.” On Friday, find me at our Section’s 12 p.m. Awards gathering, where we’ll honor three outstanding members of our community: Russel Engler, New England Law; Stephen Rispoli, Baylor University School of Law; and Deborah Schlosberg, Berkeley School of Law.

May our whole community enjoy a safe and healthy conclusion to 2022 and a safer and healthier year ahead. 

Angela F. Schultz
Chair, Section on Pro Bono & Access to Justice
Assistant Dean for Public Service
Marquette Law School
Assistant Dean for Public Service 

On Monday, December 5 from 12:00-1:00 EST, the AALS Section on Pro Bono and Access to Justice will host Roger Williams University School of Law Professor Monica Teixeira de Sousa.  Monica’s topic will be “The Law Professor and the Therapist: Beyond Belonging There’s a Place (and Need) for Group Solidarity among First Generation and Low-Income Students in the Law School Setting.”

Topic: “The Law Professor and the Therapist: Beyond Belonging There’s a Place (and Need) for Group Solidarity among First Generation and Low-Income Students in the Law School Setting” hosted by AALS Section on Pro Bono & Access to Justice.

Time: December 5, 2022, 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Join Zoom Meeting: https://rwu.zoom.us/j/94443107446

Meeting ID: 944 4310 7446

Gather with members of the Section on Pro Bono & Access to Justice for a conversation facilitated by Michelle Takagishi-Almeida, Director of the Public Service Program at Southwestern Law School. The discussion will build on our March 17^th gathering in “Overcoming Isolation” as well as AALS President Chemerinsky’s theme on Law Schools Making a Difference, the 2023 AALS Clinical Conference theme on Hope as a Discipline, end-of-year holidays, and New Year Resolutions. Join us! And invite a colleague to join in, too.

Date: Thursday, December 8, 2022

Time: 12:30 pm PT / 2:30 pm CT / 3:30 pm ET

Zoom Details: https://swlaw-edu.zoom.us/j/91316082987?pwd=Mkx4VGs3d1d3L2FSNWlpNyt4RFI0UT09
Meeting ID: 913 1608 2987  Passcode: 144441 

We are inspired by the AALS Section on Pro Bono & Access to Justice Award Recipients.

Join us to acknowledge and celebrate this year’s award recipients on Friday, January 6, 12:00-1:00 p.m. in San Diego at the 2023 AALS Annual Meeting.

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Lifetime Achievement Award

Russell Engler

Professor of Law & Director of Clinical Programs
New England Law, Boston

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Access to Justice Award

Stephen Rispoli

Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Strategic Initiatives,
Director of Innovation and Scholarship
Baylor University School of Law

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Emerging Leader Award

Deborah Schlosberg

Director of Pro Bono Programs
University of California, Berkeley School of Law