The White House and the Department of Justice recently recognized 99 law schools that responded to the Attorney General’s Call to Action to address the housing and eviction crisis in the U.S. Deans across the country signed a statement of support after the Call to Action was issued in August 2021. Law students volunteered to help millions of families remain in their homes amid the ongoing pandemic.
The Attorney General’s Call to Action has led to increased access to justice and eviction prevention in jurisdictions across the country. According to a survey tracking the effort facilitated by the Georgetown University Law Center and New York University School of Law, more than 2,100 law students dedicated about 81,000 hours to serve more than 10,000 households nationwide.
You can watch the White House and Department of Justice Law School Eviction Prevention Convening here.
State of the South 2022 – Friday, May 6 1:00–3:30pm ET (virtual)
The Center for Access to Justice at Georgia State Law builds bridges between academics, practitioners, and policymakers. For this year’s State of the South, we have partnered with Georgia State Law’s Legal Analytics and Innovation Initiative to showcase how universities partner with outside entities, using both traditional and cutting-edge research techniques, to move the access to justice needle in the South.
At this year’s conference, we are highlighting collaborations across the region between university researchers and non-profit organizations and/or government entities, as well as the challenges and opportunities that can come with doing such work in the South. We welcome those who have engaged in such collaborations, those who want to learn more about how such partnerships come about or operate, those who would like to engage in such collaboration in the future (either as researcher or research partner), and anyone who is curious about how such partnerships can advance access to justice goals.
We hope you’ll join us on Friday, May 6, 2022 from 1:00pm to 3:30pm ET, for this virtual event featuring facilitated conversations between researchers and their research partners, followed by a conversation with funders who provide grant support for access to justice research.
American Bar Association Equal Justice Conference – May 12-14, 2022 – Minneapolis, MN
The ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference is an annual gathering of legal services and pro bono advocates to share and learn about developments and innovations in providing legal services to low-income persons. The emphasis of this Conference is on strengthening partnerships among the key players in the civil justice system. Through plenary sessions, workshops, networking opportunities and special programming, the Conference provides a wide range of learning and sharing experiences for all attendees.
Dear AALS, Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities Section Friends,
A wise human said, “Compassion is wisdom plus love.” I do not know who actually said that quote but given the state of the world and the work we do, it really spoke to me as I thought of you all and the amazing things you are building and moving forward on your law school campuses, local communities, legal profession, and the world. As I wind down my year as Chair, I want to say thank you to all of you who have jumped in, taken on a task or event, and helped support the Section. And please keep it up! Thank you!!!
With too many issues on the access to justice agenda and needing pro bono attention, I invite you all to take a moment – and just be – be still, be quiet, be reflective, and as another famous human once said – be a human ‘be-ing’ instead of a human ‘do-ing.’ As Audre Lorde said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” While political warfare is a strong statement, this is the kind of warfare we should all be engaging in – taking care of ourselves, so we can take care of others as we all work to repair and heal the world, with love and with wisdom.
These days I am learning from many teachers, and I wanted to share two recent articles that have spoken to me in very profound ways – and I make no claim to objectivity, as these are two dear friends doing important work in our field:
Anne Gordon, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Externships, Duke Law School, has written a piece – Better Than our Biases: Using Psychological Research to Inform Our Approach to Inclusive, Effective Feedback, in the Spring 2021, Clinical Law Review. Anne’s article will introduce you to biases you probably did not even know you had, or at least did not know the name for them, and even more importantly, she provides insights and tools into how to confront these biases and support students in their learning. While her focus is on feedback in the clinical/externship world, there are many lessons for pro bono and public service faculty and staff as we strive to ensure that all feel welcomed into our programs.
Janet Thompson Jackson, Professor of Law, Washburn University School of Law, has written Wellness and Law: Reforming Legal Education to Support Student Wellness, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3839050 (forthcoming 65 Howard L.J. 1 (Fall 2021)). Janet looks at professional identity through an interesting and innovative lens, putting forth the concept that wellness, including mindfulness and other practices, are a critical component in raising the next generation of legal professionals. She introduces concepts and provides tools to help think about these concepts and frame them in our work with students.
In these scary and difficult moments, I hope you are holding your loved ones close and taking time to be grateful for all you have and the path ahead.
As the Section prepares for the transition to the 2022 year with new officers and new projects, if you are interested in coming on board and helping to lead these efforts, please contact Kiva Zytnick, [email protected] to learn more. I close by expressing my gratitude and acknowledge my good fortune in getting to work with many of you – thank you, you keep me going.
Prioritizing Public Service in Your Role as the Dean: Why it Matters
On Saturday, January 8 at 12:35 (eastern), the section on Pro Bono & Public Service and the Dean Section will jointly sponsor the session “Prioritizing Public Service in Your Role as the Dean: Why itMatters.” Moderated by Section Chair Sue Schechter, the panel of deans will discuss why they prioritize supporting public service, pro bono, and other social justice initiatives at their law schools. What are the essential ingredients when building a strong culture of service within law schools? How do deans support, financially and otherwise, the costs of pro bono and public service when budgets are tight? How do service-oriented programs support successful admissions, curricular, career planning, and alumni relations efforts? How can law schools respond meaningfully to the access to justice crisis? This will be an engaging discussion for deans, associate & assistant deans, and pro bono & public service program managers alike.
For more information about the AALS 2022 Annual Meeting, click here.
Savala Nolan has written an important work that is a must-read for all who care about race and gender. She is an incredible writer, so on some level, the book is easy to read – the sentences flow and the stories are funny. But make no mistake, this book is also hard to read – it will be painful for any reader who is awake. Nolan makes herself incredibly vulnerable and in doing so demonstrates her power and her kindness. The stories she shares are painful because they are real, and because they are all too common. She does not claim easy answers. She does not let us feel okay just because we are doing the work of reading her essays, which are really beautifully written with many sentences verging on a poetic leaning. Instead, she presents her truth and leaves it up to the reader what to do with it. For a legal audience, there will be interesting references, and for others there will be cultural references to relate to. And for all, this is a book that you should purchase for yourself, for your friends, for your neighbors, and for others in your community – it is a must-read this year given the world and all we are claiming to confront in these scary and sad moments.
Savala Nolan is the Executive Director of the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law. The book was recently published in 2021 by Simon and Schuster.
We welcome your leadership in the Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities. You can get involved in one of our committees focused on membership, awards, the annual program, service projects, educational enrichment, collaboration, communications, or a special project. Please email Kiva [email protected] if you are interested.
