Section on Clinical Legal Education

2024

Main Program

Clinical Legal Education (Co-Sponsored by Communications, Media and Information Law, Pro-Bono & Access to Justice, Technology, Law and Legal Education; and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues, and Women in Legal Education)

Part-Time Division Programs (Co-Sponsored by Academic Support, Clinical Legal Education, and Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School)

Poverty Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education, Critical Theories, Pro-Bono & Access to Justice, Property Law, and Women in Legal Education)

Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Professionals, Student Services, and Teaching Methods)

Pro-Bono & Access to Justice (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education and Poverty Law)

Technology, Law and Legal Education (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education and Teaching Methods)

Works-in-Progress

2023

Main Program
Pedagogy Program
Aging and the Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education, Employment Law, and Law, Medicine and Health Care)
Pro Bono & Access to Justice (Co-Sponsored by Creditors’ and Debtors’ Rights, Clinical Legal Education, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Professionals, and Leadership)
Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education (Co-Sponsored by Academic Support, Clinical Legal Education, Student Services, and Teaching Methods)
International Human Rights, Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education, New Law Professors and Teaching Methods

2022

Main Program
Section on Minority Groups (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Poverty Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Aging and the Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Leadership (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Animal Law (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on Civil Rights (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Section on For the Law School and Pro-Bono & Public Service Opportunities Joint Program (Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Pedagogy
Networking Session
Award Ceremony

2021

Clinical Legal Education, Community Economic Development and Property Law Joint Program
Joint Program Panel 1
Scholarly Presentations
Pro Bono & Public Service Opportunities(Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Women in Legal Education(Co-Sponsored by Clinical Legal Education)
Balance in Legal Education, Clinical Legal Education, and Leadership Joint Pedagogy

2020

Main Program
Luncheon
International Legal Exchange

2019

Main Program
Luncheon

Section of the Year

2018 Winner

William Pincus Award

The purpose of this award is to honor individuals, groups or institutions for effecting an outstanding contribution to the cause of clinical legal education. This award may be announced formally at the AALS annual meeting or at an annual clinical conference or workshop. The criteria for the William Pincus Award shall be based on scholarship, program design and implementation, or other activity beneficial to clinical education or to the advancement of justice.

Shanara Gilbert Award

Designed to honor an “emerging clinician,” the M. Shanara Gilbert Award is for a recent entrant (10 years or fewer) into clinical legal education who has demonstrated some or all of the following qualities:

• a commitment to teaching and achieving social justice, particularly in the areas of race and the criminal justice system;
• a passion for providing legal services and access to justice to individuals and groups most in need;
• service to the cause of clinical legal education or to the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education;
• an interest in international clinical legal education; and
• an interest in the beauty of nature (desirable, but not required).

2020 Awards Ceremony Video

Recipients

The Clinical Law Review is a semi-annual, peer-edited journal devoted to issues of lawyering theory and clinical legal education. It is jointly sponsored by the AALS, the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA), and New York University School of Law. The Review is edited, administered and financially supported by New York University School of Law.

Interested in getting more involved in the Clinical Section? Contact a Committee Chair for more information.

The section is committed to assisting clinicians in responding to COVID-19 and its impact on our clients, students and communities. As a first step we have set up a dropbox folder to collect and make available any policy materials folks are generating.  We encourage clinicians to add files to this folder and access materials posted by colleagues.

Submit COVID-19 Contingency Planning Materials

Access COVID-19 Contingency Planning Materials

Upload Externship Syllabi and Class Plans

View Externship Syllabi and Class Plans

Upload In-House Clinics Syllabi and Class Plans 

View In-House Clinics Syllabi and Class Plans

Dear Colleagues,

With 2024 upon us, we returned to some sense of post-pandemic normalcy, yet we find ourselves in tumultuous times grappling with widening wars, political discord, and retrenchment in the progress towards social justice. Our campuses and the communities we serve are the site of many of these battles.   In the face of uncertainty and challenges in the year ahead, we are grateful for the collective courage, compassion and creativity of our clinical community, fueling us to action as we educate our students and fight for justice.

There is a lot happening with respect to clinical legal education.  On the one hand, it’s exciting to see the preparation for implementing ABA Standards 303(b) and (c) now bearing fruit. But clinicians at some schools are bearing most of the responsibility for that work, and many are trying to heed the call to educate students about racism and bias amidst a hostile political environment. Additionally, clinical education is more central than ever, to the point where the ABA is contemplating a further increase in experiential course requirements. But that will require a corresponding increase in resources to maintain our pedagogical values. The environment in which we are teaching and representing clients is also rapidly changing. We are trying to understand the impact of the NextGen Bar, alternative licensing pathways, and generative AI on our work.

These are just some of the issues raised by clinicians who attended our Section business meeting at the AALS Annual Meeting in early January.  To support our community as we navigate these issues, the Executive Committee identified several priorities for our work over the upcoming year, both at the Executive Committee level and through our committees.

First, we plan to build on the work of our predecessors, Anita and Norrinda, to reinvigorate our committees where needed, and strengthen the relationship between our committees and the Executive Committee, so that committees have the support they need to carry out the priorities of the Section.  Some of the committee work is focused on supporting teaching, including the developments in the profession we mentioned above, as well as expanding support for new teachers. Some work is focused on protecting and advancing the status of clinicians within the academy and in a politically divided world, which will happen both through the work of committees and directly through the EC.  Moreover, we want to make sure committee chairs and members are recognized for their work to support the Section, both within the Section and within their institutions.

We ask you to consider how you can support the work of the Section through committees. Please take a moment to review the charges of each of the committees and sign up for one or two that interest you, and to indicate your interest in leadership opportunities.

Second, in the spirit of ABA Standard 303(c), we hope to model best practices for DEI in our own organization, developing leadership pathways and a sense of belonging for the diverse range of voices within the clinical community. But we also continue our work externally to support schools and faculty as they are implementing the Standard, looking for ways for clinicians to offer leadership while inviting other parts of the academy into what should be a widespread and shared endeavor.

That dovetails with our final goal, which is to increase the visibility and reach of the Section across the broader clinical and AALS community. We will look for ways to expand our presence at the AALS Annual Meeting and across the academy, to build bridges and develop mutual respect through co-sponsorships and compelling events. We also aim to collaborate with the Clinical Legal Education Association and the Clinical Law Review to determine the best ways we can support clinicians in our respective roles. And we will look for more ways to further build a sense of community among clinicians.

Joining us in our work this year are the other members of the 2024 Executive Committee:

• Chair-Elect: Natalie Nanasi (SMU)
• Treasurer: Susan Hazeldean (Brooklyn)
• Secretary: Julie Dahlstrom (Boston)
• Immediate Past Co-Chair: Norrinda Brown Hayat (Fordham)
• Immediate Past Co-Chair:  Anita Sinha (American)
• Member: Anne Gordon (Duke)
• Member: Allison Freedman (New Mexico)
• Member: Beth Locker (Vermont)
• Member: Priya Baskaran (American)
• Member: Nira Geevargis (U.C. Law S.F.)

On behalf of the Executive Committee, thank you for the work you do in these uncertain times, with courage and steadiness in support of our clients, students, and colleagues.  We look forward to learning together and providing mutual support, including this May in St. Louis.

Be well,

Kele Stewart (Miami) and Sarah Shalf (University of Virginia)

View the Message from 2023 Chairs

Upcoming

Innovative Approaches to Rule 303(c)
Friday, April 29th, 1:00 – 2:30 pm EST/12:00 – 1:30pm CT/11:00 –12:30pm MT/10:00 – 11:30am PT
Register Here

Past

Teaching Ideas for Incorporating Anti-Racism in In-house Clinics and Externships: Part 2

Friday, October 22, 2021, 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET

Click here to watch the Webinar Replay.

Teaching Ideas for Incorporating Anti-Racism in In-house Clinics and Externships: Part 1

Friday, October 8, 2021, 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET

Click here to watch the Webinar Replay.