When it was founded in 1972, the Clinical Law Program at the American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) was at the forefront of clinical legal education. Over the past five decades, it has grown to include 11 in-house clinics, is consistently recognized as one of the top programs in the country, and was ranked no. 1 clinical program in the 2023 US News & World Report.
The program is home to clinics in the fields of civil advocacy, community economic and equity development, criminal justice, disability rights, entrepreneurship, gender justice, intellectual property, immigrant justice, international human rights, federal income tax, and decarceration and reentry. Students, under the supervision of AUWCL’s nationally renowned faculty, represent low-income and underrepresented clients as they manage litigation, carry out transactional work, engage in issue-based advocacy, and prepare to be the best lawyers they can be.
To celebrate the program’s 50th anniversary last year, AUWCL hosted a two-day celebration highlighting its impact.
The anniversary celebration kicked off with about 150 people attending an alumni reception with current and former clinic faculty. The American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law hosted a daylong “Fiſty and Forward” symposium featuring four themed panels, a luncheon, remarks from Dean Roger Fairfax Jr., and a keynote address by Muneer Ahmad, a former AUWCL professor and now Sol Goldman Clinical Professor of Law at Yale Law School. The panels had presentations on the history and future of AUWCL’s clinical program; the contributions of faculty in AUWCL’s innovative practitioners-in-residence program; new developments in clinical education; expanding the concept of clinical programs; and the importance of empathy, connection, and dealing with trauma.
“The Sankofa* theme of the clinical program’s 50th anniversary— looking back, moving forward—reflects the deep connection
In January 2020, Kiara Ortiz ’20 and Valérie Cambronne ’20 started an organization called LegallyBlack with the mission to create a more informed public by empowering and educating minority communities of color on the value of intellectual property protection.
Pictured, from left to right, are International Human Rights Law Clinic (IHRLC) student attorneys Ismaat Klaibou ’22, Madison Bingle ’22, Andrea Rodriguez Burckhardt ’22, and Courtney Veneri ’22. Providing four prior examples of family separation in the US (enslaved families, Indigenous families, Japanese American families, and families of color through the foster care system), the group submitted a public comment to the Department of Homeland Security arguing for reparations and accountability for the Trump administration’s separation of migrant families.
between the clinic’s past, present and future in pursuing our mission to train our students to become highly skilled and ethical practitioners who embrace social justice,” said Professor Binny Miller, co-director of the Criminal Justice Clinic and Associate Dean for Experiential Education. “We have impacted the lives of countless clients, law students, and other members of the law school community and communities beyond the walls of the university.”
Clinic alumni regularly report how their clinical experience was a crucial part of their legal education. Lily Camet, ’95, wrote, “My time as a student in WCL’s Criminal Justice Clinic was
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
