“ My most impactful and meaningful learning experience while in law school was my time spent as a student attorney in the Disability Rights Law Clinic.” —Lily Camet, ’95
CLINICAL LAW IN ACTION
AUWCL Clinical Law Program students handle a wide range of cases and matters for individual and organizational clients. The following cases only scratch the surface.
• Students in the Community Economic and Equity Development Clinic and the Glushko- Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic jointly represented and helped create the organization Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence to preserve more than 700 pieces of art left at the fence during Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, DC.
• Students in both the Criminal Justice Clinic and the Decarceration and Re-Entry Clinic have used various laws to secure the release of clients serving lengthy sentences and arrange for stable housing and employment for those transitioning to the community.
transformative. The excellent training and supervision I received taught me how to effectively practice client-centered lawyering and its underlying principles, which later became the center of my law practice representing individuals in criminal and civil matters before Congress, the Department of Justice and independent counsel. I am forever grateful to the clinical faculty for teaching me what exceptional lawyering truly is.”
Keri Vandeberg, ’20, said, “My most impactful and meaningful learning experience while in law school was my time spent as a student attorney in the Disability Rights Law Clinic. I was able to gain practical lawyering skills in the area of the law that I am most passionate about. Ultimately, my experience in clinic revealed my love for person-centered lawyering and led me to my current position as a staff attorney at Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities.”
As one can see, these valuable learning experiences during law school create lasting impressions on the young lawyers working in the 11 law clinics at AUWCL. The building blocks developed here will allow graduating lawyers to become successful, ethical lawyers doing meaningful work in whatever segment of the legal profession they choose to enter.
*Editor’s note: “Sankofa” is a Ghanian concept meaning to acknowledge the past in order to progress forward for the future.
• Civil Advocacy Clinic students recently won a case obtaining back pay, treble damages, and attorneys’ fees on behalf of a client who did not receive the wages due to her.
• Students in the Disability Rights Law Clinic have investigated, on behalf of a client who uses a wheelchair, the unavailability of Wheelchair Access Vehicles (WAVs) in the District.
• Entrepreneurship Law Clinic students have assisted a Black woman entrepreneur structure her new enterprise.
• Gender Justice Clinic students were successful in persuading a court to order a DC agency to issue a birth certificate for a newborn who had been born at home.
• The Immigrant Justice Clinic and the International Human Rights Law Clinic co- hosted a workshop for twenty-three Afghan pro se asylum seekers.
• Students in the Janet R. Spragens Federal Income Tax Clinic represent clients in earned income tax matters, whistleblower actions, and cases regarding unreimbursed employee expenses for military reservists.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW 27
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