CUNY Law's Clinics

A COMMUNITY OF JUSTICE sPRiNG 2010 CUNY Law’s Clinics Advocating Justice, Leading Clinical Education Join the Campaign for CUNY School of Law 2 Court Square Long Island City Use the enclosed envelope or visit www.law.cuny.edu contents Spring 2010 4 6 12 features departments 4 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Cesar Vargas Dean’s Letter 2 6 HAYWOOD BURNS CHAIR IN CIVIL RIGHTS: Dean Spade News Brief 3 cover story Alumni News 24 Faculty Notes 27 8 CUNY LAW’S CLINICS Legal Education for Social Justice EDITOR AND ARTICLES AUTHOR 10 Immigrant & Refugee Rights Clinic Vivian Todini Director of Communications 11 Helping Haitians in Need [email protected] 12 Criminal Defense Clinic editorial assistant Dana Ramos 14 Community & Economic Development Clinic Executive Assistant to Dean Michelle J. Anderson 16 International Women’s Human Rights Clinic ART DIRECTOR 17 Mediation Clinic Q&A Hope Forstenzer [email protected] 18 Equality Concentration ALUMNI NEWS Compiled by Ansley Davenport 20 Health Law Concentration Coordinator of Alumni Affairs 21 Economic Justice Project FACULTY NOTES Compiled by Cindy Rodriguez 22 Elder Law Clinic Communications and Development Assistant PHOTOGRAPHY ©Arpi pap Arpi Pap [email protected] On the Cover: From left, Director of the Immigrant & Refugee Rights Clinic (IRRC) Ramzi Kassem, IRRC Social Work Supervisor and Adjunct Professor Martha Garcia, COPY EDITOR IRRC Instructor Liliana Yanez, and CUNY Law Director of Immigrant Initiatives Alizabeth Newman. Victoria Beliveau letter • begin supervised live client practice in their third years. our dean’s experiential approach engages students more deeply in their learning and prepares them for an outstanding clinical experience. Students enjoy a clinic faculty-to-student ratio of 8 to 1 and have unparalleled interactions with their professors. They routinely report that their clinical experiences are the highlight of their time at CUNY law. as you’ll see on the following pages, each of our clinics has a distinct area of focus, with passionate, excellent professors and engaged students dedicated to carrying out “law in the Service of human Needs.” each clinic dedicates itself to helping low-income clients and communities access much-needed legal assistance that otherwise would not be available. our clinical approach teaches students how to look critically and thought- fully at the ways in which our justice system neglects the salient intersections of race, poverty, sexual orientation, and gender, among other issues. our goal is justice for all communities. our Immigrant & Refugee Rights Clinic represents individu- als and groups of immigrants asserting their right to exist in the U.S. without fear, exploitation, or subordination. The clinic also works on civil liberties issues in military detention cases. our elder law Clinic helps protect the elderly from exploitation and Dean Michelle J. Anderson abuse and helps families plan for the future. our Criminal defense Clinic defends the rights of those caught up in the criminal justice system. Through CUNY law’s extensive network of col- Letter from the Dean leagues in the field, oure quality Concentration and health law Concentration provide students with in-depth placements in dear friends, public interest settings. Students in the Community & economic I am pleased to share this special issue of CUNY Law development Clinic assist nonprofits and small businesses in Magazine, which spotlights the law School’s signature clinical assessing and establishing viable governance structures. our program. Nationally recognized as one of the strongest pro- Mediation Clinic teaches students another way of lawyering that grams in the country, our clinic is widely respected for being often enhances outcomes for the parties involved and increases both innovative and on the vanguard of clinical education. their satisfaction with the process. and our International wom- our approach is different. we do not wait for the third en’s human Rights Clinic uses human rights law to advocate for year to introduce students to the practice of lawyering. Practice justice nationally and abroad. experience begins on day one. our amazing faculty—whom assistant attorney General for the Civil Rights division the Princeton Review ranks among the 10 best law faculties in at the U.S. department of Justice Thomas Perez visited the the country—integrate theory and practice in both doctrinal law School recently and reflected on the first time he came classes and lawyering seminars. our curriculum is modeled on to CUNY law many years ago. having just been appointed the belief that abstract knowledge cannot be separated from director of clinical programs at the University of Maryland practical skills and professional experience. School of law, the first thing he did was travel to CUNY so In recognition of our approach, the Carnegie foundation’s that he could “learn from the masters of clinical education.” report “educating lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of we are so proud of our clinical program. I am sure you law” praised CUNY law, stating: “we believe legal education are, too. requires not simply more additions, but a truly integrative approach in order to provide students with a broad-based yet Yours, coherent beginning for their legal careers. It is the systematic effort to do this in their curriculum that makes programs like that at CUNY’s law school so noteworthy.” our small lawyering seminars in the first and second Michelle J. anderson years provide students with the grounding they need to dean and Professor of law 2 CUNY SChool of law • www.law.cuny.edU news • brief CUNY Law Students Meet with Civil Rights Leader and Advocate In a special visit with CUNY Law students, Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights division of the U.S. department of Justice, talked emphatically about the need for public interest lawyers. “The need is greater than ever,” he said. “I especially wanted to visit CUNY law because of its commit- ment to public service.” according to the National association for law Placement directory, CUNY law sends a higher share of its students into public interest and public service law practice than any other law school in the nation. In his meeting with students, Perez praised CUNY law’s professors, telling students they were learning from among the best in the country, and that the skills they gain from CUNY law will serve them well as they pursue their law careers. Thomas Perez “I’ve always loved what I do, and it doesn’t assistant attorney general for civil rights under attorney General Janet Reno, and special counsel to the late Senator feel like work. Civil rights is the unfinished edward Kennedy, including being Kennedy’s principal advi- sor on civil rights, criminal justice, and constitutional issues. business of America, and it’s something for the final two years of the Clinton administration, Perez that we need to address every day.” served as the director of the office for Civil Rights at the U.S. department of health and human Services. at the state level, Perez served as the secretary of Maryland’s department of Perez, whose visit was hosted by CUNY law’s Career labor, licensing, and Regulation, where he was the principal Planning office, encouraged students to think hard about architect on lending and foreclosure reforms. their future careers and the mark they want to leave on the “I’ve always loved what I do, and it doesn’t feel like work,” world. “here’s your homework,” he said. “Take a piece of he said. “Civil rights is the unfinished business of america, and paper and write your obituary. what do you want it to say? it’s something that we need to address every day.” what kind of legacy do you want to leave?” he advised the This is Perez’s second visit to CUNY law School. his first students to “take educated risks in pursuit of what you want was in 2001, when he was named clinic director at the Uni- to do.” and, he reminded them, “always use your moral com- versity of Maryland School of law. “when I joined Maryland pass.” Perez told the students if they love what they do each School of law, one of the first things I did was meet with clinic day, they will always be motivated. faculty at CUNY law, because I knew that in order to develop he also challenged the students to be proactive in pursuit an excellent program for Maryland, I first needed to learn and of their careers, but not at the expense of others. “I was always hear from the masters of clinical education.” taught not to bring up the ladder behind me,” he said, referring CUNY law consistently ranks among the top 10 law to the values imparted by his family. “My parents raised me to schools in the country in clinical training. think about the community and community service.” The Civil Rights division, said Perez, is tackling a variety of Perez has spent more than two decades in state and issues such as foreclosure and voting rights. “It was a privilege federal government service, including being the first latino to have him back at the law School,” said dean Michelle J. ever elected to the Montgomery County Council in Maryland anderson. “he inspired the students and spoke of issues that and serving as the council’s president in 2005. he was deputy are at the heart of CUNY law’s mission.” •• SPRING 2010 3 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Cesar Vargas esar Vargas is considering two potential career paths: he could become an officer in the Marines as a military lawyer or an Cassistant district attorney. Vargas, who is finishing up his second year at CUNY law, acknowledges that on the surface, those career choices may not appear to align with CUNY law’s values.

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