The Racial Justice and Movement Lawyering Clinic provides legal support to organizations, coalitions, and grassroots groups seeking to challenge forms of subordination and build community power. This one-semester, six-credit course includes both practice-based fieldwork and a weekly seminar addressing theories, methods, skills, and frameworks related to law and social change.
Clinic projects vary based on the goals and priorities of our clients and community partners. Depending on the projects in a given semester, a clinic student might: conduct legal research; create model legislation or advocacy documents; draft an amicus brief, white paper, policy report, or public comment; participate in coalition meetings; and/or present at workshops or events. A unifying theme of these projects is that they are undertaken in partnership with people who are directly impacted by racism and oppression and who are organizing towards liberatory solutions.
Clinic Fieldwork
Examples of past projects include:
- Drafting amicus briefs addressing topics such as the criminalization of protest, access to courts, and racial subordination within the criminal and family regulation systems (see below);
- Working with a community organization to co-develop strategies for meaningfully accompanying people who are navigating court proceedings;
- Facilitating workshops with a community organization’s members to co-develop the organization’s policy agenda and develop specific policy proposals;
- Creating advocacy materials to support efforts by indigenous tribes in Washington to change sentencing laws that had a disproportionate and adverse impact on indigenous people;
- Contributing to a website with legal research and advocacy materials addressing harmful and racialized impacts of felony murder and accomplice liability laws.
FACULTY
STUDENTS TAKE THE FOLLOWING COURSE
Antiracism and Community Lawyering Practicum: LAW JD 957
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Practicum. The Antiracism and Community Lawyering practicum will be offered in collaboration with the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality (“Korematsu Center”). The practicum will train students in the tradition of “rebellious lawyering,” and provide them with real-world opportunities to support racial justice projects in collaboration with community partners. Through the practicum, students will work closely with the Korematsu Center and community-based organizations on research, advocacy, and policy projects aimed at combatting subordination and advancing liberation for all. Projects may include amicus briefs, direct representation, white papers, policy reports, fact sheets, public education projects, legislative testimony, or research memos. In alignment with the traditions of community and movement lawyering, the practicum directors and students will work in partnership with people who are directly impacted by racism and oppression and who are organizing towards liberatory solutions. NOTE: This practicum counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2024: LAW JD 957 A1 , Sep 3rd to Dec 5th 2024
SPRG 2025: LAW JD 957 B1 , Jan 13th to Apr 23rd 2025
FAQ
Who is eligible to apply?
All JD students at BU Law are eligible to apply. There are no prerequisites or corequisites.
What skills can students expect to learn?
Students can expect to learn about the theory and practice of movement lawyering and community lawyering. Since projects will be generated by and with community partners, practice-based assignments will vary. Examples of skills that students might learn in a given semester include coalition-based advocacy, communicating legal concepts to various audiences, brief-drafting, legal research, client counseling, and interviewing.
Who does this clinic seek to support?
This clinic seeks to provide legal support to community-based organizations and other movement partners who are engaged in social justice advocacy. We work with both local and national groups, and we frequently collaborate with the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality.
What kinds of projects can students expect to undertake?
Examples of potential projects include: contributing to amicus briefs and litigation supporting social justice movements; drafting fact sheets, policy reports, or other advocacy documents; compiling research memos for/answering legal questions from community partners.
