{"id":107838,"date":"2024-02-27T12:31:06","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T17:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?page_id=107838"},"modified":"2026-02-12T12:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:01:19","slug":"consumer-economic-justice-clinic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/consumer-economic-justice-clinic\/","title":{"rendered":"Consumer Economic Justice Clinic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Consumer Economic Justice Clinic (CEJC) is a dynamic, two-semester clinic where students learn substantive consumer law while developing essential lawyering skills. At its core, Consumer law seeks to protect individuals from unfair, predatory, and deceptive business practices. Students in the clinic play a vital role in advancing these objectives through client representation and community lawyering.<\/p>\n<p>The CEJC is comprised of a 3-credit seminar and a 3-credit fieldwork component in the fall and spring for a total of 12 credits over the course of the academic year. In the seminar, students learn about key consumer laws; analyze the causes of individual consumer legal problems; and apply a macro lens to discuss structural reforms for achieving economic justice. Students also work on legislative and policy initiatives in the spring semester with a focus on addressing economic injustice by providing consumer protection to low-income and under-resourced communities.<\/p>\n<p>Through fieldwork, students engage in litigation advocacy and gain hands-on experience. The cases that students work on include civil matters related to debt collection, wage attachment, credit reporting, and unfair and deceptive business practices. This work encompasses defending clients against unjust debt collection lawsuits and bringing affirmative cases against companies that violate consumer protection laws. In collaboration with Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), CEJC students also provide legal services at the Consumer Debt Lawyer for the Day Clinic in various courts, including the Boston Municipal Court, Roxbury Division (Wednesdays, 1-3 pm).<\/p>\n<p>The work students undertake in the CEJC equips them for diverse legal sectors and career paths. They develop transferable legal skills by writing briefs, formulating case strategies, conducting fact investigations, interviewing clients, and presenting oral arguments in court. Additionally, students may gain experience in community education and enhancing access to justice through movement lawyering. In addition to becoming proficient legal advocates, students also emerge as informed consumers.<\/p>\n<h2>FACULTY<\/h2>\n<p>The clinic is taught by Associate Clinical Professor Jade Brown, who has extensive expertise in consumer law. Before joining BU Law, Professor Brown played a pivotal role in establishing GBLS\u2019 Lawyer for the Day Debt Defense Clinics.<\/p>\n<p><span>\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title has-image post-70544 profile type-profile status-publish hentry profile_type-faculty profile_type-full-time-faculty profile_type-professors expertise-civil-litigation expertise-consumer-law expertise-housing-law\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/jade-brown\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2020\/07\/Jade-Brown-300x300.png\" alt=\"Jade Brown\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Jade Brown<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Clinical Associate Professor of Law<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>FAQ<\/h2>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Can I take this clinic without being certified as a student attorney under SJC Rule 3.03?<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No, all students participating in the BU Civil Litigation Program require 3.03 certification. The program coordinators will obtain the necessary information from you prior to the start of the clinic to get you certified. Furthermore, students should expect to work on some cases that are on the regular civil docket (non-small claims).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">What type of case will I work on in this clinic?<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students will primarily work on defending consumers against debt collection lawsuits including by debt-buyer law firms. These cases may also include medical debt and student loan debt. Students will also help consumers to file affirmative cases including class action lawsuits (where appropriate) against bad actors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Can I leave the Consumer Debt Lawyer for the Day session early if I have a class at 4pm?<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, students may obtain permission from the instructor to leave before 4pm. The court session may also naturally end before 4pm (depending on the number of cases scheduled).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h4 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">What is the time commitment for the clinic fieldwork?<\/h4><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p>Per ABA guidelines, students are expected to spend 12-15 hours per week on their clinic fieldwork. Based on the ebb and flow of the case work, students may spend more hours working some weeks and less hours in other weeks.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Consumer Economic Justice Clinic (CEJC) is a dynamic, two-semester clinic where students learn substantive consumer law while developing essential lawyering skills. At its core, Consumer law seeks to protect individuals from unfair, predatory, and deceptive business practices. Students in the clinic play a vital role in advancing these objectives through client representation and community [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22362,"featured_media":108676,"parent":1074,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"clinic-page","meta":[],"bu-publication":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107838"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116107,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107838\/revisions\/116107"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=107838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}