SOCIAL JUSTICE WEBINAR SERIES
Training Social Justice Lawyers 

See all the webinars in the "Conversations in Law & Social Justice" webinar series

Teaching social justice lawyering is at an inflection point. Recent developments challenge existing models and show the need for innovation. Economic and social inequality has grown while racism and sexism continue unabated. Important forces seek to undermine the rule of law while some affected communities question the value of law as a tool to fight inequality and discrimination. In such a world, we need new approaches to social justice lawyering and new ways to train law students. There are new ideas on the table for training lawyers but also barriers and resistances to innovation. This webinar brings together law school teachers who are exploring how law and lawyers can contribute to the struggle for a more just society. It will discuss:

• Efforts to integrate critical legal theories in the training program.
• The use global knowledge and contacts to enrich the menu of advocacy options.
• Engaging community organizations and clients as collaborators;.
• The value of linking theory and practice to teach social justice pedagogy.
• Barriers that need to be overcome to meet the training needs of our time.
• New ways to use law to achieve a more just and equitable society and discuss needed reform in scholarship, courses and clinical curriculum and pedagogy.

Presenters:

• Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Dean, Boston University School of Law
• Carrie Bettinger-López, University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic
• Denisse Córdova Montes, University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic
• Deborah Archer, NYU School of Law

Reference Material:

• (Re)Framing Race in Civil Rights Lawyering, Yale Law Journal, Vol. 130, 2020, Angela Onwuachi-Willig and Anthony Victor Alfieri
• Redefining Human Rights Lawyering Through the Lens of Critical Theory: Lessons for Pedagogy and Practice, 18 Geo. J. on Poverty L. & Pol'y 337, Caroline Bettinger-López, Davida Finger, Meetali Jain, JoNel Newman, Sarah Paoletti, and Deborah M. Weissman
• Political Lawyering for the 21st Century, 96 Denver Law Review 399, 2019, Deborah N. Archer

Registrants will be emailed the Zoom log-in information.

The webinar will be live auto-captioned by Zoom. A transcript of the webinar will be provided to registrants post-event.

Texas A&M University School of Law and the Network for Justice host this webinar series to examine pressing issues in social justice & the law, particularly as they impact the Latinx community.

We encourage students, lawyers, and community leaders who care about social justice and civil rights to join us in these online discussions. Our goal is to engage a variety of people in a multi-generational conversation to help us understand the social justice challenges and opportunities in the United States.

While some of the panelists are attorneys, they will be discussing the law generally, and nothing in the webinar should be considered as legal advice. Attendees should consult their own legal advisor to address their own unique circumstances.