Social Change and Community-Based Lawyering Externships

Explore social change and community-based lawyering externships:

Nika Cohen, George Kendall, and Carine Williams, Lecturers-in-Law, 4 credits (2 for the seminar; 2 for field placement)

Course Description
This externship will focus upon the real world advocacy of federal constitutional rights in capital and life imprisonment cases and the legal doctrines that are most significant in this critical work. Students will be assigned to work within a unique public service practice group - the Squire Patton Boggs Public Service Initiative (PSI) - where they will work on behalf of indigent clients challenging death sentences or life imprisonment. Students may also have the opportunity to assist with litigation and advocacy related to broader criminal justice reform efforts. Students’ work will vary depending on case needs but typically involves one or more of the following: providing legal, policy, record-based and sometimes media/social media research; conducting fact investigation; or assisting with trial/hearing prep. The class will ordinarily meet at Squire's midtown offices on Friday from 1:00pm-2:50pm. Occasionally, the class may meet at Columbia Law School (for example when a guest speaker's presentation would be of interest to a large portion of the law school community).

The Seminar
The weekly seminar will utilize court decisions, PSI case materials, legislative activity, journalism, legal news, and research materials to explore how the enforcement of constitutional rights is effectuated or thwarted in courtrooms and legislatures around the country. The focus will be on understanding the constitutional rights implicated in capital and serious criminal prosecutions and understanding how post-conviction doctrines facilitate or fail to facilitate their enforcement. The seminar will also seek to develop the skills of students through in-class exercises that engage students in the advocacy required of practicing attorneys and policymakers in this field.  The semester ends with final “mini-class” taught by every student on a relevant topic, with guidance from their field supervisor.

Field Placement
Our litigation practice focuses primarily on capital and life imprisonment cases in the Southeast. Placement work will be devoted to indigent PSI clients, or to counsel of record or amici supporting indigent petitioners before the Supreme Court. Students will be assigned to an attorney's case team in groups of two or three.  Client visits or some case work may involve travel, but travel is not required of any student.

Important Information
The course will be limited to 8-9 students and will be open to JD and LL.M candidates. It is recommended that students take Evidence, Criminal Procedure and/or Federal Courts prior to, or concurrently with, this course.
 

Tashi Lhewa and Shervon Small, Lecturers-in-Law, 4 credits (2 for the seminar; 2 for fieldwork)

Course Description
Students in the Economic Justice and Empowerment Externship will help economically disadvantaged New Yorkers with consumer debt, federal and state income tax disputes, and small business needs.

Students will work with experienced practitioners with The Legal Aid Society through the Harlem Office to offer legal services that empower and provide financial stability to clients. The experience will enhance the law students’ abilities as future lawyers and increase their understanding of the economic challenges faced by lower income New Yorkers and their families, while allowing space for students to reflect on the systems—societal, economic, legal, etc.—that impact clients’ daily lives. Students will gain hands-on experience in lawyering while simultaneously helping some of the most disadvantaged civil litigants obtain critical legal assistance in State courts, U.S. Tax Court, in administrative forums, and through transactional practice.

Seminar
In class, students will consider the various systems—societal, economic, legal, etc.—that impact our clients’ daily lives, will be expected to reflect on the systems and increases their understanding of the economic challenges faced by low-income New Yorkers and their families, and will critique and debate developing policies in class and consider economic justice can be attained by all. During field placements, students will gain hands-on lawyering experience helping some of the most disadvantaged civil litigants obtain critical legal assistance in State courts, U.S. Tax Court, in administrative forums, and through transactional practice.

Fieldwork
Students will work ten+ hours a week on cases at various stages alongside experienced practitioners.  They will have the opportunity to draft pleadings and participate in motion practice.  Students will accompany attorneys to court and, if appropriate, negotiate settlements and/or make arguments for cases before the New York City Civil Court. In addition to individual cases, students will have the option to partake in legislative or regulatory advocacy through legal research focused on expanding economic justice.  

Important Information
The course will be open to JD and LL.M candidates. There are no prerequisites for the course.

Jackeline Solivan and Matthew Tropp (2 for the seminar; 2 for fieldwork)

Course Description
Students in the Housing Justice Externship will explore the Right to Counsel model used in summary proceedings in NYC Housing Courts. In 2017, New York City enacted the first legislation in the country establishing a Universal Access to Counsel program (UAC) also known as the Right to Counsel (RTC) for all income-eligible tenants facing eviction. During an unprecedented pandemic, New York City amended the legislation to fully implement the Right to Counsel in Housing Court eviction proceedings and termination hearings at The New York City Housing Authority more than a year earlier than the original effective date. The original five-year phase-in was cut short and the right to a free attorney in Housing Court was fully realized beginning in June 2021.

The focus of the seminar will be to delve into the RTC model in New York City while using a critical racial lens to examine the systemic racism and inherent bias of the court system especially in its high-volume courts and how the system can be improved to provide low-income New Yorkers better access to justice. We will also explore the historical significance of RTC, its implementation and compare and contrast it with other jurisdictions.

The Seminar
The seminar will explore RTC as well as learn substantive areas of New York City housing law and litigation skills. The seminar classes will include discussions about housing policy and substantive laws, will include group and individual practical exercises, and discussions of students’ experiences from their field placements.  In addition to discussion of field work experiences and interactive classroom exercises, students will engage with guest speakers from throughout The Legal Aid Society, the Housing Court, and the housing advocacy and policy community.  The guests will lend their expertise on particular subjects.

Fieldwork
Each student will be assigned to a field placement within the Bronx Neighborhood Office at The Legal Aid Society. This will be a clinical, hands-on experience with the primary practical goal learning how to represent low-income tenants in summary proceedings in Bronx Housing Court. Students in the externship will work on real cases and learn about the different types of summary proceedings in Housing Court as well as how to issue spot and litigate appropriate defenses. They will also learn about the vast array of rental subsidies and rent arrears grants that can be accessed to preserve affordable housing in NYC. Students will be expected to dedicate an average of 10 hours each week to their fieldwork.

Important Information
The course will be open to JD and LL.M candidates.

Andrew Friedman and Kumar Rao, Lecturers-in-Law, 4 credits (2 for the seminar; 2 for fieldwork)
Available in: Fall 2024 and Spring 2025

Course Description
This externship seminar will expose students to the varied roles that lawyers are playing in supporting community organizing, issue
campaigning, and social movements, including policy innovation and experimentation in states and cities across the country. We will examine in depth the current tumultuous political and social moment, the corresponding health, climate, carceral, and economic crises, and its intersections with questions of law, power and social change.

Course content and fieldwork will focus on the role of law in
supporting community and movement-conceived campaign and policy initiatives at the city, state and federal levels – from analyzing constraints on local authority, drafting legislation, engaging in community organizing and mobilization, to advising on political fights. Special attention will be paid to the importance of community organizing and social movements in advocating for progressive reforms and the unique role lawyers can play in supporting mobilizing for social change and building strategic broad-based coalitions to win reforms and transformation. This class will have a framework of exploring power at all levels of government and how lawyers, organizers, movements, and elected officials, can use a range of strategic tools to make change.

The externship will comprise (a) a weekly, 2-hour seminar, focused on core legal issues and academic literature bearing on social movements, state and local policymaking, law and organizing, and effective policy advocacy and (b) 10 hours per week of fieldwork in ongoing policy and research initiatives at a range of grassroots and progressive policy and advocacy organizations, including The Action Lab, Make the Road NY, FWD.US, the Green New Deal Network, and the Center for Popular Democracy. 

The Seminar
The weekly seminars will be focused on core legal issues and academic literature bearing on state and local policymaking, law and organizing, and effective policy advocacy.

Field Placement
Students are expected to do 11 hours per week of fieldwork to support ongoing policy initiatives with the Action Lab, the Center for Working Families or the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD).

Alice Fontier and Danielle Jackson, Lecturers-in-Law 8 credits (4 in the Fall and 4 in the Spring) Full-year course

Course Description
The NDS Community Defense Externship is an 8-credit course offering students the opportunity to learn about and experience the practice of client-centered indigent criminal defense in an innovative, holistic, and community-based setting. The course consists of a weekly seminar and a field placement at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (NDS). Alice Fontier, NDS Managing Director, and Danielle Jackson Deputy Managing Attorney of the Criminal Defense Practice, teach the course. Students will be evaluated and graded based upon class preparation and participation, and active participation in the field placement.

The Seminar
The weekly seminars will provide an in-depth examination of indigent defense generally, and holistic representation as practiced at NDS, specifically. The Seminar will consist of two parts. The Fall semester will consist of lectures and presentations on the areas of law in which NDS provides holistic representation – this includes parental representation in Family Court; eviction defense in Housing Court; Immigration; Juvenile Defense; Enmeshed Civil Penalties; and policy and legislative advocacy; in addition to a thorough examination of criminal practice and procedures in New York State. In the Spring Semester, students will work through a criminal case problem from arraignment through trial and disposition. This portion of the seminar will be primarily experiential, students will be taught about a particular aspect of criminal practice, and then will be expected to demonstrate those skills the following week. For example, students will learn about the bail process and then make bail arguments; motion writing will be accompanied by drafting and arguing a suppression writing; and students will learn and practice basic trial skills.

Fieldwork
The field placement will be at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (NDS). Each student will be expected to work at least 10 hours per week at the NDS office at 317 Lenox Avenue or in the field. Students will be responsible for all aspects of at least one misdemeanor case, beginning with the client interview and arraignment at New York County Criminal Court. Fieldwork may include, but is not limited to, attendance in court, visiting clients in their homes and/or visiting clients in jails.

Students will also be matched one-to- one with NDS Staff Attorneys and will spend the year assisting their attorneys in all aspects of their cases, including writing and researching motions, investigations, social service and mitigation work, plea bargaining, and preparing for pre-trial hearings, trials, and sentencing.

Important Information
The course will be limited to 10 students and will be open to JD and LL.M candidates. There are no prerequisites for this course, but preference will be given to students who have taken Evidence and Criminal Procedure. Students who wish to take a Trial Practice course are encouraged to take Advanced Trial Practice after this externship. Students should plan to avoid permanent scheduling commitments on Fridays, as to ensure adequate time for fieldwork. Occasional Friday commitments are permissible.

Ryan Foley, Lecturer-in-Law, 4 credits (2 for seminar; 2 for fieldwork)

 

Available in: Spring 2025

Course Description
This externship introduces students to the challenges faced by military veterans in accessing federal benefits. New York is home to more than 800,000 veterans and recent studies have found that New York veterans have a lower income than the national average despite numerous financial benefit programs specific to this population. Less than 17% of New York veterans and only 15.5% of New York City veterans receive VA disability benefits, significantly lower than the national average of 23-24%. The New York Legal Assistance Group’s Veterans Practice has focused its efforts on addressing two potential causes of this disparity, eligibility issues related to discharge status and lack of representation in the disability claims process.

Course content and fieldwork will train students to effectively and compassionately advocate for veteran clients as they navigate the discharge upgrade and VA disability benefit processes.

The Seminar
The weekly classroom component will help students recognize and understand the unique issues that can arise with military service. Classroom discussions will include topics like military-related mental health conditions, racial disparities in the military justice system, and barriers created by bad paper discharges. Students will also learn about how policy advocacy is being used to address deep-rooted issues at both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Role playing, case rounds, and group presentations, will help inform students and prepare them for the practical and ethical challenges that will arise throughout their legal careers.

Fieldwork
NYLAG’s Veterans Practice is a community-based program with a large referral network that provides comprehensive services to veterans and their families, regardless of their discharge status and eligibility to use the VA Healthcare System. Veterans face all the same legal concerns as any other population, but also experience issues unique to their veteran status and military experiences. NYLAG’s Veterans Practice focuses on those veteran-specific legal issues, while simultaneously utilizing the expertise of NYLAG’s 300+ attorneys, paralegals, and financial counselors to effectively address other civil legal needs. Students will be paired with an attorney in NYLAG’s Veterans Practice who will act as a mentor and teacher for the student as they work directly with veteran clients on discharge upgrade and VA disability benefit cases. The field placement will follow a hybrid model with students expected to schedule regular hours at NYLAG’s main office in lower Manhattan throughout the semester.

Important Information
The course will be limited to 6 students and will be open to JD and LL.M candidates.

There are no prerequisites to take this course other than a passion to assist low-income individuals access earned benefits.

Kevin Jason and Rachel Kleinman, Lecturers-in-Law, 4 credits (2 for the seminar; 3 for field Placement)
Available in: Fall 2024 

Course Description
The Racial Justice Externship (RJE) will engage students in legal practice at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization, and in a critical examination of strategies employed to achieve racial equity and justice in our four principal areas: economic justice, criminal justice, education and voting rights and democratic governance. LDF Students will be assigned to work on a case or matter in one of these four areas and will have an opportunity to contribute to the development and execution of comprehensive legal strategies, that may include impact litigation, policy/advocacy, strategic communications, public education and organizing.

The Seminar
The weekly seminars will introduce students to multiple phases of litigation and advocacy surrounding systemic race claims, specifically in the areas of political participation, economic justice, criminal justice, and education. This includes investigations of race discrimination issues, drafting of pleadings and other substantive filings, legal research and memo writing and participation in active discovery. In addition, students will develop a historical knowledge regarding the country’s foundation and the impact of this foundation on modern legal frameworks and on movements for racial justice.  

Field Placement
Placement work will be performed on LDF cases or matters under the supervision of an LDF attorney or externship professor. Students are required to commit 15 hours per week to placement work and to participate in weekly meetings with their LDF Team. In addition, as part of their placement work, students will be provided appropriate case/matter-related public speaking opportunities and given the opportunity to travel on their cases/matters, as needed and as consistent with their academic obligations.

Important Information
The course will be limited to 8 students and will be open to JD and LL.M candidates. Students in the course are required to have taken or concurrently take Constitutional Law.

To apply, please complete the externship application available through LawNet. The application period can be found on the Experiential Learning home page (https://law.columbia.edu/academics/experiential). Prospective applicants may be contacted for an interview once all applications have been submitted.