Each incoming class is introduced to the School of Law and to the legal profession by public-interest legend, Prof. Edgar Cahn, who, with his wife Jean Camper Cahn, founded the Antioch School of Law and provided the inspiration and initial organizing impetus for the federal Legal Services Corporation— resulting in legal representation for literally millions of Americans who would otherwise not be able to afford access to justice. Professor Cahn’s course, Law and Justice, sets the tone for UDC David A. Clarke School of Law’s justice-oriented clinical program in part by leading discussions on students experience of injustice, what they did about it, and what they feel they could and should have done.

Beyond the talk, however, the course requires that every year each UDC-DCSL first-year students begin to “walk the walk” by providing a minimum of forty hours of law-related community service to a non-profit, government agency or D.C. judge. The Community Service Requirement, supervised by Jay Stewart, introduces students to one of a wide range of public interest placements as they inevitably share their experiences with their classmates both in personal and class discussions. Many students continue to serve well beyond the required time commitment.

Through the Community Service Program, the School of Law assists the host agency and its clients, jump starts the practical side of students’ legal education, and also opens career doors for students interested in public service law.

Several alumni made their first contact with their eventual employer through the Community Service Program!

Many students follow up their first law-related community service experience in the summer after their first year through the Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Equal Justice Works Summer Fellowship Program (see page 5.) All students follow with at least two required clinical rotations that will total a minimum of 700 hours. Some log substantially more—and even sign up for purely voluntary internships at a wide variety of placements.

UDC-DCSL students are free to provide their service at any qualifying D.C. non-profit, judge’s chambers or agency. The result is a wide array of placements, some of which are listed below.

Two perennial favorites are described more fully on the following pages. In the D.C. Youth Court, law students work directly with young people in the nation’s capital who have been accused of non-violent first offenses. This exciting program, initiated by Professor Cahn, has been proven to reduce recidivism.

The Center for Immigration Law and Practice— co-founded by alumna Carolyn Waller, ‘77, who chairs its Board, and supported by many alumni, but especially by a generous monthly grant by Michael Maggio, ‘78, of the D.C. Immigration law firm of Maggio and Kattar—- is also popular both as a Community Service placement and as a great place to do an Equal Justice Works Fellowship (see the Ramirez, Cox and Harewood write ups starting on page 7.)