Reblaw 2010

WORKSHOPS


Environmental Justice: A Grassroots Perspective and the Role of Lawyers


This workshop provides a community-grounded environmental justice perspective. It covers everything from brownfields remediation to the implications of waste-to-energy production in communities of color. The workshop offers a framework for attorneys interested in contributing to a movement whose priorities and agendas are developed and advanced by indigenous leadership.

The Lens and the Law: Making Movies that Make a Difference


Love movies, but stuck being a lawyer? Find out how filmmaking can add a new dimension to your legal work! The Yale Visual Law Project trains students in visual advocacy—the art of using film to explore the consequences of our laws for those who must live with them every day. Students from this year's VisLaw team will discuss the advantages and complexities of such work, and also provide tips for those who are thinking about their own moviemaking endeavors.

Multi-focal Advocacy and Immigration Law

In response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 2007 raids in the predominantly Latino Fair Haven neighborhood of New Haven, the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic undertook a broad advocacy campaign on behalf of the individuals arrested and their community supporters. This campaign included Freedom of Information requests and suits, removal defense, policy analysis, community organizing, media and political pressure, and affirmative civil rights litigation. Taking this campaign as a case study, we will discuss multi-focal advocacy, client-based impact litigation, and strategies to leverage a variety of methods in order to amplify the voice of traditionally disempowered communities. 

Disability Rights - Taxicab Accessibility

Transportation is vital to persons living with disabilities. Absence of adequate transportation limits a disabled individual's ability to see family and friends, get to the doctor, seek or maintain employment, buy groceries and household goods, engage with the community and be involved in support groups or political action. Since accessible private transportation is prohibitively expensive (requiring between $20,000 to $80,000 to modify a vehicle), many residents of CT and NY rely on public transportation or taxis. Although taxis have long been an integral part of the transportation system, they have long disserved the disabled community. Of the over 13,500 taxis and anticipated 18,000 livery cabs in New York City, less than 2% (231 cabs) are accessible to wheelchair users. In CT, there are only three accessible taxis in a fleet of well over 900. Accessible taxis represent less than 1% of the entire state's fleet.

Our workshop will allow an exchange between  three practitioners involved in the fight for accessible transportation. They will discuss strategies they are exploring—impact litigation, public-private initiatives and legislative reform--and outline the major challenges currently facing the movement.

Marketplace of Ideas: Building Power & Participation in Law School Classrooms

Law schools pride themselves on the diverse perspectives their students bring to the table. But whose voices are really being heard? Why do the same few people always seem to end up speaking in class, even when "anyone can talk"? How do students' identities and experiences--whether class, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, country of origin, neighborhoods they grew up in, family situations, etc.--affect how they participate and the perspective they bring to legal issues? How can students work with each other to create learning communities where we all speak up, listen up and learn from different viewpoints and ideas? And how can instructors help bring more experiences to the table? Please join us for an interactive discussion about how students and instructors can work to engage different perspectives in the classroom, and how to open conversations about these issues in your home institutions.

Vicarious Trauma

When survivors of physical and psychological trauma seek legal assistance, they often present with tragic experiences of exceptional cruelty, disrupted lives, and pervasive helplessness. Providing these clients with expert and compassionate service requires lawyers and law students to immerse themselves in their clients' stories in order to understand and formulate the cases. Such work carries the risk of vicarious trauma and increases the potential for burnout. In this workshop we will explore both the factors that contribute to vicarious trauma and the strategies for sustaining personal well-being and commitment as lawyers for those who experience trauma.

Legal Observer Training

NLG Legal Observers have been on the front lines defending free speech around the country during #Occupy protests. Legal observers attend protests as an impartial third party and take notes on any interactions with the police. Legal observers' notes and observations can then be used in litigation if the police charge any of the protestors or act inappropriately during the action. Law students are desperately needed to be legal observers, particularly as protest activity is likely to increase again in the spring. Come to this great training and you'll be qualified to help out with legal observing in your area whenever the need arises!

Education Reform: Key Levers and How JDs Can Pull Them

Many specialists are pooling their resources to work on education reform: curriculum designers, statisticians, lobbyists, school leaders, and, yes, lawyers. This panel will feature JDs working on education reform in a wide variety of fields, both in traditional lawyer and non-traditional roles. This workshop will highlight the many different ways JDs, with skills learned in law school, can get involved in ed reform. The panelists will share their vision of the problem, their current work, and advice for how to make the most of law school, and they will work with participants to identify areas with high need for work.