Civil Justice Clinic
CJC HOSTS THE FEBRUARY 27, 2010, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CLINICAL CONFERENCE, with keynote speaker, The Hon. Thelton E. Henderson
The cornerstone of live-client clinical legal education at Hastings is the in-house Civil Justice Clinic. CJC is the curricular umbrella for three separate courses and a number of subject-matter clinics:
- About the Civil Justice Clinic
- CJC Individual Representation Course
- Group Representation Course
- Community Economic Development Clinic
- Group Advocacy and Systemic Reform Clinic
- Mediation Clinic
Applicants for Spring 2010 CJC Clinics - check out the Clinic Brochure, which is also available at CJC [Tower, Suite 300]. Also, click here for a listing of the Spring 2010 Live Client Clinics. You can pick up an application for the Individual Representation Clinic, Community Group Advocacy Clinic, or Mediation Clinic either by stopping by the Civil Justice Clinic [Tower, Suite 300] or by email request to cjc@uchastings.edu. Students who have taken the Civil Justice Clinic describe the experience as exceptionally rewarding - often the best thing they have done in law school. See and hear several students talk about their specific experience in their own words.
Civil Justice Clinic's Virtual Alumni Reunion
L-R Top Row: CJC Fellow Willie Nguyen, Prof. Ascanio Piomelli, former Legal Asst. Pat Herrera, Prof. Eumi Lee; Middle Row: Prof. Donna Ryu, Office Mgr. Nancy Jacot-Bell, Legal Asst. Karen Amaya; Bottom Row: Prof. Miye Goishi, Prof. Gail Silverstein.
About the Civil Justice Clinic
Located on the third floor of the College's McAllister Tower, CJC gives students lead responsibility for handling real cases under the supervision of full-time faculty. Faculty are experienced attorneys who value the importance of tailoring teaching and scholarship to meet the needs of clients and students. Although the projects undertaken principally affect low-income individuals and communities, students interested in all areas of practice can and do benefit from the experience. The educational objectives emphasize skills training and the ability to be self-reflective so that students can learn from real practice, develop confidence in performing lawyering skills, and articulate their own visions of effective lawyering.
CJC Individual Representation Course
Students assume responsibility for individual cases, which proceed start-to-finish within a semester from initial interview through counseling, fact investigation, and case planning to a negotiated settlement, final administrative hearing, or court trial. Students work in pairs, usually in two different subject matter clinics. Each faculty member supervises no more than 6 students. The practice areas are:
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Employment Law - Certified by the State Bar to practice under the supervision of the Civil Justice Clinic attorney-professors, students represent workers whose successful rulings from the Labor Commissioner are being challenged by the employers. On appeal, these wage-and-hour cases, unless settled, must be tried de novo in superior court.
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Housing Law - Students assist tenants who are seeking better housing conditions or challenging unfair rent increases in administrative petitions before the San Francisco Rent Board.
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Disability Benefits - Students represent claimants who have applied for Social Security benefits, have been denied, and who have the right to a hearing on their claim before a Social Security Administration Administrative Law Judge.
Emi Gusukuma and Steve Phillips, both of the Class of 1997, formerly practiced together. Emi works full-time with the San Francisco firm of Haas & Najarian. Steve Phillips gave up his successful practice to form PowerPAC, a political network focused on building a lasting, statewide, electoral majority for a social justice agenda in California.
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The Community Economic Development Clinic provides students with hands-on, community-based, transactional planning experiences. The clinic works closely with and provides counsel to residents, advocacy organizations, social service providers, and businesses in San Francisco's Tenderloin, a low-income neighborhood near the Hastings campus. Examples of recent projects include drafting of a temporary tenant relocation manual for a major non-profit housing development organization, strategic planning regarding neighborhood public safety and quality of life issues, legislative and administrative advocacy to reduce conflicts in state and federal law affecting the renovation of low-income housing, and working with a grass roots tenants association on preserving affordable housing.
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The Group Advocacy and Systemic Reform Clinic assigns students to projects being undertaken by other legal services programs that are addressing systemic issues across a spectrum of substantive legal areas. Students are engaged in a range of persuasive strategies, including impact litigation, administrative advocacy, community legal education, legislative drafting, and community organization and mobilization. Past examples include litigation concerning medical care of female prisoners, conducting advocacy training sessions for parents of children with special education needs, gathering and presenting evidence in support of statewide low-income housing legislation, and organizing support from local communities and governments for the employment rights of immigrant workers.
Masood Ordikhani (CJC S04) was a student in CJC's Mediation Clinic and is now Deputy Director of San Francisco's Human Rights Commission. We are all so grateful for the many job announcements Masood has been sending our way to share with his fellow CJC alumni!
CJC Mediation Clinic - Alternative Dispute Resolution
In the Mediation Clinic, students under the supervision of Civil Justice Clinic and Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution faculty serve as mediators in Small Claims Court, for the City and County of San Francisco, and for the State Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE). Parties who voluntarily agree to mediation will be assigned to students who will co-mediate in pairs. A wide variety of disputes will be mediated: in Small Claims Court, landlord-tenant, creditor-debtor, consumer, and neighbor-to-neighbor problems; for the City and County, Equal Employment Opportunity matters; and for DLSE, employee retaliation claims. Students receive extensive training in mediation techniques and spend seminar time learning and using their practical experience to reflect on mediation theory.