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Social Justice Lawyering Concentration

The Social Justice Lawyering Concentration prepares students for careers (or pro bono efforts) by immersing them in both the theory and practice of lawyering for and with under-represented clients and communities. Reflecting the Hastings faculty’s deep commitment to social justice, the concentration’s rich array of more than 90 qualifying classes are taught by over thirty full-time Hastings faculty members, augmented by adjunct faculty drawn from many of the Bay Area’s (and U.S.’s) preeminent public interest lawyers.

The cornerstone of the concentration is its year-long seminar that enables students in their second year of law school to deepen their understanding of and commitment to social justice practice and to forge supportive ties with peers and faculty who affirm and share a passion for lawyering that acts on one's values and vision of the world as it should be (and can become). The concentration's distributional requirements ensure that all concentrators are exposed to at least one substantial clinical experience (where they can engage hands-on in real-world lawyering and reflect upon the experience to refine a personal vision of the sort of lawyer they aim to become), a dispute resolution skills class, and a class exploring the roles that race plays in our society.

Advisor: Professor Ascanio Piomelli

minimum TOTAL UNITS REQUIRED: 21

A. Required Courses [5 units]

Social Justice Lawyering Concentration Core Seminar (2)

Constitutional Law II (3-4)

B. Distributional Requirements

At least 1 class in each of the three following categories:

Substantial clinical or guided lawyering experience [5-12 units]

Civil Justice Clinic - Community Economic Development Clinic (8)

Civil Justice Clinic - Individual Representation Clinic (8)

Civil Justice Mediation Clinic (6)

Civil Justice Clinic – Social Change Lawyering: Community Group Advocacy Clinic (8)

Criminal Practice Clinic (12)

Environmental Law Clinic (8)

Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (6)

Legal Externship Program (5)

Legislation Clinic (8)

Local Government Clinic (5)

Refugee & Human Rights Clinic (6)

Negotiation/Dispute Resolution [3-4 units]

Negotiation & Mediation: Process & Practice (3-4)
Negotiation & Settlement: Process & Practice (3)

Exploration of race [2-3 credits]

American Indian Law (3)

Asian Pacific Americans & the Law Seminar (2)

Critical Race Theory and American Constitutionalism (3)

Critical Race Theory Seminar (2)

Law & the Japanese American Internment Seminar (2)

Race, Racism & American Law (3)

C. Qualifying Electives [not less than 2 courses and not less than 6 units, except for students who complete a 12-unit clinic, who must only complete 1 qualifying elective of not less than 2 units]

Note: Classes preceded by an asterisk cannot be counted as a qualifying elective if they are being used to fulfill a distributional requirement.

I. Courses and GPA Seminars

Administrative Law (3)

Advanced Criminal Law Seminar: Issues in Criminal Defense (2)

Advanced Dispute Resolution: Culture, Identity & Discrimination (2)

Advanced Legislative Process (2)

Advanced Negotiation: Multi-Party, Multi-Issue & Group Processes (3)

*American Indian Law (3)

American West: Law, Culture & the Environment (2)

Animal Law (2)

Antitrust (3 or 4)

*Asian Pacific Americans & the Law Seminar (2)

Biodiversity Law (3)

Bioethics, Law and Healthcare Decision-making Seminar (2)

California Local Government (2)

California Water Resources (3)

Capital Punishment Seminar (2)

Child Maltreatment in Context: Seminar (2)

Civil Rights Seminar (2)

Class Actions Seminar (2)

Climate Change: Law, Policy and Business Seminar (2)

Community Economic Development Seminar (2)

Comparative Antitrust Law (2 or 3)

Comparative Constitutional Law Seminar (2)

Comparative Regulation Seminar (2)

Complex Litigation (3)

Constitution of the Family Seminar (2)

Constitutional Law II (3)

Constitutional Theory Seminar (2)

Consumer Transactions (3)

Corrections & Criminal Justice: Legal Policy, Practice and Reform Seminar (2)

Courts as a Political Actor Seminar (2)

Criminal Procedure (3 or 4)

Criminal Punishment Seminar (2)

*Critical Race Theory Seminar (2)

Current Problems in Employment Seminar (2)

Current State & Local Government Problems Seminar (2)

Data Privacy (2)

Disability Law (2)

Domestic Violence (3)

Employment Discrimination (first-year statutory or upper-class course) (3)

Employment Law Seminar: Work/Family Issues (3)

Environmental Law (first-year statutory course) (3)

Environmental Law Seminar (2)

Federal Courts (3)

Federal & Interstate Water Resources (3)

Food & Drug Law (3)

Gender and the Law (3)

Health Care Finance, Administration & Policy Law (3)

Immigration Law (first-year statutory and upper-class course) (3)

International Environmental Law Seminar (2)

International Criminal Law (3)

International Human Rights (3)

International Human Rights Seminar (2)

International War Crimes Prosecution Seminar (2)

Intersection of Human Rights, Economic Development and Intellectual Property Seminar (2)

Issues in Public and Global Health (3)

Juvenile Justice Seminar (2)

Labor Law (3)

Land Trusts and Conservation Easements Seminar (2)

Land Use Regulation (3)

*Law & the Japanese American Internment Seminar (2)

Law of Lending (2 or 3)

Law of the Employment Relationship (3)

Law, Psychiatry & the Mental Health System (2)

Legal History of Immigrants in the United States Seminar (2)

Legal Implications of Climate Change Seminar (2)

Legislative Process (3)

Litigating Class Action Employment Cases Seminar (2)

Modern Bioethics: From Nuremburg to the “Octomom” and Beyond (3 or 4)

Non-Profit Organizations (3)

Post-Convictions Remedies Seminar (2)

Prosecuting International Price-Fixing Cartels Seminar (2)

Psychiatry & Law Seminar (2)

Public Finance Seminar (2)

Public Health & Homelessness (2)

Public Interest Law Seminar (2)

Public Land & Natural Resources (3)

Public Policy Advocacy Seminar (2)

*Race, Racism & American Law (3)

Refugee Law & Policy (3)
Remedies (3)

Reparation for Injustices: Domestic and International Seminar (2)

Sexuality and the Law (2)

Sociology of the Criminal Justice System Seminar (2)

Special Education Law Seminar (2)

State and Local Government Law ( 3)

State and Local Taxation (3)

State Constitutional Law Seminar (2)

Takings and the Environment Seminar (2)

Tax Policy Seminar (2)

Terrorism and the Law (2)

Theoretical Criminology (2)

Water Resources Seminar (2)

Wrongful Convictions Seminar (2)

Social Justice Lawyering Concentration

A. Required Courses [5 units]

B. Distributional Requirements

C. Qualifying Electives [not less than 2 courses and not less than 6 units, except for students who complete a 12-unit clinic, who must only complete 1 qualifying elective of not less than 2 units]

II. Clinics and Externships

*Civil Justice Clinic - Community Economic Development Clinic (8)

*Civil Justice Clinic - Individual Representation Clinic (8)

*Civil Justice Mediation Clinic (6)

*Civil Justice Clinic - Social Change Lawyering: Community Group Advocacy Clinic (8)

*Criminal Practice Clinic (12)

*Environmental Law Clinic (8)

*Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (6)

*Legislation Clinic (8)

*Local Government Clinic (6)

*Refugee & Human Rights Clinic (6)

Workers' Rights Clinic (3)