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Fordham's
Urban Policy Clinic was founded by my colleague Professor Liz Cooper.
As Liz notes in a previous post, her clinic typically
represents groups. That is just one
aspect of the work that makes it different from the single client oriented
litigation style clinic, such as the Criminal Defense Clinic I supervise with
Prof. Cheryl Bader.
In
Liz's practice, as is often the case with my colleague Brian
Glick's Community Economic Development Clinic, which is described in this post, lawyers face the challenges, and reap the benefits, of group
decision making. They must think about who
speaks for the group and how decisions are made. Lawyers can play a key role in
facilitating effective collaboration among group participants, many of whom
bring perspectives and areas of expertise which the lawyers must understand and
appreciate. While our colleagues in our
interdisciplinary clinic have thought more
about interdisciplinary work than many of us, I think all of us are aware of
the power of reaching beyond the law.
In
this clip, Sara Upton, a student
in the Urban Policy Clinic, talks about her work on a team that represented a
group seeking policy reform. The group
she worked with was Fordham's Interdisciplinary Center for Family and Child Advocacy, a collaboration among our Law School, our
Graduate School of Social Services and the Psychology Department of our
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Sara reflects upon how fulfilling it was for her to work with people who
came from a variety of backgrounds to accomplish a common goal.
I think that is a common experience for all of us who
work with other professionals to solve our clients' problems. As much as I respect the powerful role the
law plays in
America, so many problems clients bring to lawyers have
significant non-legal elements. The law
often provides an entry point or a focus for action, but it does not provide
the full answer. That is why so many of
us in the Fordham clinical program think about interprofessional collaboration
and urge our students to explore the challenges and rewards of working with
people outside our own profession.
-- Ian Weinstein
Fordham, Law School, Clinical Legal Education, Law Clinic, Pro Bono Work, Legal Education, Legal Pedagogy, Teaching Law, Student Lawyers, Law Student, Interdisciplinary Clinic, Urban Policy, Child Advocacy, Family Advocacy, Collaboration
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