At the first meeting of the proposed Access to Justice Committee (ATJ), held in New Orleans, a group of interested law teachers reached consensus that our main project would focus on curricula reform.  Specifically, our discussion introduced different ideas for how legal education, that is the teaching of the law and preparing students for entering the profession, can reinforce the ethical principle of the lawyer as a "public citizen who has a special responsibility to the quality of justice."  Preamble, ABA Draft Model Rules for Professional Conduct.  Proposals to raise these issues in panel discussions were submitted for the teaching conference scheduled at Golden Gate Law School in March, 2010, and at SALT's conference in Hawaii, in December, 2010.  In addition, we agreed to assemble available course materials that may serve as a model for curricula development.

First, we are pleased to report that ATJ's conference proposals were accepted.  We are looking forward to SALT's conference in December where we intend to assemble a panel that will speak about re-focusing law professors' attention directly to our role as educators who are asked to instill the core principles of service and public citizenship to our students.  This past March, at Golden Gate Law School's excellent conference about vulnerable populations and how schools can address the legal needs of people facing the immediate effects of the current economic crisis, several panels discussed how law schools could reach into their resident communities to provide greater access to legal services, train law school students in cultural and racial competence, and prepare a new generation of lawyers for public service.  During Saturday's lunch, Doug Colbert spoke about the legal academy's opportunity to inform law students' understanding of the public citizen lawyer, one who is dedicated to public service and committed to provide legal services to people unable to afford counsel.  Model Rule 6.1.  Doug referred to law professors’ ongoing role in the classroom for educating students about the crisis in representation that denies most people access to counsel in civil and criminal cases.  He also focused on law schools and deans embracing the public citizen concept in a variety of ways, including clinic education, pro bono sponsored projects, first-year and upper level courses, and through sponsoring events and inviting in-house scholars and speakers.

The Access to Justice Committee also retained research assistance this summer from several SALT interns who have been searching law schools' websites, identifying courses, clinics, and programs that lend themselves to viewing lawyers as public citizens committed to enhancing the administration of justice.  SALT Executive Director, Hazel Weiser, has supervised this project to collect the syllabi and material used to teach these public interest/social justice courses.  When completed, ATJ intends to circulate the draft listing for comments and additions.  We believe this is a first step in identifying what is currently available within law schools. 

Law schools' curriculum offer other examples of the lawyer as public citizen.  For instance, clinic courses are a rich source for providing students with a hands-on legal experience that demonstrates the growing need for attorneys to meet the legal needs of the vastly underserved outside community.  ATJ intends to identify law schools' clinic courses that incorporate access to justice and law reform issues, while meeting individual and specific groups' unmet legal needs.  Once again, after vetting, we intend to select examples for the ATJ website that will become excellent teaching models for sister schools to consider in reshaping their clinics' course selection.
Many schools also invest considerable resources, time and effort, and resources toward providing their students with a pro bono experience during law school.  Some mandate pro bono service as a requirement of graduation   while others create volunteer opportunities within local communities or responding to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states.  We intend to collect these examples, too, and include testimonials of law students who have engaged in pro bono/public service endeavors.

We know you are interested to ATJ and ask you to consider where you can make the biggest contribution in assembling the picture of what law schools can do to revise their curriculum and inspire students to incorporate a public service/pro bono ethical responsibility when they become members of the profession.  Specifically, please indicate whether you would like to join a sub-committee that would focus on curricula reform in any of the following subject areas: 1) first-year public interest/social justice courses; 2) first-year traditional courses; 3) upper-level courses; 4) clinic and experiential; 5) pro bono mandatory or voluntary; and 6) public service endeavors, e.g. Katrina.

In the end, we hope to compile a thorough list of classroom and clinic courses, as well as law schools' pro bono and outside projects that explain legal education's strong connection to moving poor and lower income people closer toward gaining access to representation.  Our success depends wholly on your active participation.

SALT Access to Justice Chair

Doug Colbert