Clinical Program

A new Defending the AU Dream Initiative (AU Dream) – supported by a generous gift from William L. Jacobs ’66 – is supporting expanded immigration legal services provided by the Immigrant Justice Clinic (IJC) starting this academic year. Services under the new initiative include representation of undergraduate and graduate students on DACA and other immigration-related matters at AU and at other institutions in the DC metro area.

During spring 2019, Community and Economic Development Law Clinic (CEDLC) student attorneys Jessica Greer ’20 and Marie Claire O’Leary ‘19 worked with Plum Good LLC, a minority, female-owned business located east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC.

WCL’s Civil Advocacy Clinic (CAC) continues to advance economic justice for low-income individuals in D.C. and Maryland. CAC student attorneys represent clients in wage claim matters, championing workers who were not paid wages for work performed, including minimum wage and overtime payments. Additionally, student attorneys represent low-income individuals in a variety of other civil matters including obtaining unemployment insurance benefits and maintaining crucial public housing vouchers and supportive services.

In addition to teaching students the practicalities of how to "be the lawyer," our Civil Advocacy Clinic (CAC) prides itself on its focus on teaching students how the law can or should be a means to economic justice. During the 2018-2019 academic year, CAC student attorneys scored victories for their clients that helped them access housing and benefits and preserve their assets.

In her recent interview with CityLab, Cori Alonso-Yoder, Practitioner-in-Residence with the Immigrant Justice Clinic, talks about the history of the public charge rule and its role in the U.S. political debate on welfare. Alonso-Yoder discusses her forthcoming article “Publicly Charged: A Critical Examination of Immigrant Public Benefit Restrictions” with journalist Brentin Mock and talks about the parallels of political messaging on “welfare queens” and “anchor babies.”

All three of the third-year students at AUWCL who received 2019 Gallogly Family Foundation Public Interest Fellowships either are or have been student attorneys in AUWCL's Clinical Program. Arielle Chapnick worked in the Immigrant Justice Clinic in her 2L year, Dominique Perez-Sangimino is currently in the Immigrant Justice Clinic, and Marissa Ditkowsky worked in the Disability Rights Law Clinic as a 2L. Of course, all three students have other impressive achievements, but the Clinic is proud to have been part of their education and thrilled to see them receive funding to start public interest careers.

The AUWCL Clinical Program is ranked #2 in the U.S. News and World Report national rankings of law school specialty programs. Associate Dean of Experiential Education Jayesh Rathod responded, “The AUWCL Clinical Program, which has been nationally ranked for more than 25 years, provides a unique and transformative learning experience.  Our program allows students to represent real clients on real cases, under the supervision of the clinic’s highly respected faculty. The clinics undertake representation of individual and organizational clients, both domestically and overseas, across a range of subject matter areas. Our program continues to grow and evolve, keeping up with the changing nature of law practice and responding to emergent legal needs.”

After a six-hour merits hearing, International Human Rights Law Clinic students Zoe Stamatelos, Mohammed Rathur, and Raphaelle Maillet won asylum for their client, an LGBT man from North Africa. Their client suffered tremendously because of his sexual orientation since his childhood. Despite achieving great professional success, he had no choice but to flee for refuge in the United States amidst persistent and escalating persecution.

The Clinical Program is kicking off its recruitment season for the 2019-2020 academic year, starting with a large informational meeting this Wednesday, January 30th, from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in Claudio Grossman Hall.

On a recent episode of NPR's 1A, Professor Jayesh Rathod discusses why so many from Central America are seeking entry into the U.S., and the various steps one must go through to apply for asylum. Be sure to listen!

To further litigation before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (“IACHR”), four International Human Rights Law Clinic students (Billy Vazquez, Jacqueline Studley, Jacob Hutchens, and Raphaelle Maillet) interviewed their clients at the highest security federal prison in the U.S.: United States Penitentiary - ADX in Florence, Colorado, a.k.a. "Supermax."

In addition to maintaining a consistent docket of Civil Protection Order (CPO) and accompanying family law cases in D.C. Superior Court, our Domestic Violence Clinic (DVC) students are working on projects that address survivors’ rights from a broader perspective. One DVC student “pod” is creating a practical legal guide for immigrant survivors.

Recently, students in the Janet R. Spragens Federal Tax Clinic  persuaded the IRS that it had erroneously assessed a taxpayer penalty taxes on a retirement plan withdrawal and, further, that the client’s refund claim for the amount erroneously assessed had been timely made. The matter had been repeatedly denied by various IRS employees who continually looked at the wrong statutory provisions. No less than six semesters’ students worked tirelessly on this matter and, this fall, the IRS finally relented, offering our client about $2,000 of tax relief

The AUWCL Disability Rights Law Clinic (DRLC) is partnering with Women Enabled International (“WEI”), an NGO based in Washington, DC that works to advance the rights of women and girls with disabilities around the world. DRLC student attorneys Tiara Bonet and Ryan Nelson are researching the impact of shadow reports submitted by disabled people’s organizations on the norms promulgated by the UN Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Meg Alexander, currently a law clerk for the Hon. Adrienne Noti, D.C. Superior Court, has penned a reflection about her experience in the Women and the Law (WALC) in the 2017-2018 academic year.

Students in AUWCL's Civil Advocacy Clinic(CAC) work on an array of civil litigation matters in the District of Columbia and Maryland. In recent years, the CAC has deliberately focused on issues of economic justice, which has added many workplace law and wage theft cases to the docket.

In addition to representing juvenile and adult clients facing misdemeanor and minor felony charges, AUWLC's Criminal Justice Clinic (CJC) defense students have also represented inmates in Maryland who were sentenced to life for offenses committed when they were juveniles (“juvenile lifers”). The students' work is part of an overall effort to correct illegal sentences under the 8th Amendment and in parole proceedings.

The Community and Economic Development Law Clinic (CEDLC) has forged a new partnership with Dreaming Out Loud, an organization that works to create economic opportunities for the DC metro region’s marginalized community members by building a healthy, equitable food system.

In October, Victoria Latus ’18 argued a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on behalf of the Immigrant Justice Clinic. Latus participated in the Clinic as a 3L in 2017-2018, and had expertly briefed this case, along with her Clinic partner, James Kim ’18, under the supervision of Associate Dean Jayesh Rathod and Professor Amanda Frost.

Two Clinicians, Robert Dinerstein and Jean Han, were among the four outstanding professors at American University Washington College of Law honored Tuesday, Oct. 30 as winners of the annual AUWCL Teaching and Service Awards. Recipients were recognized for their innovative teaching and service both in and outside of the classroom.