A Question of Mission: Catholic Law School's Domestic Violence Clinic

27 Pages Posted: 22 May 2015

Date Written: 1994

Abstract

This article argues that ad hoc litigation alone cannot achieve the teaching and service objectives of the law school clinic and outlines the Families and the Law Clinic's (FALC) attempt to adopt solutions that run as deep as the problems. Part I argues that the litigation provided by law school clinics does not sufficiently address the roots of the crisis in poor, black, urban communities. Part II discusses the failure of the traditional litigation technique to prepare students for the challenges they will face as poverty lawyers. Part III explains the historical roots of today's pedagogical problems, and describes progressive approaches to achieving the clinical mission. Finally, Part IV discusses FALC's efforts to implement new ideas and the attendant rewards, pitfalls, and uncertainties.

Keywords: legal clinical education, family law, domestic violence, indigent litigants, poverty lawyers

Suggested Citation

Barry, Margaret Martin, A Question of Mission: Catholic Law School's Domestic Violence Clinic (1994). Howard Law Journal, Vol. 38, 1994, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2607401

Margaret Martin Barry (Contact Author)

Vermont Law School ( email )

68 North Windsor Street
P.O. Box 60
South Royalton, VT 05068
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.vermontlaw.edu/Our_Faculty/Faculty_Directory/Margaret_Martin_Barry.htm

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