MIRA Annual Thanksgiving Luncheon

WHEN: Tuesday, November 17, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Great Hall of the State House.

The luncheon includes the public release of the New American's Agenda by Governor Deval Patrick, who commissioned the report from the Governor's Advisory Council for Refugees and Immigrants, in joint partnership with the Massachusetts Office of Refugees and Immigrants and MIRA.

Numerous elected officials are expected to attend, as well as community, labor and business leaders, not to mention a large media contingent. Governor Patrick's release of the NAA report underscores the theme of the luncheon, "Celebrate the Immigrant Family." With 131 policy recommendations to better integrate immigrants and refugees into the civic and economic life of the commonwealth, the report is indeed a celebration of immigrants, their families, and the communities of which they form an integral part. These policy recommendations recognize that immigrant families form a vital cornerstone in our communities, and that their hopes and needs deserve respectful attention and response.

The next phase of this ambitious and crucial agenda is a response. Some of the policy recommendations require further legislative action; others need only administrative implementation, which the Governor has promised to bring about as quickly as possible. But they also call for legislative and administrative advocacy by MIRA and its members to bring them fully to fruition.

To attend this free luncheon, RSVP by contacting Kirsten Dees at dees@miracoaltion.org or 216-350-5480, ext. 218.

The Personal Economics of Domestic Violence

Guest Lecturer: Deirdre Hunter M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
WHEN: Friday, October 30, 2009 Noon-1pm
WHERE: Greater Boston Legal Services, 197 Friend Street, Boston, MA

South Gate Conference Room, 2nd Floor

Please join Greater Boston Legal Services' Family Law Unit on October 30, 2009 for a brown bag lunch presentation on the personal economics of domestic violence. Guest lecturer, Deirdre Hunter M.S.W., L.C.S.W, will discuss the economic challenges faced by victims of domestic violence and how these challenges are used by abusive partners to control their victims. Ms. Hunter received her M.S.W. from the University of Connecticut and is currently a Lecturer in Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University and the director of programs at Justice Resource Institute. Ms. Hunter has over 20 years of experience working with victims of domestic violence and will be available to take questions during the event. Coffee and sweets will be served.

Please RSVP by emailing Lisa Locher at llocher@gbls.org and indicate if you are a student from New England Law.

October Designated as Pro Bono Month

Governor Patrick has signed a proclamation designating October 2009 as Pro Bono Month at the request of the SJC Standing Committee on Pro Bono Services. Click here to see the proclamation.

Temporary Family Law Position at WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School

January 2010 through June 2010

POSITION SUMMARY:
The WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School (“LSC”) is the community law office and largest clinical program of Harvard Law School (HLS), serving over 100 HLS students annually (see below). Among its many clinics, the LSC offers a Domestic Violence/ Family Law Clinic to students each semester. The primary work of the Domestic Violence/ Family Law Clinic is its collaboration with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, called the Passageway Health Law Collaborative (PHLC). Through this innovative health-law collaboration, law students and LSC attorneys provide comprehensive legal services to low- to moderate-income victims of domestic violence. The PHLC, with its multi-disciplinary and holistic service model, is staffed primarily by two LSC staff attorneys, one of whom is going on temporary leave from January 2010 through June 2010. In order to fill this temporary vacancy, the LSC is looking to hire a temporary family law attorney to be responsible for implementing the PHLC and supervising students in the Domestic Violence/ Family Law Clinic, beginning January 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2010.

The temporary family law attorney will provide direct legal assistance to low- to moderate-income victims of domestic violence in the area of family law, and closely supervise and mentor student attorneys in that case work. The attorney’s (and students’) caseload will include family law cases involving issues of domestic violence, paternity, custody, support, visitation, asset division, removal, and restraining orders. The attorney will also conduct client intakes, deliver legal trainings for hospital-based staff and patients, and provide technical assistance and program support to hospital-based social workers. The attorney will work collaboratively in a team setting with hospital-based staff at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and affiliated health canters, as well as with the staff and clinical instructors at LSC.

The WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School has a dual mission of providing high quality legal services to low-to moderate-income residents in the greater Boston area, while offering Harvard Law students hands-on lawyering experience in a heavily supervised setting. Our students work side-by-side with experienced practitioners on their casework. You may learn more about the LSC at http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/clinical/lsc/.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide full representation and limited assistance to low- to moderate-income victims of domestic violence in the area of family law.


• Work closing with, and provide technical assistance to, hospital-based social work staff.


• Conduct legal trainings and presentations for hospital-based staff on various areas of law.


• Directly supervise law students on cases, including reviewing and editing all written work, preparing students for court appearances and meetings, and providing constructive feedback.


• Participate in student trainings on substantive law and practice skills.


• Prepare detailed written evaluations of students’ work, as well as in-person performance evaluations at mid-semester and the end of the semester.


• Attend and participate in weekly clinical class at Harvard Law School.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Law degree and admission to Massachusetts Bar.


• At least three years family/ DV law experience, which may include internship or student clinical experience.


• Experience supervising and/or teaching students in a clinical setting, preferred.


• Strong writing, legal analysis, legal research and oral advocacy skills.


• Litigation experience, including motions practice and trial preparation.


• Experience working with domestic violence survivors, social justice issues, diverse communities, and social change preferred.


• Strong people skills, including ability to communicate and work well with diverse groups and individuals.


• Spanish language skills preferred.

COMPENSATION: $28,000 plus benefits.

JOB STATUS: Full-time, six-month contract to begin January 1, 2010 and end June 30, 2010.

SUPERVISORS:
Director of Family Law Unit, Lecturer on Law, Robert Greenwald, Esq.
Staff Attorney, Clinical Instructor, Nnena E.J. Odim, Esq.

TO APPLY:
Apply online through the Employment @ Harvard Website: http://www.employment.harvard.edu/. (Requisition # 37908)

Community Action Poverty Simulation for Pro Bono Volunteers

Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston invites you to participate in a Community Action Poverty Simulation. The Poverty Simulation is an invaluable experience for volunteers interested in providing pro bono representation to patient-families living in poverty.

The Poverty Simulation is an interactive tool that educates participants about the day-to-day

realities of life with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. The goal of the

simulation is to promote a greater understanding of poverty and of the experiences of many

pro bono clients. Participants will take part in short sessions representing a four-week period in

the life of a low-income family, followed by a facilitated discussion about the experience.

Friday, October 30, 9am - 12 pm

Hosted by and held at:

Ropes & Gray

One International Place

Boston, MA 02110

Please RSVP by October 23, 2009 to Margarita Warren at Margarita.Warren@bmc.org.

Space is limited.

2010 Roscoe Hogan Environmental Law Essay Contest

The Public Justice Foundation is sponsoring the 2010 Roscoe Hogan Environmental Law Essay Contest. The topic is Can Coal Be Clean? Litigation Remedies for Coal Contamination from Mining to Combustion to Sequestration. The intent-to-enter form submission deadline is January 29, 2010 and the essay submission deadline is March 31, 2010. Below is the link for additional information about the contest.

http://www.publicjustice.net/What-We-Do/Awards/Law-School-Essay-Contest.aspx

Domestic Violence in the Legal Profession, Featuring Diane Patrick

WHEN: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
WHERE: Suffolk University Law School, First Floor Function Hall



A Women's Bar Foundation event featuring Diane Patrick, First Lady of Massachusetts and Partner at Ropes & Gray, LLP, as the Keynote Speaker. A panel discussion will follow. Click here for more information about the panelists participating. To RSVP email Kim Votruba at programs@womensbar.org.

Opportunities in Criminal Law

The Suffolk Lawyers for Justice (SLJ) Law School Network partners Boston-area law students with SLJ panel attorneys in semester or year-long mentoring relationships. The program aims to improve the quality of representation available to indigent clients by providing attorneys with assistance from dedicated and motivated law school students. In turn, students benefit from having the opportunity to learn how to prepare a case for trial. Students attend attorney-client meetings, participate in the client interview process, interview witnesses, conduct legal research, draft memos, and prepare cross-examination and jury instructions.

SLJ attorneys who participate in the program do so voluntarily and expect their students to handle cases with a high degree of professionalism. All students who apply to the program should do so with the understanding that if accepted, they will be expected to work in a responsible, energetic and committed manner.

To apply, submit a completed application, a current resume, and a letter of interest to: 101 Tremont Street, Suite 600, Boston, MA 02108.

The Legal Needs of Immigrant Children: How Attorneys, Advocates, and Service Providers Can Help

Save the Date: December 8th

MCLE*, 10 Winter Place, Boston 9:30-4: 30
*Mass. Continuing Legal Education

There are thousands of immigrant children in Massachusetts. They face issues with language, acculturation, immigration status, education level, and trauma. They are caught up in complex systems and face distinctive barriers to accessing benefits, services, and education.

MCLE's experienced faculty will provide practical advice for attorneys, advocates and service providers working with immigrant children and their families, including:

• Immigration rights: Strategies for obtaining legal residency
• Education rights: Preventing school exclusion based on residency and legal mandates governing language-accessible education
• Rights to accessing benefits and health programs
• Child welfare laws for immigrant children
• How immigration status plays out in probate court proceedings
• Children's status in ICE raids

Faculty includes staff from: The Children's Law Center of Massachusetts, the Department of Children and Families, Greater Boston Legal Services, Mass. Advocates for Children, MIRA Coalition, Mass. Law Reform Institute, Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy, and South Coastal Counties Legal Services.

This program is open to eveyone who works with immigrant children, including community center and school staff.

Registration information will be available at www.mcle.org.

New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement Symposium

CONFRONTING FORENSIC EVIDENCE:

IMPLICATIONS OF MELENDEZ-DIAZ V. MASSACHUSETTS & BRISCOE V. VIRGINIA

New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement 2009 Fall Symposium

November 13, 2009

8:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Radisson Hotel, 200 Stuart Street, Boston, MA

On June 25, 2009, the United States Supreme Court handed down a contentious decision, which many legal practitioners argue will dramatically change procedures for admitting forensic evidence in criminal trials. In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, Justice Scalia, writing for the majority, held that the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause requires forensic experts, whose reports are admitted into evidence, to be made available for cross-examination. The Court found that the introduction of state forensic-lab reports constitutes testimonial evidence, thus requiring lab technicians to appear at trial pursuant to Crawford v. Washington.

The precedent set by the high court sent a wave of concern across the country regarding the insufficient number of forensic experts available to appear in the thousands of cases requiring lab results each year. Consequently, critics of the Court’s decision have characterized the ruling as a crisis, leading to a potential distortion of the criminal justice system. Other practitioners, however, endorse Justice Scalia’s belief that “the sky will not fall after [this] decision,” given that some states already comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling.

This term the Court will hear Briscoe v. Virginia, and answer the question of whether the state can avoid the Melendez-Diaz obligation by providing the accused a right to call the analyst as his own witness at trial. Unlike the Massachusetts law challenged in Melendez-Diaz, which prohibited defendants from calling lab analysts as witnesses, the Virginia law at issue in Briscoe puts the burden on the defendant to subpoena the lab analyst. As a result, Briscoe provides the Court an opportunity to overrule or significantly limit the Melendez-Diaz ruling.

The Symposium’s first panel will provide a forward-looking discussion regarding the impact of the Court’s decision on criminal prosecution. Litigants from both Melendez-Diaz and Briscoe will revisit their fundamental arguments, and the underlying rationales, facilitating dialogue about how these decisions will alter the practice of forensic analysis. The panel will also present an opportunity to explore where the Supreme Court will go with Briscoe.

Our second panel will provide a forum for academics and practitioners to weigh in on the state of forensic science in the aftermath of the National Academy of Sciences’ Report, while examining the role of legal rules in fostering effective forensic analysis. Panelists will examine procedures necessary to ensure the fair and accurate admission of forensic evidence in court. The second panel’s discussion will build upon the first panel’s evaluation of the Melendez-Diaz decision in state courts.

This year’s Symposium offers an excellent opportunity for scholars, practitioners, and the judiciary to contemplate the future admissibility of forensic evidence in criminal trials.

For more information click here.

Applications for Environmental Justice Exchange Program Posted

The China Environment Forum and the Vermont Law School (VLS) have been awarded a federal grant to support a U.S.-China exchange program for young professionals working on environmental justice issues.

Funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State, the educational and cultural exchange will provide leadership training opportunities to 18 Chinese and American women and men, particularly members of minority groups, who are active in environmental justice efforts. Participants in the program will jointly examine the environmental burdens, including climate change impacts, on minority communities and low-income populations in the U.S. and China and will be mentored in designing projects to advance environmental justice for those communities.

To view the application click here.

Student Volunteer Opportunity at Second Step

Second Step, located in Newton, MA, is accepting applications for 1 to 2 student volunteers. Second Step's Legal Advocacy Program helps survivors of domestic violence resolve crises and achieve stability by accessing their legal rights and remedies. Volunteers will assist a Legal Case Manager with identifying and prioritizing survivors' legal issues; facilitating access to comprehensive legal assistance, including referrals to outside agencies; accompanying survivors to court or other legal hearing when appropriate; and assisting in areas including: family law (retraining orders, divorce proceedings, child custody), landlord/tenant issues, utility shut-offs, immigration issues, children's issues, government/health benefits, tax and employment issues, and work related issues.

For more information about Second Step, please visit our website at http://www.thesecondstep.org/WhatWeDo.aspx.

Volunteers should be in their second or third year of law school and have an interest in domestic violence advocacy, family law, and public interest law. Please submit cover letter, resume, references and writing sample to Alison Klein at aklein@thesecondstep.org.

Ten Reasons to Become a Public Interest Lawyer

At the end of September 2009 Georgetown University Law Center appointed Georgetown Law Professor Philip Schrag to the newly established Delaney Family Professorship in Public Interest Law. The Delaney Family Chair is one of a few chairs that recognize achievements in the field of public interest law. Schrag’s achievements are vast and include starting out as a staff attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, followed by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, then becoming a professor at Columbia Law School in the vanguard of the clinical legal education movement, joining the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and finally settling at Georgetown Law School. At Georgetown Law School, he created and ran the Public Interest Law Scholars program, directs the Center for Applied Legal Studies clinic and its post-graduate fellowship program, and played a role in ensuring the passage of the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007.


Schrag’s used his inaugural lecture as an opportunity to promote public interest work. His inspiring speech lays out ten reasons to become a public interest lawyer. Click here to read this speech.

CSO Event: Pro Bono Work and Your Career

Pro Bono Work and Your Career
Thursday, October 22, 2009
4:00pm – 5:30pm, Cherry Room

Featured panelists:
Gerry Cahill, Suffolk County DA’s Office
Andrew Cornell, Attorney At Law
Dina Haynes, New England Law Boston
David Siegel, New England Law Boston
Maya Sethi, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Moderator: Daniel McCabe, Petrucelly, Nadler & Norris, P.C.

Refreshments will be served.

RSVP with the CSO: cso@nesl.edu

Join members of the BBA, Pro Bono Committee, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Section, and the Center for Law & Social Responsibility as they discuss the benefits of making pro bono work a part of your law school experience and post-graduate career.

This will also be an occasion to learn more about current opportunities for law students through the BBA's Pro Bono Committee and New England Law's Public Service Transcript Notation Program.

Pro Bono Opportunities Fair

Suffolk University Law School’s Rapapport Center for Law & Public Service
and the Boston Bar Association’s Litigation Pro Bono Committee

present

A Pro Bono Opportunities Fair
Monday, October 26th
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Suffolk University Law School
120 Tremont Street, Boston MA
Function Room, First Floor

Participating Agencies Include:

• Community Legal Services and Counseling Center
• Disability Law Center
• Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project
• Health Law Advocates
• Lawyers Clearinghouse
• Legal Advocacy and Resource Center
• Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
• Medical Legal Partnership Boston
• MetroWest Legal Services
• National Lawyers Guild
• Political Asylum & Immigration Representation Project
• Senior Partners for Justice
• Shelter Legal Services Foundation
• Victim Rights Law Center
• Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
• Volunteer Lawyers Project
• Women's Bar Foundation
  
  Please R.S.V.P. to Senka Huskic at shuskic@suffolk.edu or call (617) 573-8644.

Summer Opportunities Abroad in Mexico and Kenya

International internships are a unique opportunity for law students to acquire practical experience "in the field," a key prerequisite to working abroad or in international human rights law. Professor Dina Francesca Haynes is currently seeking applications from students who have an interest in working abroad during the summer of 2010. Successful candidates will be nominated for consideration for one of two prestigious internships in either Mexico or Kenya. The Center for Law and Social Responsibility will be providing a small stipend for students accepted to a program to offset some of the costs of travel and accommodation.

Candidates must have an interest and background in international, human rights, immigration and/or refugee law and the ability to spend at least six (6) weeks of the summer abroad. Interested applicants will need to submit the following materials:

• Cover letter detailing all experience abroad (in particular third world countries), all languages spoken, and any prior human rights experience;
• Resume;
• Official transcript; and
• List of three (3) references.

Applications should be made to the attention of Adonia Simpson, Fellow for the Center of Law and Social Responsibility and dropped off on the 4th Floor of Stuart Street by 5:00 PM on November 10, 2009. Interviews of qualified candidates will be conducted in the following weeks and the successful applicant's materials forwarded to the organizations in question.

Professor Haynes will be speaking briefly about these opportunities at the International Law Society Meeting on Monday, October 19 at 5:00 PM in room 305. If you are unable to attend the meeting, and have any questions about the application process or programs, please do not hesitate to email Adonia Simpson at adonia.r.simpson@nesl.edu.

Smart Grid and the Future of the Energy Industry

A LawMatters Event, sponsored by the CLSR Environmental Advocacy Project. Please join Dan Delurey, Executive Director of the Demand Response and Advanced Metering Coalition, for a discussion of his efforts to promote "smart" energy technologies. Mr. Delurey will talk about life in the regulatory and legislative arenas, the future of the energy industry, and ramifications for emerging lawyers.

WHEN: Friday, October 16, 11:30-12:45 PM

WHERE: Cherry Room

A light catered lunch will be served.

For further information, please contact Professor Peter Manus, pmanus@nesl.edu.