Civil Rights and Community Justice Clinic
Welcome to the Civil Rights and Community Justice Clinic of the Washington University School of Law. The Civil Rights & Community Justice Clinic is one of nine clinical courses available to all law students at Washington University School of Law, where every student is guaranteed at least one clinical course.
The Civil Rights & Community Justice Clinic (6cr.), taught by Professor Karen Tokarz, introduces students to civil rights practice and dispute resolution from a community-based perspective. This clinical course provides opportunities for students to engage in client advocacy and dispute resolution on behalf of immigrants, workers, and individuals with disabilities through mediation, litigation, legislation, administrative practice, and community education; to grapple with ethical issues that arise in practice; and to develop the fundamental ability to learn from experience.
The Civil Rights & Community Justice Clinic has two components:
- Students receive 16 hours of mediation training, observe and participate in three or more mediation/dispute resolution experiences in the community, and participate in community justice projects, under the supervision of Professor Tokarz; and
- Students work at the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Health & Welfare Unit, LSEM Immigration Project, Interfaith Legal Services for Immigrants, and, on occasion, in public interest law firms with significant pro bono practice, such as the Law Office of Suzanne Brown.
Students handle cases involving the rights of immigrants, workers, and individuals with disabilities. Students have primary responsibility for at least three civil cases and engage in client interviewing and counseling, case analysis and planning, problem solving, fact investigation, document drafting, negotiation and dispute resolution, pre-trial practice, and administrative agency and court hearings.
- [view] CRMCJC Course Description and Requirements
- [view] CRMCJC Learning Contract
- [view] Clinic Manual
For more information about the Civil Rights & Community Justice Clinic, please contact Professor Tokarz at tokarz@wulaw.wustl.edu.
African Public Interest Law & Dispute Resolution Initiative
[view] Brochure