STUDENT INFORMATION SHEET Spring 2015 What is the East Bay Community Law Center? Founded by Berkeley Law students in 1988, the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) is the community-based component of the law school’s Clinical Program. EBCLC is the largest provider of free legal services to poor people in the East Bay— 5,000 clients a year—and houses multiple clinics in a practicing law office. Each year, 100 or more upper-class students work under the supervision of clinical instructors. In five program areas—(1) Housing, (2) Health & Welfare Rights, (3) Economic Security & Opportunity, (4) Immigration & Integration, and (5) Education & Youth Justice—staff and students assist clients in ten clinical placements. Spring 2015 placements include clinics assisting clients to: • Reenter their communities after being convicted of crimes (Clean Slate Clinic) • Resolve consumer issues and assist with general civil litigation, including for immigrants (Consumer Justice Clinic) • Dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline (Education Advocacy Clinic and Youth Defender Clinic) • Start and build sustainable businesses (Green-Collar Communities Clinic) • Overcome barriers to health care and related services (Health Law Clinic) • Maintain safe and affordable housing (Housing Law Clinic) • Assume a rightful place in the community (Immigration Law Clinic) • Address systemic community needs (Policy Advocacy Clinic) • Access safety net programs and advocate for homeless rights (Public Benefits & Homelessness Clinic) Why should I participate in EBCLC? Gain Hands-on Lawyering Experience: Put your classroom learning to work and gain a broad range of experience at EBCLC, where you will interview and counsel clients, develop case theory, draft legal documents, collaborate with experts, negotiate with adversaries and other third parties, and appear in court and administrative hearings. Receive Close, High-Quality Supervision: Receive extensive substantive law and skills training, day-to-day supervision, and regular feedback on your legal work through individual and group case rounds. Serve the Community: Make a difference and give back during this very challenging time in our community. Legal needs are growing while the resources to address them are increasingly scarce – law students are part of the solution! Satisfy the Writing Requirement: In consultation with your supervisor, papers prepared for the clinic or seminar may satisfy the school’s writing requirement. Build Your Resume: Employers in the private, government and non-profit sectors are looking for students who are “practice-ready,” and they highly value the practical skills and professional responsibility students learn at EBCLC. What is my time commitment at EBCLC? EBCLC Seminar (Law 289): You must enroll in the 2-unit companion seminar. The first third of the semester is devoted to substantive law and skills training. The remainder of the class focuses the many issues facing EBCLC clients and law students. The course and clinic provide you with the opportunity to learn first-hand about the professional responsibilities of representing clients. The seminar is graded credit/no credit. EBCLC Clinic (Law 295.5z): You must enroll for a minimum of 4 clinical units, or 16 hours per week (each unit = 4 hours/week). You may enroll for more than 16 hours per week in 4 hour increments and receive additional units (e.g., 20 hours/week = 5 units, 24 hours = 6 units, etc.). Although workloads may vary in any given week due to the nature of a live client practice, you will not regularly be required to work more hours than the number of units for which you are enrolled. The clinic is graded credit/no credit. • Clean Slate students must be available Mondays or Tuesdays 9:30-1:30. • Consumer Justice students must be available Tuesdays or Thursdays 10-1. • Public Benefits & Homelessness students must be available Wednesdays 10-1. • Housing Law students must enroll for a minimum of 5 credits (20 hours/week). Advanced EBCLC Clinic (Law 295.5y): As a returning student, you may enroll for any number of credits in 4 hour increments/week (4 hours/week = 1 unit, 8 hours = 2 units, etc.). The advanced clinic is also graded credit/no credit. Flexibility: In consultation with you supervisor, you choose your own office hours, consistent with your schedule and the demands of casework. How do I enroll in EBCLC? 1) Complete and return the on-line application by the posted deadline (http://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/forms/clinics/clinical_application.php); and 2) Enroll in the class (Law 289). Preference is given to students who complete an application by the deadline AND enroll in Law 289 during Phase I of TeleBEARS. Questions? Contact Faculty Director Jeff Selbin ([email protected]) or Executive Director Tirien Steinbach ([email protected]). 2 EBCLC Clinics Spring 2015 1. Clean Slate Clinic Directed by Eliza Hersh (Berkeley ’05), the Clean Slate Clinic provides assistance to people seeking to clean up their criminal records. In collaboration with the courts, the District Attorney, the Public Defender, and community-based organizations, the clinic fosters reentry and reduces recidivism by helping clients overcome barriers to employment, housing, education and civic participation. Students staff weekly self-help clinics, represent formerly incarcerated clients in Superior Court and work on local, state and national policy change. 2. Consumer Justice Clinic (including a new immigrant consumer project) Directed by Sharon Djemal (Columbia ’98), the Consumer Justice Clinic provides assistance and representation to individuals on a variety of consumer issues, including debt collection defense, student loans, car fraud, predatory lending, and consumer scams. Students engage in a full range of litigation procedures, including propounding and responding to discovery, drafting motions and developing case strategies; and participate on local and regional policy initiatives on behalf of low-income consumers. Students also staff the General Clinic, which provides legal information, education, and advocacy on a wide range of civil legal issues to individuals who cannot find legal assistance elsewhere. 3. Education Advocacy Clinic Directed by Rosa Bay (Boston College of Law ’08), the Education Advocacy Clinic works closely with the Youth Defender Clinic to provide special education advocacy to youth who are involved (or at risk of becoming involved) in the juvenile justice system, including the related civil legal needs of youth and their families. Students also provide a range of brief services through weekly legal clinics at several Oakland public schools. 4. Green-Collar Communities Clinic Directed by Sushil Jacob (Berkeley ’11), the Green Collar Communities Clinic assists sustainable, worker-owned businesses in low-income neighborhoods. For start-up ventures, students conduct community-based education workshops and staff monthly walk-in clinics. For worker-owned businesses, students represent clients on a range of legal issues to encourage the creation of green jobs and new wealth in low-income communities of color. 5. Health Law Clinic Directed by Sheila Hall (Berkeley ’84), the Health Law Clinic is an interdisciplinary practice addressing the complex health-related legal needs of low-income people living with HIV and youth living in poverty. Through medical-legal partnerships with HIV/AIDS service providers, with Children’s Hospital, and Oakland public school-based 3 health centers, law students work to improve clients’ access to health care, stable income and habitable housing through representation in various legal settings, including administrative hearings to secure disability and other public benefits. 6. Housing Law Clinic Directed by Laura Lane (Berkeley ’96), the Housing Law Clinic is a litigation practice designed to protect and promote safe, adequate and affordable housing for low-income tenants. Students represent clients in civil eviction proceedings in Superior Court and administrative matters under local rent control ordinances. Students staff a self-help clinic and help develop affirmative lawsuits to enforce habitability standards and other applicable housing laws. 7. Immigration Law Clinic Directed by Linda Tam (Berkeley ’00), the Immigration Law Clinic helps immigrants regularize their legal status, come out of the shadows, and gain access to vital medical care and treatment. Students represent clients before the Immigration Court and Asylum Office and prepare a wide variety of immigration applications, including claims for political asylum, U visas, adjustment of status, DACA, naturalization and Violence Against Women Act petitions. 8. Policy Advocacy Clinic Directed by Jeff Selbin (Harvard ’89), the Policy Advocacy Clinic pursues projects serving the systemic needs of underrepresented individuals and groups on problems identified in EBCLC’s direct service clinics. Projects include initiatives at the local, state and federal level, and students participate in data collection, research and analysis, legislative drafting, negotiation and lobbying, administrative rulemaking, amicus briefs, coalition building, and public education and media campaigns 9. Public Benefits & Homelessness Clinic The Public Benefits & Homelessness Clinic helps people to access critical safety net programs such as General Assistance, CalWORKs, and Food Stamps. Students negotiate, draft declarations, prepare legal briefs, perform direct and cross examinations of witnesses at hearings, and engage in local, state and federal policy advocacy. Students also work with homeless clients, doing outreach, advocacy and holistic representation to increase incomes and remove barriers to housing. Under the supervision of civil rights attorney Osha Neumann, students represent clients facing infraction charges for being homeless in public and undertake policy advocacy on homeless rights issues. 10. Youth Defender Clinic Directed by Kate Weisburd (Columbia ’05), the Youth Defender Clinic works with the Education Advocacy Clinic to end the school to prison pipeline. YDC students provide holistic defense advocacy to youth in delinquency, school expulsion and juvenile record sealing proceedings, as well as collaborate with other EBCLC clinics to address the legal needs of youth and families. YDC students also provide brief services and community education on a range of juvenile justice and education issues. 4