Community Engagement Legal Clinic
The Community Engagement Legal Clinic houses a number of #UBLawResponds initiatives that allow supervised student attorneys to respond to current and vital legal and policy community needs.
It was first created in response to the urgent legal demands arising from the disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the clinic student attorneys have also provided service to clients on a number of issues brought to us from community members and partners.
The Community Engagement Legal Clinic is in its third year of being at the forefront of assisting and serving to meet the access-to-justice needs of our community. #UBLawResponds student attorneys in this clinic help provide legal assistance in multiple legal areas, with the help of a team of instructors.
Student attorneys in this clinic are exposed to many aspects of legal practice, from intake to closing matters, from interviewing and counseling clients, to appearing in front of a decisionmaker, or other legal/policy setting, from digging down into details of certain laws and preparing documents for submission to state and federal agencies and courts.
Contact Us
Kim Diana Connolly, Director
Peter Dellinger, Of Counsel and Adjunct Instructor
Vanessa Glushefski, Of Counsel
Annabel Mireles, Staff Attorney
Rae Shih, Adjunct instructor
University at Buffalo,
School of Law
507 O'Brian Hall, North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
716-645-2167
law-celc@buffalo.edu
In addition to pure service, student attorneys choose particular goals upon which to personally focus, and engage in deep reflection on the process of becoming a lawyer throughout the semester. Student attorneys will leave the clinic with experience in applied research, client interviewing and counseling, advocacy, fact investigation, drafting, teamwork, and other profession-ready skills.
There are twice weekly group classes on campus, some involving clinic students in other clinics in the clinical program. These weekly classes are devoted to instruction in substantive law, important legal skills, and other professional topics. There are also separate team meetings (scheduled around other student attorney obligations) with the instructors to address current client matters, as well as project reviews, strategy making, problem resolution, and work assignments. Student attorneys often schedule additional working meetings with colleagues on their own throughout the semester. Active participation in these meetings, and in occasional client and stakeholder meetings that may take place off-site during the day and in the evening, is expected of each student enrolled in the Clinic.
The work of the clinic in Fall 2022 includes COVID-related unemployment matters, assessing adequacy of police training, examining possible civil responses to racially-motivated violence, and protecting the civil rights of veterans.
Rising 2Ls and 3Ls can apply to join this clinic. Come make a difference for those in need, while developing your expertise in needed practice areas!