To learn more about the Clinical Curriculum and Registration, please visit our Clinical Registration Center. You can also find more information on How to Register for Clinics and How Clinical Credits Work.

For more information about this clinic, please visit the Clinic Website and OCP Blog Highlights.

Enrollment in this clinic will fulfill the HLS JD pro bono requirement.

Required Class Component: Special Education Advocacy for Students Impacted by Trauma (2 spring classroom credits). This clinic and course are bundled; your enrollment in this clinic will automatically enroll you in the required course.
Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: None.
By Permission: No.
Add/Drop Deadline: Early drop of November 15, 2024.
Placement Site: HLS.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation session on Friday, January 31, 2025 from 1:00-4:00pm.

The Education Law Clinic: Individual Representation engages students in individual client representation in special education as well as systemic change advocacy to advance the school success of children who have endured highly adverse childhood experiences. Students use the legal tools contained in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and related laws (including the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1972, federal Medicaid laws, and federal and state statutes regarding confidentiality, among others) to advocate for individual remedies that will enable their client’s children to succeed in school. Students will utilize research from psychology, neurobiology, and education about the effects of trauma on learning to inform their representation. Depending on the posture of the cases in the clinic, students will represent clients either at the first administrative hearing level – the IEP team meeting – or at the administrative appeal level – the Bureau of Special Education Appeals. Past students have made enormous differences in the lives of children by obtaining an appropriate education, and in many cases reversing school exclusions, for individual children at school. Though the major focus of students’ clinic work will be direct client representation, students will also engage in systemic advocacy that furthers the Clinic’s broader mission. In recent semesters, this has included conducting legal trainings for expert evaluators and community-based mental health providers so they can assist their families to navigate the special education system at school and assert their legal rights. The Education Law Clinic is part of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI), the mission of which is to ensure that all children, including those traumatized by exposure to violence and other adverse childhood experiences, succeed in school. The clinic’s direct legal representation of individual families is a key strategy in TLPI’s ongoing multi-strategic advocacy campaign to create safe and supportive school environments where all students can learn and thrive.

Successful completion of appropriate written work in this offering satisfies the professional writing requirement for matriculants to the J.D. program from 2023 onward.