Education Law Clinic / Trauma & Learning Policy Initiative

Students in the Education Law Clinic: Individual Representation provide direct representation to parents/guardians whose children have been affected by family violence or other adverse experiences and who are not getting the special education services they need. Students receive direct one-to-one mentorship and develop a working knowledge of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Massachusetts special education laws.

Students also:

• interview and counsel client;
• conduct factual investigation and legal research;
• develop case strategies;
• collect and analyze school records;
• draft discovery and pleadings;
• work with experts; and
• negotiate with school personnel at team meetings.

In cases scheduled for full administrative hearings, students appear for pre-hearing motions and conduct direct and cross-examinations of witnesses. In addition to learning the basic knowledge and skills associated with special education practice, clinical students gain an understanding of the impact that trauma from exposure to violence can have on a student’s learning and behavior and then factor this understanding into the analysis of a child’s special education needs. The legal remedies law students obtain through their representation have a tremendous positive impact on the lives of individual children.

Students in the Education Law Clinic: Strategic Litigation participate in projects that utilize TLPI’s multiple advocacy strategies (legislative advocacy, administrative advocacy, community outreach, report writing, coalition building, and media strategies) in order to transform systems that affect the lives of children and families.

Past students have:

• organized legislative briefings at the Massachusetts State House on the impact of trauma on learning;
• helped draft legislation;
• made presentations to expert evaluators and child welfare attorneys on special education law;
• organized a domestic violence shelter outreach program; and
• collaborated in a statewide legislative campaign to promote children’s mental health.

Students in the Education Law Clinic: Movement Lawyering will participate in Y-Lab’s Students Speak initiative, which is working to foster a movement for youth voice and power in educational decision making in Massachusetts. Clinic students will support the work of the Students Speak Youth Leadership Team (YLT)—a group of 14 secondary school students from across Massachusetts—to engage their peers in a youth action cycle designed to collectively identify legal remedies that could promote greater youth participation in school-based decision making—and then to advocate together to achieve these remedies. Each clinic student will personally mentor 1-2 youth leaders, coaching them in the development of their leadership and advocacy skills. Together clinic students and youth leaders will co-facilitate focus groups and discussions with broader groups of young people in communities across the state. As young people identify issues of concern in their schools, clinic students will support the YLT to identify common themes and potential solutions. Clinic students will use their burgeoning legal and analytical skills to help the youth translate their desired solutions into feasible legal remedies and then assess and implement various advocacy strategies, which could include legislative advocacy, administrative advocacy, media and communications, and even possibly litigation. At all points, clinic students will be learning how to strike a careful balance in their lawyering between providing necessary scaffolding for their clients to make informed decisions and ensuring that young people authentically lead the direction of the work.

Specific clinic activities will vary depending on the semester and where the young people are in their action cycle, but could potentially include: supporting secondary school students to testify at the Massachusetts legislature and before other public bodies; meeting directly with members of the legislature, the education bureaucracy, and their staff; organizing a legislative briefing; organizing a statewide, day-long Youth Summit; drafting and distributing media advisories, op-eds, and press releases; communicating with and rallying constituents to advocate with their lawmakers; organizing an agenda for and participating in a coalition meeting; using branding and media as strategies for effectively conveying a message; using empirical research as part of an advocacy strategy; and drafting legislation.

Students who enroll in this clinic should be sure that they have at least 2 afternoons free Tue-Thu each week to enable work with youth leaders during afterschool hours. This clinic will also involve some travel to youth programs within an hour of metro Boston and the clinic will provide transportation. Students will be expected to spend a substantial portion of their clinical hours in person in the Yellow House (23 Everett Street) to foster teamwork and enable group planning. Beginning in the third week of the semester, students will be required to attend a one-hour weekly team meeting each Tuesday morning from 9:00-10:00 am. Also, please be sure to consult the course description for the co-requisite seminar, Movement Lawyering for Youth, to review the unique course schedule.

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