About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

17 Clinical L. Rev. 615 (2010-2011)
Bridging the Justice Gap: Building Community by Responding to Individual Need

handle is hein.journals/clinic17 and id is 619 raw text is: BRIDGING THE JUSTICE GAP: .BUILDING COMMUNITY BY RESPONDING TO INDIVIDUAL NEED ALIZABETH NEWMAN* It is the beauty of our legal era that there is no longer a single correct way to lawyer. According to the literature, the public inter- est lawyer has progressed on a continuum from a well-intended (al- beit regnant) attorney acting on behalf of the poor to a (rebellious) community lawyer, working in collaboration with community groups to fuel social change. Still, the unmet legal need in low-income com- munities grows ever larger; as a profession, we are failing to make the law accessible and the legal process empowering. We have yet to sub- stantially impact the root causes of the problems our indigent clients face. As progressive-minded attorneys, we struggle to determine where to direct our resources, whom to serve, and how to construct collaborative projects while being mindful of our professional obligations. This article examines the unmet need in marginalized communi- ties and teases out criteria helpful in selecting and evaluating different lawyering approaches. It reviews a variety of lawyering trends and identifies a missed opportunity for progressive lawyers to bridge the gap between aiding isolated, under-served individuals and working toward social justice by supporting mobilized community organiza- tions. Rather than choosing to focus our work in one arena or the other, lawyers can transform the gap itself by turning the breadth of immediate individual need into an incentive to bring isolated individ- uals into collective action. The article presents collaborative individ- ual law (CIL) as a model for doing so. It describes and critically examines a CIL project to illustrate the model's benefits and potential pitfalls. It also addresses how CIL can be structured to adhere to pro- fessional ethics rules and how those rules might be modified to facili- tate greater experimentation. * Clinical Instructor and Director of Immigrant Initiatives at CUNY School of Law. First, I am indebted to Sue Bryant, who has been a constant inspiration and mentor in clinical teaching and scholarship. I am grateful for the guidance of my editor and the thoughtful comments of Sameer Ashar, as well as the valuable input from my summer scholarship support group: Babe Howell, Angela Burton, Douglas Cox, and Nichole Miller. I have been enriched by the partnerships with the former and current directors of SEPA Mujer, Concepci6n Mendez and Martha Maffei, and with my colleague, Martha Garcia. I extend my appreciation to the research assistance of Andrew Burtless, Shelly Goldfarb, Mona Moayad and Vinita Vamath. I also thank Susan Calvin, Lisa Reiner, Ginni Stern and Liliana YAnez for their encouragement. Finally, I am grateful to my family, Omar, Max, Renee and Paul, who generously provided me the time to write. 615

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most