The Access to Justice practicum is an opportunity for students to work on advocacy projects from the real world. Projects will generally include amicus briefs, litigation, and/or drafting of legislation, reports, advocacy manuals or public education materials in such areas as access to court, civil rights, disability rights, foster care, public benefits, health care, etc. Each project will involve an important civil rights, poverty law, or access to justice issue for low income people in California or the nation, and students will join a team of advocates working on the project. Unlike in a traditional supervised research project, students in the practicum will be working with the professor and outside advocates, generally from Los Angeles nonprofits, as colleagues on a joint project. They will be held to appropriate standards of professionalism with regard to quality of work and responsibility for meeting deadlines, etc. Past Practicum projects have included litigation (including drafting of complaints and briefs) of three foster care impact litigation cases, ongoing litigation over suspension of drivers licenses for low-income Californians, a report on working conditions in California’s underground economy, amicus briefs to the Ninth Circuit, California Supreme Court and California Court of Appeal in housing, disability rights, FOIA, and labor cases, and drafting of a proposed law and explanatory white paper to combat wage theft.
