LAW 7905

Advocacy for LGBT Communities Clinic I

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2015-2016.

The LGBT clinic is dedicated to advancing the legal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The clinic represents diverse members of the LGBT community in a variety of legal matters and undertakes non-litigation projects to advance LGBT equality. All clinic students work on both an individual case and a non-litigation advocacy project. Students develop skills such as interviewing, client counseling, fact-finding, legal research, brief-writing, negotiating on behalf of clients, and conducting hearings. Examples of individual litigation cases are: representing a lesbian woman seeking asylum from Jamaica based on her sexual orientation and assisting a transgender woman in a men's prison challenging the conditions of her confinement. Students will handle all stages of any legal proceedings in immigration court, state court, or other forums. Examples of advocacy projects include presenting a community education workshop in how LGBT seniors can protect their legal rights and writing a report on access to domestic violence shelters for LGBT domestic violence victims. The seminar portion is a practice-oriented examination of advocacy on behalf of LGBT people and of social justice lawyering generally.

When Offered Fall, spring.

Course Attribute (CU-CEL)
Satisfies Requirement Satisfies the skills requirement.

Comments Attendance is mandatory at the first class. Students who wish to apply to the clinic must submit a resume, transcript, and short essay (no more than 2 pages) to Prof. Hazeldean. Students who have questions or would like more information about the clinic are encouraged to email Prof. Hazeldean (shazeldean@cornell.edu) and schedule a meeting. This course requires off premises travel to meet with clients and participate in hearings.

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