The School of Law has been
at the forefront of several innovative community
partnerships to further social justice.
Rhode
Island Medical-Legal Partnership for
Children In 2002, the School of Law was a
founding partner of the Rhode Island Family
Advocacy Program - now called Rhode Island
Medical-Legal Partnership for Children
(RIMLPC) - a medical-legal
collaborative that offers legal services
to low-income families in health care settings.
Under the supervision of an attorney from
R.I. Legal Services, RWU law students provide
legal assistance at Hasbro Children's Hospital
and other Providence-based health clinics.
In this interdisciplinary setting, law students
collaborate with doctors, social workers,
and medical students from Brown Medical
School.
The School of Law offers a course to
RIMLPC participants and other interested students,
entitled "Poverty, Health, and Law."
In joint classes held with students from
Brown Medical School, students work
together on case simulation and explore
interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving.
Racial Justice Task Force In May 2004, with support from
the Rhode Island Foundation, the School
of Law sponsored a Racial Justice Colloquium
to bring together local lawyers and representatives
from community organizations to build partnerships
and address racial justice issues in Rhode
Island.
As a result of the Colloquium, the Racial
Justice Task Force was formed, to focus
on issues of access to justice, particularly
for communities of color. Subcommittees
were created to address four primary issues:
criminal justice, education, housing, and
immigration.
The committees are made up of public interest
and private attorneys, representatives from
community organizations, and RWU law students,
faculty, and administrators. The School of
Law facilitates the meetings of the Task
Force.
Law students support the work of the committees
through the school's Public Service Program
and Community Justice and Legal Assistance
Clinic, and faculty lend their expertise
to the committees.
Pro Bono Collaborative
With generous support from the Rhode Island
Foundation, the Pro Bono Collaborative (PBC)
partners attorneys, law students, and
community-based organizations (CBOs) to work
collectively on discrete legal projects that
serve these CBOs' clients - low-income,
at-risk individuals and families. Started as
a pilot project in 2006, the PBC is growing
strong, currently facilitating legal
partnerships with Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP,
Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP, Edwards
Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, Hinckley Allen
Snyder LLP, Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C.,
and Motley Rice LLC. Our current partnering
CBOs are Meeting Street School, Casey Family
Services, Housing Network, R.I., Church
Community Housing Corporation, Mariposa
Center, the Institute for the Study &
Practice of Nonviolence, Women’s Center
R.I., and the George A. Wiley Center.
Street Law In late 2006, the School of Law was selected
as one of just ten law schools to
participate in the Diversity Pipeline
Initiative, a Street Law, Inc. initiative
funded by the Law School Admissions Council.
The School of Law initiated its Street Law
program in 2002 and currently partners with
the Thurgood Marshall Law Society to send
law students and attorneys into urban high
school classrooms to teach students about
their legal rights and responsibilities. The
Diversity Pipeline Initiative will support
the law school in its efforts to incorporate
activities and mentoring for young people of
color geared toward encouraging them to
consider legal careers. During the spring
2007 semester, 16 law students were active
in nine high schools in Providence, Central
Falls, Cranston, Pawtucket, Newport, and
North Scituate.
