UNLOCKING THE POWER OF PANDEMIC PARTNERSHIPS: NEW CLINIC COLLABORATIONS ADDRESSING CRITICAL NEEDS IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES
March 2022 marks the two-year anniversary of what many in the United States have referred to as “the week the world shut down” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 13, 2020, new travel suspensions were issued globally and entire communities were quarantined, adding to the many activities that had already been suspended. Consequently, barriers to justice for litigants and economic opportunity for low-income communities became increasingly prevalent. GW Law Clinics seized the opportunity to strengthen community partnerships and develop long-term collaborations to address the needs of many underserved populations.
Family Justice Litigation Clinic Collaborations Improve Access to Justice
Family Law Clinic
Fall 2021 Family Justice Litigation Clinic, back row: Alexx Privitera (Class of ‘22), Maddie McClain (Class of ‘22), Associate Dean Laurie Kohn, Kevin Goon (Class of ‘22), Olivia Scott (Class of ‘22), Rosalie Wennberg (Class of ‘22), Madeline Zuschnitt (Class of ‘22), Professor Danny Bousquet, Professor Jeannine Gomez. Front row: Dana Gibson (Class of ‘22), Kyle Coffino (Class of ‘23), Brittany Gault (Class of ‘22), Anne Martin (Class of ‘22).
The Family Justice Litigation Clinic (FJLC), directed by Associate Dean Laurie Kohn and co-taught by Professor Danny Bousquet, has developed multiple projects to help potential litigants overcome barriers to accessing justice. What began as an informal partnership with D.C. Superior Court and local law schools in response to the court’s March 2020 closure has grown into multiple projects to serve vulnerable litigants. Dean Kohn launched the Virtual Mediation Project and Law School Service Assistance Project after a series of discussions highlighting where the interests of the courts, litigants, and law school clinics aligned. Each project helps create opportunities for law students interested in meaningful client-counseling opportunities, seeks to reduce the docket backlog at D.C. Superior Court, and improves long-term, equitable, and compassionate access to justice.
Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic Partnerships Address Social Inequality 
Small Business and Community Economic Clinic
Fall 2021 Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic, front left to back left: Professor Susan Jones, Sooyoung Hu (Class of ‘22), Derick Wallace (Class of ‘22), Alice Palkovitz (Class of ‘22), Shazia Siddiqui (Class of ‘22). Front right to back right: Jeanmarie Elican (Class of ‘22), Alyssa Alvarez (Class of ‘23), Isaac Omotayo (Class of ‘22), Ali Sarwari (Class of ‘22), Domenico Pietromonaco (Class of ‘22).
The Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic (SBCEDC), directed by Professor Susan Jones, provides free legal services to Washington, D.C., area entrepreneurs, nonprofit groups, and arts organizations who otherwise would not be able to afford them. For several years, SBCEDC and the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF) have informally partnered on various projects. Increasing equity and economic equality within underserved communities is at the heart of both organization’s mission. Each semester, in addition to client work, SBCEDC student-attorneys engage in an action-research project, giving them the opportunity to address systemic challenges impacting their clients and organizations in the D.C. community. Noticing the unique challenges certain communities had at the height of the pandemic, WACIF and SBCEDC student-attorneys co-hosted an entity formation workshop for Worker Cooperatives, which is a viable employee-ownership business structure and social movement. The workshop was so successful that it inspired the creation of a new action-research publication: The Legal and Business Toolkit for D.C. Worker Cooperatives.
OUR COMMUNITY IMPACT AND HOLISTIC SERVICES
During these challenging times, the GW Law Clinics continue to find innovative ways to holistically address the needs of our community. During the 2020-21 academic year, the clinics provided over 50,000 hours of legal services to our community and served more than 200 clients. Whether we have been working remotely or in the beautiful Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics Building, it remains an honor and privilege to serve our clients and to learn alongside our passionate and motivated student-attorneys.
Health Rights Law Clinic
Health Rights Law Clinic client with “invisible” disabilities successfully qualified for continued home care, which helped ensure suitable care for children in need.
Social Worker Bonnie McIntyre serves in a critical role to help the GW Law Clinics provide holistic services to clients.


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GW LAW CONTINUES TO HONOR A COMMITMENT TO CLINIC EXPANSION
Dean Matthew Visit
Fall 2021 during Dean Matthew's visit to the clinics: Laurie Kohn, Jacob Burns Foundation Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs; Dayna Bowen Matthew, Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law; Andrea Willis-Johnson, Managing Attorney; Milagros Tudela, Administrative Supervisor; and Bonnie McIntyre, Clinics Social Worker.
In addition to the Criminal Defense and Justice Clinic, which launched in fall 2021, and the Civil Access to Justice Clinic, which will launch in spring 2022, Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew recently announced the newest addition to the GW Law Clinics: the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic (IP and Tech Law Clinic). The new IP and Tech Law Clinic will collaborate with and further enhance GW’s nationally ranked Intellectual Property Law Program.

The IP and Tech Clinic, which plans to launch in the 2022-23 academic year, was made possible by a generous bequest from a GW Law alumnus. GW Law Clinics is thrilled to continue its collaboration with the IP Program, broaden its clinical offerings, and provide students with in-depth practical experience that will enhance their doctrinal education and prepare them for careers in a variety of IP practice areas.

As the GW Law Clinics moves into its sixth decade of excellence in clinical legal education, we remain dedicated to expanding our clinical offerings. To read more about this, please see the most recent edition of GW Law Magazine below.
GW LAW CLINIC ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Elenore Wade
The GW Law Clinics is thrilled to congratulate clinic alum and Friedman Fellow Elenore Wade (JD ’18), who recently accepted a tenure-track position with Rutgers Law School, Camden. The Friedman Fellows Program is a two-year fellowship that trains attorneys in public interest lawyering and clinical law teaching. Fellows, who are appointed Visiting Associate Professors of Clinical Law, support faculty in teaching and supervising clinic students. They are also enrolled in a clinical pedagogy program and mentored in their supervision and scholarship. During her time as a fellow, Elenore has taught in the Prisoner and Reentry Clinic alongside Professor Jessica Steinberg. At Rutgers, she will teach criminal law, health law, and legal research and writing.
CLINICAL SCHOLARS, FACULTY INFLUENCE, AND NEWS 
Professor Alberto Benitez
Director, Immigration Clinic

Professor Alberto Benitez recently recorded a new episode of the Testimony podcast with Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew, which is available here. In September 2021, Professor Benitez was again named one of the Best Lawyers in D.C. in immigration law. This is the fourth year in a row that Professor Benitez has been named. Additionally, in October 2021, Professor Benitez co-taught a virtual Immigration Law 101 course at the Universidad Del Salvador (USAL). In March 2022, he also will lead a discussion on “The Biden Administration’s Immigration Policies: A Review,” hosted by the GW Law International and Comparative Legal Studies Program.
Professor Arturo J. Carrillo 
Director, Civil and Human Rights Clinic 

Professor Arturo Carrillo supported two Civil and Human Rights Law Clinic (CHRC) student-attorneys with their published article “Online Content: An International Comparison,” available here. The article, published in the GW International Law and Policy Brief in December 2022, analyzes countries around the world that have varying definitions of harmful online content and different models for regulating those harms. It is a continuation of a CHRC project.
Professor Gutman
Professor Jeffrey Gutman
Director, Public Justice Advocacy Clinic

Professor Jeffrey Gutman recently published a Law 360 article: “States Must Rethink Wrongful Conviction Compensation Laws.” In the article, Professor Gutman analyzes whether and how exonerees across the country have been compensated. Over $3 billion has been paid to individuals who have been wrongfully imprisoned.
Dean Laurie Kohn
Dean Laurie Kohn
Jacob Burns Foundation Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs
Director, Family Justice Litigation Clinic
Director, Civil Access to Justice Clinic

Associate Dean Laurie Kohn presented on legal education and crimes against women to the Envision program at their National Youth Leadership Forum: Law and CSI. Envision is an organization devoted to career exploration and leadership development. In November 2021, Dean Kohn appeared on an episode of the GW Law Podcast, Nothing but Dicta, available here. Dean Kohn was also recently quoted in an article in the Atlantic, “The High Cost of Divorce.”
Professor Paulina Vera
Supervisor, Immigration Clinic

Professor Paulina Vera recently participated in a virtual session hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement. She and 12 other advocates spoke about the unique challenges that transgender and non-binary immigrants face and how the current administration could address these challenges. Representatives from the White House, the Department of Justice, the Executive Office of Immigration Review, the Department of Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services were in attendance. In October 2021, Professor Vera co-taught a virtual Immigration Law 101 course at the Universidad Del Salvador (USAL). In December 2021, Professor Vera taught a two-hour class with 21 Colombian and U.S. law students and attorneys about the intersection of gender and migration in U.S. immigration law as part of a winter course offered by GW Law and Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia. She was recently re-elected to serve on the Board of The Hispanic Bar Association for her third year.
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