syllabus

Annie Kim, Assistant Dean for Public Service            
Director, Program in Law and Public Service            
Director, Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center 

Class: Thurs., 3:40-6:10 p.m. | WB278
Office Hours: Wed. 1:30-4:00 p.m., SL243
Meetings also by appointment
akim@law.virginia.edu | 434.243.4318        

COURSE OVERVIEW

Public interest lawyers do far more than represent a single client for a single outcome. Attorneys at nonprofits select their clients and build their cases with the goal of reforming the law. They construct complex legal and policy campaigns to protect vulnerable communities. Their counterparts at government agencies make crucial decisions about whether and how to pursue enforcement actions to protect the public.

In this course, we’ll keep these unique characteristics of public interest lawyering in mind as we focus on some of the most essential skills that new public interest attorneys apply on a regular basis. Working frequently in small teams, students will develop their skills in areas such as case evaluation and investigation, client interviews, coalition-building, drafting demand letters and other forms of targeted written advocacy, legislative analysis, and creating legal educational resources/trainings. In lieu of a final paper or exam, students will perform oral and written assignments throughout the semester for which they’ll receive substantial instructor and peer feedback. 

The website I’ve created for this course (www.lpsclass.org) will provide a full course schedule for the semester and weekly class agendas.


What will you learn?

Two priorities will guide our work this semester: (1) developing some of the essential skills that new public interest lawyers exercise within a simulated, nonprofit law office setting; and (2) understanding how public interest attorneys use evolving, multifaceted strategies to respond to complex legal problems.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to use the knowledge you’ve gathered in these arenas to start building a foundation for successful practice as a public interest attorney. Specifically, you’ll have opportunities to:

  • Analyze complex legal and policy issues and educate both clients and the public about their potential impacts. 

  • Draft, edit, and peer-critique advocacy documents.

  • Practice common oral and written communication skills that  new attorneys seek to develop, such as facilitating and participating in staff attorney meetings, conducting client-centered interviews, and communicating by email with supervisors.

  • Evaluate arguments from opposing viewpoints for the purpose of strengthening your client advocacy.

  • Expand your understanding of how nonprofit advocacy organizations select their clients and coordinate evolving, multifaceted advocacy strategies to effect change within the broader context of community lawyering principles.


HOW WILL you LEARN IN THIS CLASS?

We’ll be practicing legal skills and exploring civil rights issues using two case studies about transgender workers’ rights and immigration detainer agreements. Since this is a practical skills class in which you’ll learn by doing, during most weeks of the semester you’ll submit a written assignment. Some assignments will take no more than an hour. Others, like the demand letter, may take several hours and advanced planning. The good news is that you’ll be done with work for this class by the start of the reading period. 

In-Class Activities.  Each week I’ll post an agenda for our class session by Thursday morning at 9 a.m. our class website. This agenda will include links to any materials that you may need to pull up during class. During many classes we’ll spend time engaging in staff attorney meetings and discussions for our fictional nonprofit, Civil Justice Defenders (CJD). We’ll also have plenty of opportunities for traditional large- and small-group discussions, short lectures, peer review/critique of major work products, and several guest speakers.

Readings. Our readings will provide you the practical insight and substantive legal foundation you’ll need to practice legal skills in this class. They’ll consist of short articles, videos, law review excerpts, classmates’ writing for peer review, and some practitioner-authored documents such as demand letters, complaints, and briefs. The course schedule will be posted on our class website (www.lpsclass.org). All links will take you to files in Canvas or readings available on external websites, except for the required text, Deborah Stone’s Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (Third Edition).

Legal Practice Assignments. All your assignments in this class will be designed to provide you a realistic sense of public interest legal practice. One week you might have a short email to write to a CJD supervisor explaining how you’d break down the elements of a civil rights class. Another week you might be drafting a demand letter to send to a government agency or a Freedom of Information Act request. All assignments will be due in Canvas on Wednesday nights before class by 11:59pm EST unless otherwise noted. Here’s an overview of the assignments:

  • New client/case evaluation assignments focused on analyzing claims, planning and conducting a client interview, and communicating with supervisors; 

  • Investigation and advocacy assignments focused on gathering information through a Freedom of Information Act letter and writing a demand letter to local governing officials; 

  • Traditional court-based advocacy assignments focused on analyzing pleadings and drafting part of a brief; and

  • Public educational and narrative construction exercises in the form of website article writing and the delivery of a live, recorded “know-your-rights” workshop over Zoom.

Feedback and Office Hours. Throughout the semester, I will provide detailed feedback on major assignments and quick feedback on smaller assignments. My goal is to provide feedback within a few weeks of each assignment submission. I also strongly encourage everyone to take advantage of my office hours and/or make appointments to discuss questions that you may have, your progress in the class, and whatever else is on your mind. Meeting with students one-on-one is one of my favorite parts of teaching! In addition to my regular office hours on Wednesdays from 1:30-4:00 pm, I’ll be happy to meet by appointment at other times in-person and by Zoom. Email me any time to set up an appointment.


HOW YOU’LL DEMONSTRATE YOUR LEARNING

Work Products (75% of final grade):  The assignments described in Section III will give you opportunities throughout the semester to demonstrate your written and oral advocacy skills. Collectively, they will constitute 75% of your final grade. Detailed instructions and a rubric for the major assignments will be provided early in the semester. 

Individual assignments will not be graded on a curve. You’ll receive a point-based grade for each assignment. I will apply the curve to your final grade for this course after calculating the cumulative points you’ve earned for these assignments and your class contribution grade.

Becoming a strong editor of your own work is an important skill for public interest lawyers. To practice this skill, you’ll have the option to submit a revision of one of your written assignments for the possibility of earning a higher grade. If you do submit a revision, your final grade for that assignment will be given based on the stronger of the two submissions. Any revisions must be submitted through Canvas by Friday, December 3 at 11:59 pm.

Class Contribution (25% of final grade):  Engaging fully with the readings and with your classmates will help you get the most out of this class, particularly since many of our classes will incorporate Civil Justice Defenders staff attorney discussions. There will be both structured and unstructured ways for you to participate (and demonstrate your preparation) in this course. For many classes, we’ll take a structured approach: I’ll ask two students to take on a facilitative role during our interactive class sessions. You’ll sign up for these slots in advance. In other classes, you’ll participate more as you would in a seminar class.

Strong classroom engagement can take various forms, but here are a few things that matter to me:

  • Evidence that you’ve thought carefully about the materials for class that day; 

  • Your willingness to offer opinions and questions to further discussion (even if you’re not 100% confident about your position, which is the way most of us feel); and

  • Your efforts to listen attentively to your colleagues and respond to their comments.

Needless to say, attending every class in a once-weekly class will also be crucial to your success. Missing a class may require completing make-up work to approximate in-class activities, including watching the full class recording and completing exercises/reflective writings. If illness or some other personal emergency might cause you to miss a class, please email me in advance of class about your absence.

LAW SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY RESOURCES & POLICIES

I want you to succeed in this course and get the most out of your time at Virginia Law. If something in your life is preventing you from doing so, I hope you’ll consider coming to talk to me, Student Affairs, our CAPS counselor Dr. Kate Gibson, or one of the many others at UVA who enjoy working with students who are experiencing difficult periods in their lives.

Take a moment to understand how University policies affect you as a student by reading here: https://vpsa.virginia.edu/policies/rights. And, for more information about the Law School’s grading system, please read our Academic Policies (https://www.law.virginia.edu/policies/academic-policies).