What Does a Social Justice Lawyer Need to Know?
13 Pages Posted: 12 Sep 2017
There are 2 versions of this paper
What Does a Social Justice Lawyer Need to Know?
What Does a Social Justice Lawyer Need To Know?
Date Written: August 29, 2017
Abstract
In this paper I share some thoughts about knowledge and abilities that could and perhaps should inform the practice of a social justice lawyer. These thoughts come from my own lawyering, from my research into alternative law degree curriculums and my teaching of law as a tool for social change, and from my working with law students on social justice projects. It is apparent from that work that very little in a student’s law studies prepares them to use their legal knowledge to pursue justice outside the confines of conventional private practice. This is so despite the fact that only a minority of law graduates go into conventional private practice. What, I asked myself, could we be teaching that would better prepare students to use their law degrees to pursue justice?
Keywords: Social justice lawyering, legal education, critical legal theory, law curriculum
JEL Classification: K10, K30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation