Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2011

First Page

563

Journal Title Abbreviation

Clinical L. Rev.

Abstract

The integrated approach to clinical legal education enables law students to explore and to utilize more than one legal advocacy strategy simultaneously to achieve social change. This framework facilitates law students’ ability to develop a range of essential lawyering skills including reflecting upon the connection between law and social justice by addressing the broader social problems impacting our communities. The integrated approach has been accepted as an effective clinic structure, and is being successfully developed and applied in a range of ways that are best suited to specific legal issues and geographic regions. In this article the authors, who are new professors, describe their experiences with two integrated legal clinics: the Arizona State University Civil Justice Clinic advocating for servicemembers, veterans, and military families and the Housing and Employment Law Clinic at the University of North Dakota School of Law advocating for fair access to housing. In doing so, we share our vision of what constitutes an effective integrated clinic and its contribution to the development of the next generation of social justice advocates. Finally, we explore unique pedagogical challenges and questions this model poses for faculty contemplating clinic redesign as a way to achieve broader solutions for communities and expanded educational opportunities for law students.

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