Teaching Innovation

Judith Scully, Presented an all star line- up of guest speakers and activities for my Social Justice Advocacy class that included high profile lawyers such as Chase Strangio from the ACLU, Nora Benavidez from PEN, Purvi Shah from Movement Law Lab and Alana Greer from the Community Justice Project. In total the class included interviews of a dozen lawyers from all segments of the social justice advocacy and the law realm including economic development and property issues. Students were required to ask questions and keep a daily journal about the issues introduced by our guest speakers. They were also required to write three 5-10 page essays on issues discussed throughout the semester and to share their research with the entire class. The course includes a two day class discussion on Trauma — its impact on the brain, how to develop resiliency to diminish the impact of trauma, how trauma manifests itself in the legal profession, how to manage secondary trauma and the trauma of our clients; and finally, the significance of self care and professional assistance in dealing with trauam. The two sections on Trauma concluded with students creating their own self care plans to manage themselves as they prepare to enter the legal profession as a social justice advocate. The last day of class included a discussion of how can lawyers justify working in an unjust system, Social Justice Advocacy and the Law, January 2021