Fall 2012
    Law No.: LAW8616
    Sched. No.: 112820666

Immigration Law Clinic
Section 1
X
Ford, Douglas B.



Administrative Information:
During SIS enrollment, check on SIS for real-time enrollment numbers
Days, Times (Room):W, 1130-1330 (SL276)
Credits:4Type:Clinic
Capacity:6 **This information is current as of 06/12/2013 06:17:57 AM**
Current Enrollment:6 **This information is current as of 06/12/2013 06:17:57 AM**

Course Description:

Students will be assigned multiple clients and each will handle at least one complicated case involving extensive client interviewing, factual investigation, and legal brief(s) for asylum, specialized victims relief, deportation defense and other matters. This semester-long clinic is offered in conjunction with the Legal Aid Justice Center. Students will have a variety of responsibilities in the Clinic where they will be learning to make critical legal judgments in the service of their clients

Clients come from diverse backgrounds and frequently have unusual factual scenarios that bring them to the doors of Legal Aid. Students will be expected to work with the clients and understand what they want and what we can pursue for them through available legal mechanisms. Women victims of violence are a priority at Legal Aid. Such victims can have avenues to legal status, sometimes through asylum, but also through remedies made possible by the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), including a "U visa" for victims of crimes. Such women and others can be victims of gang violence and the clinic represents several clients in asylum and other proceedings. In another category of cases, we have clients appealing denials of applications for status, clients appealing for special categorization or procedures or clients who have cases complicated by past criminal or immigration history. Such cases can require coordination with law enforcement and/or social services agencies. For example, we have represented one child where deportation proceedings needed to be prolonged in order to make administrative appeals to another agency seeking status for the client.

The Clinic and Legal Aid are more than free counsel for qualifying clients, but also a community service. It provides an orientation to basic rights and available services to walk-ins and the wider community. We make a particular effort to assist the undocumented or at least ensure those that come to our doors understand what rights and options they do and do not have. Much of this work is with Latin Americans with limited English and Spanish language ability is a plus. Students are expected to have some flexibility to accommodate the schedules of clients.

The Clinic meets for a weekly seminar that shifts from substantive law and skills, to analysis of problems in our cases, as the semester progresses. We will begin with a review of core concepts in the immigration field and the counseling of clients, and then review in more depth specific substantive forms of relief needed for our clients. We will cover skills needed in the Clinic, such as eliciting information from abuse victims and working through cultural differences. Each student schedules weekly supervision with Doug Ford, where issues specific to the students’ cases are analyzed and they coordinate the overall plan of action for the students’ cases. Students must have flexibility to schedule two seminar sessions in the first weeks of the semester at other than the scheduled time. These “additional” seminars replace the last two seminars in the regular slot and thus the seminars finish early.

Application Instructions: Interested students MUST submit an application consisting of a resume and a brief, (paragraph or two) statement outlining reasons for taking the clinic, relevant course work/experience, preferred semester of enrollment, and foreign language skills. Spanish language ability, especially, is a plus factor. E-mail your application directly to Clinic Director, Doug Ford (dford@virginia.edu). Admission granted on a rolling basis beginning now, until clinic is full.

NOTE: Laptops are not allowed during class sessions.

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: Enrolled students who do not attend the first class session will be dropped.
ENROLLMENT LIMITATION: Students may enroll in one clinic per semester. On a space-available basis, students may petition to enroll in a second clinical offering after the add/drop period has ended.
PREREQUISITE or CONCURRENT: Immigration Law or Refugee Law and Policy. Students with significant experience in the refugee or immigration fields may seek a waiver.
COURSE REQUIREMENT: Interviews; investigations; counseling; organization and presentation of evidence, applications and/or legal briefs required by clients and potential clients

Prerequisites:Immigration Law. Students with significant experience in refugee or immigration fields may seek a waiver.
This course is on the professional skills course list.