UC Hastings Launches Lawyers for America

Pilot Program Based on Medical Model, Responsive to Legal Marketplace, Justice Gap

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UC Hastings College of the Law introduces Lawyers for America, a pilot program based on the medical model to provide greater access to justice while responding to the challenging legal marketplace for graduating law students.

Based on the Medical Model
While most law students start their third year of law school sitting in the classroom, Lawyers for America students will have the opportunity to spend the year working full-time at a government agency or non-profit organization–and then return for a year, after a break to take the bar, in a paid fellowship position at the same job site.

Access to Justice
"It's no secret that society suffers from a justice gap: that is, a large unmet need for the assistance of lawyers," explains Lawyers for America's executive director, UC Hastings Professor Marsha Cohen. "Our Fellows will provide human capital to partner sites facing high volumes of work and shortages of manpower."

The program is also scalable. "Our first pilot class of fellows will serve in the San Francisco Bay Area, in partnership with UC Hastings," says Cohen, "but the program is available to law schools and their government and nonprofit partners throughout the country." 

"Lawyers for America comes as part of UC Hastings' plan to reboot legal education," says Chancellor and Dean Frank H. Wu. "Not only will this program improve law students' practical skills, it will serve to expand the availability of legal services for those who cannot afford lawyers, and in turn increases the ability of government and legal offices to render such services."

Details
Lawyers for America, Inc. (LfA) is a California charitable corporation that has applied for IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. LfA was founded by UC Hastings College of the Law Professors David Faigman and Marsha Cohen. For more information, please visit www.uchastings.edu/lawyersforamerica.

Media Contact:
Alex A.G. Shapiro, (415) 581-4882, [email protected].

SOURCE UC Hastings College of the Law