Housing Justice Clinic

Students in the Housing Justice Clinic will provide representation to and advocate on behalf of vulnerable individuals and communities at risk of losing their housing. Employing a community-lawyering model, the clinic will work closely with community groups in the housing rights space to identify cases and matters that are most likely to make an impact. Students in the course will work closely with their clients and with community partners. They will learn how to become skilled litigators through cases that impact real people (chiefly eviction lawsuits). They will learn how individual cases can be part of a broader organizing campaign and relate to goals beyond the individual case. This experience will provide significant lawyering training to future practitioners. It will teach students how to advocate effectively for public interest causes through coalition building and the creative use of legal advocacy. It will also provide basic knowledge about how to run a legal practice. 

Each week will include a seminar in which students will learn about the housing landscape in Los Angeles County, the nuts and bolts of eviction cases, different legal tools and models of change relevant to housing advocacy, and ethical and professionalism issues that arise in this work. In addition, students are expected to spend at least 4 hours each week at the clinic’s downtown location doing casework (including client meetings) and meeting with the clinic director for supervision purposes. Students should expect to spend 2-4 hours each week on background readings and course assignments for the seminar, and another 10-14 hours focused on clinic responsibilities, including conducting client meetings, appearing in court, attending community meetings, doing research, assisting with clinic management, and engaging in other forms of casework. Some weeks will likely be heavier than others depending on client needs and case deadlines.