The CUNY School of Law launched the Economic Justice Project (EJP) in 1997 in response to regressive welfare policies adopted by the City of New York. One of the tragic consequences of "welfare reform" in New York was that it forced thousands of individuals who had been pursuing college degrees at CUNY to quit school in order to fulfill stringent new "workfare" requirements. Most of these individuals were single mothers struggling to obtain the skills and academic credentials needed for jobs that could lift their families out of poverty.

The EJP has responded to this challenge on several fronts, providing direct representation to hundreds of CUNY undergraduates, collaborating closely with and supporting the organizing and political efforts of the Welfare Rights Initiative and other grassroots organizations, and engaging in legislative and other systemic advocacy.

In recognition of these efforts, the New York State Bar Association selected the Project for the President's Pro Bono Service Law Student Group Award in 2002, and the Clinical Legal Education Association gave the Project its Award for Excellence in 2004.

The theory, genesis and structure of the Project are described in Poverty Law and Community Activism: Notes From a Law School Clinic, 150 U. Pa .L. Rev. 173 (2001).

Economic Justice Project (Full Description)