|
The Community Legal
Resource Network (CLRN), started in 1998, is a collaborative that supports CUNY
Law School students as they work to set up and run solo or small-group practices
devoted to serving pressing needs of the poor and disadvantaged in communities
that are underserved by lawyers.
The personal and
professional rewards of such practice can be great, and increasing access to
justice in underserved communities is an enormously important sector of public
interest law, the specialty of CUNY School of Law. Without mentoring support
and additional training, it is easy for new attorneys to founder in isolated,
economically precarious, situations. CLRN, based at the Law School, also helps
new attorneys “find” one another for networking opportunities through virtual
connections such as e-mail and other modern technologies. Individual members
thus retain autonomy and the ability to locate in a community of their choice
while, at the same time, tapping into the virtual community of some 300
lawyers.
In late 2007, CLRN
also established a new project, the Incubator for Justice, in Manhattan. The
Incubator trains CLRN members, over an 18-month period, in basic business
issues such as billing, record-keeping, technology, bookkeeping and taxes
while, at the same time, facilitating Incubator participants’ involvement in
larger justice initiatives and in subject-based training in immigration law,
labor and employment and other topics that will arise continually as these
attorneys build their practices.
The ultimate goal
both of CLRN and the Incubator: continuing legal education tailored to members'
needs, and a sophisticated mentoring program to make its members financially,
professionally, and personally successful, and help them achieve their
individual justice missions.
Alum Speaks out on CLRN's Meaning to Her
”Were it not for CLRN, I would not have developed such
a thriving immigration practice that today provides legal immigration services
for artists, families, businesses, battered women, asylum seekers, and pro
bono, among other clients.
"CLRN provided me a
critical service 10 years ago when I started my own immigration practice. As a
young attorney practicing solo, I very much depended on the CLRN support group
of veteran immigration attorneys who would review letters I had written; update
me on the law; and discuss ethical, legal and practical issues. Moreover, CLRN
helped get me fluent with the novelty of email (year 2000) so that when amnesty
came in December 2000, I could use this rapid communication device to respond
to clients quickly and easily, improving my efficiency and making deadlines
that might not otherwise have been made. CLRN remains yet another excellent
resource that CUNY Law provides to its alumni.”
--Elisabeth Ames, Class of 1996
|
|
