Clinical Dean and Professor Carmen Huertas-Noble on the Year Ahead

I am committed to and have a deep understanding of our Clinical Program and pedagogy, as well as actively helping our Law School become a more robust anti-racist institution.

I founded the Community and Economic Development Clinic (CEDC) at CUNY Law, and have since trained over 200 students in cooperative law.

My particular legal expertise in creating democratic workplaces and governance structures as well as my thorough knowledge of the Not For Profit Corporation Law will reinforce our core curricular structure while also starting to strengthen our Clinical Program’s operational infrastructure to support our substantial growth in the numbers of students enrolled during the day and in our expanding evening program.

I am deeply immersed in clinical pedagogy in a social justice context. Since joining CUNY, I have actively participated in clinical and other academic conferences and have taken on leadership roles in our national clinical legal education community. I have served on the Executive Committee of the AALS Clinical Section and served as Chair of the AALS Clinicians of Color Committee.

The CEDC Clinic is nationally known for its innovation.

One student-led initiative focusing on union coops has significantly contributed to the national recognition of our union coop work. The CEDC Clinic’s innovative union coop work, including co-founding and incorporating 1 Worker 1 Vote, a national nonprofit founded to build networks of unionized worker-owned cooperatives to overcome structural inequalities of opportunity, mobility, and income, also contributed to my induction into the Cooperative Hall of Fame where the work of CUNY Law, the Clinical Program, and the CEDC Clinic was spotlighted. All these efforts contribute to the excellent reputation of our Clinical Program and of our Law School.

I was mentored at CUNY Law to understand the dual mission of the law school to prepare excellent lawyers in the service of human needs and to provide access to the legal profession for those who remain underrepresented. I also understand the role of our clinics in being the capstone experience for students, where students leave prepared to represent clients in communities most directly impacted by systemic injustices. I am deeply immersed in clinical pedagogy in a social justice context. I have also served on MSLS’s board for many years and have developed a nuanced understanding of our operational needs. I am completely dedicated to serving our Clinical Program and the Law School by continuing to build a more robust anti-racist curriculum and lawyering practice.

What she’s most excited about and what she hopes to accomplish in the coming year:

I am eager to continue to build our program and work with the community to engage in progressive lawyering that centers movement lawyering and anti-racist approaches in individual and group representation.

As Interim Clinic Dean, I seek to collectively solidify and create policies and procedures that include sustaining signature parts of our pedagogical program, fostering innovation, and reinforcing our commitment to social justice lawyering in a way that centers people’s humanity. Our ultimate goal continues to be to graduate excellent public interest lawyers with the theoretical perspectives and tools to engage in progressive lawyering with anti-racist lawyering approaches for today’s political-economic environment.

As Interim Clinic Dean, I will support the people and infrastructure that allows us all to do our nationally-recognized client representation on behalf of the most marginalized of communities. I will devote my attention to assisting our colleagues in navigating their tenure processes and bringing more job security to others. I will help ensure a smooth transition during a difficult year when we are returning to in-person learning. As someone acutely aware of the demands that have been placed upon us each during the last year, I look forward to building out our curriculum and technology to improve our post-completely remote work experience.

On gratitude for her community:

I would like to thank all of my CUNY colleagues, including, students, staff, and faculty.

Our students, faculty, administration, and staff all believe strongly in our public interest mission and social justice values and strive to implement them through our work at and on behalf of the law school. Our students, in particular, also represent the social change we want to see in the world and in the profession. Not only do they work with marginalized communities to build power and create social change, they often come from those communities themselves. Thus, our students are changing both the face and nature of lawyering to create a diverse profession that struggles to uphold the honor of the law.

While I am grateful to so many who have mentored me, I am especially grateful for those who mentored me since I first started my career at CUNY Law, Sameer Ashar, Beryl Blaustone, Sue Bryant, Brian Glick, Natalie Gomez-Velez, Susan Jones, Steve Loffredo, Steve Zeidman, and Ruthann Robson along with my peer mentors John Whitlow, Missy Risser-Lovings, Chris Adams, Liliana Yanez, and Ramzi Kassem.  I would also like to especially thank alums, Jamaal Bailey, Dave Eisenstein, Stephen Edel, Judy Edwards, Andrea Jones, Chris Michael, Bright Lim, Alejandro Lurati, and Anthony Posada.  And of course my husband, child, and sisters.  It takes community at every stage.