CUNY Law faculty accept national award and contribute to national conversations on the evolving role of law clinics in a time of crisis and change
CUNY School of Law faculty are national leaders in clinical legal education, shaping the future of public interest lawyering through community-rooted advocacy, engaged scholarship, and pedagogical innovation. At the 2025 American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Clinical Conference, CUNY Law clinicians presented on a range of critical issues across public interest lawyering, abolitionist practice, immigration advocacy, human rights, building community power, and clinical pedagogy.
This year, Professor Nermeen Arastu, Co-Director of the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic, was recognized with the prestigious CLEA Award for Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project for her leadership of the Credible Fear Interview Orientation (CFIO) Project, a groundbreaking initiative that brings remote legal support to asylum seekers in expedited removal proceedings. The CFIO Project is a manifestation of CUNY Law’s approach to clinical education, where faculty-driven innovation, strong community partnerships and student advocacy address urgent needs while challenging systemic barriers. Professor Arastu’s award is a powerful affirmation of CUNY Law’s vision for how to train the next generation of public interest lawyers.
CUNY Law Faculty Presenters at AALS Clinical Conference 2025
Christopher Adams
Community & Economic Development Clinic
Session: Responsibility and Responsiveness: What Roles Should Lawyers Play in Shaping Society
Nermeen Arastu
Co-Director, Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic
Session: Navigating the Border – Ethical, Existential, and Logistical Considerations in Law School Service Trips
David C. Baluarte
Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law
Session: Clinicians Abroad: How to Design, Win, and Succeed in a Fulbright Fellowship
Christian De Vos
Visiting Clinical Professor, Human Rights & Gender Justice Clinic
Session: Confronting Trump 2.0: Reflecting on the Responsibilities of Fundamental Rights and Human Rights Lawyers in Clinical Legal Education
Carmen Huertas-Noble
Founding Director and Co-Director, Community & Economic Development Clinic
Session: Responsibility and Responsiveness: What Roles Should Lawyers Play in Shaping Society
Tarek Z. Ismail
Co-Director, Family Law Practice Clinic
Session: Practicing Abolitionism: The Role of Law Clinics in Leveraging the Movement to Abolish Family Policing
Donna H. Lee
Co-Director, Family Law Practice Clinic
Session: Decolonizing the Clinical Seminar
Talia Peleg
Co-Director, Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic
Session: Works-in-Progress Group 1: Immigration and State Law
Paper: The Unseen Deportation Dilemma in Record Clearing Policies: Crafting Immigrant Inclusive State Reform
Missy Risser
Co-Director, Community & Economic Development Clinic
Session: Responsibility and Responsiveness: What Roles Should Lawyers Play in Shaping Society
Nicole Smith Futrell
Co-Director, Defenders Clinic
Session: Can You Be an Abolitionist and a Public Defender?
Cynthia Soohoo
Co-Director, Human Rights & Gender Justice Clinic
Session: Confronting Trump 2.0: Reflecting on the Responsibilities of Fundamental Rights and Human Rights Lawyers in Clinical Legal Education
Lisa J. Waters
Assistant Professor of Law
Session 1: Modernizing Clinical and Experiential Training in Criminal Defense to Reflect the Realities of Practice in the Era of Advancing Forensics and Technology
Session 2: Works-in-Progress Group 14: Criminal Law: Evidentiary Issues
Paper: Examination by Automation: A Critical Look at Emerging Technology in Forensic Firearm Evidence
John Whitlow
Community & Economic Development Clinic
Session: Working with Tenant Associations and Grassroots Tenant Organizations
Steve Zeidman
Founder, Second Look Project; Co-Director, Defenders Clinic
Session 1: Can You Be an Abolitionist and a Public Defender?
Session 2: The Importance of, and Strategies for, Teaching Hope: Turning Critique into Problem-Solving, Cynicism into Action