Rebellious Lawyering in Big Case Clinics

On the 25th anniversary of the publication of Gerald Lopez’s Rebellious Lawyering, this article contemplates the need to incorporate rebellious lawyering in law reform and international human rights clinics, or as referred in this article, “big case clinics.” It posits that big case clinics require a slightly different approach from other types of clinics, one that builds on the docket choices of community-oriented clinics and collaborative lawyer-client skills taught in small case clinics, but accounts for the limited and distant exposure of students to client communities. This clinic format requires an intentional teaching of rebellious lawyering theory, so that students can not only view their clinic fieldwork through a broader lens, but also learn how to apply this theory to their practice beyond the clinic.