Access to Justice Clinic – Women's Rights Division

This clinic provides students with the opportunity to work on research and writing; preparation of white papers and amicus briefs before global and regional tribunals; working with data; gathering information; and collaboration with organizational clients, including non-governmental organizations, inter-governmental organizations, and United Nations entities. Students will be divided into teams and work directly on legal issues and processes with entities such as Amnesty International, Equality Now, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, among others. Students will also present their work and research and participate in project strategy meetings. Faculty will supervise students in project conception, research, and drafting.  Students in this Clinic enjoy the same close supervision and mentorship that is a hallmark of the GW Clinics as well as the certification to practice as student-attorneys. The time commitment and scope of lawyering work involved in this Clinic, however, are more limited than those in our traditional 4-6 credit clinics.

In the seminar, students focus on client counseling, collaboration and coalition work with attorneys; research and drafting; strategic thinking; and ethics. Classroom exercises prepare students for the legal work they will engage in. In the seminar, students also learn the substantive law they need to engage in their lawyering work. Reflection is an important part of the clinic experience and will be incorporated throughout the semester. Finally, in seminar, students consider access to justice and how to reform our legal system to address bias, discrimination, and injustice. The seminar is taught collaboratively with faculty who direct other divisions of the Access to Justice Clinic. 

Students in the Access to Justice Clinic – Women’s Rights Clinic will gain critical insight into the role of lawyers and advocates in the fields of women’s rights and access to justice. Students will work on specific legal projects with a variety of organizational clients, under the close supervision of clinical faculty who will support them in their lawyering skills. They will apply in practice the main domestic, regional, and global standards related to women’s rights. They will leave this intensive clinical experience with exposure to substantive law, procedures, strategies, and opportunities, and gain key skills for their professional development and identity formation, which will help them in their future job performance and marketability. Students will be assessed for the quality of their support, engagement, and submissions; the thoroughness and effectiveness of their legal research and writing; their ability to establish a rapport and respond to client needs; their participation in client meetings and follow-up; and their commitment and professionalism.
 

This 2-credit clinic is intended to provide a clinical experience to students who may not have the ability to devote more credits or time to lawyering work. At the same time, students will be engaged in the practice of law, which can be unpredictable and demanding. Students will be expected to devote an average of 7 hours per week to their Clinic work. The work will ebb and flow during the semester, requiring substantially more work when working under a particular deadline and less work between deadlines. We ask that students be prepared to be as flexible as possible.  

Students will be selected based on their potential to provide high quality, client-centered legal work in projects and matters focused on women’s rights and access to justice. Faculty will consider students’ interest in and commitment to the practice of women’s rights and access to justice. Students who have not yet been able to explore these areas should not be deterred from applying but should explain in their applications their interest in and enthusiasm about working on these issues.  

Interested students must fill out the Uniform Clinic Application from the law school's myGW website under "Clinics," where a complete set of application instructions are posted at least a few weeks prior to registration. Students may contact Professor Rosa Celorio to discuss the Clinic generally or to ask specific questions. Permission of the instructor is required prior to registration. Students may not enroll in this course and in Law 6668 (Field Placement) unless they have the written permission of the Clinic Director and the Assistant Dean of Field Placement.