Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at Law School celebrates 50

In 2006, Craig Futterman, Clinical Professor in the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the Law School (right), won a civil lawsuit he had brought against the city of Chicago six years earlier. The city settled the lawsuit on behalf of Futterman’s client, Corethian “Dion” Bell (left). Bell had been cleared earlier by DNA evidence in a criminal case, which charged him with the rape and murder of his mother. Bell had been falsely accused of the crime and coerced into confessing during a police interrogation. Bell’s six-year battle in the courts ended with a $1 million settlement.

Photo by Dan Dry

Alumni of the University Law School’s Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic will return to campus Saturday, Feb. 23 to join Law School faculty and other legal experts to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the clinic at a symposium, titled “Out of the Shadow: Clinical Legal Education.”

Several panel discussions are scheduled to explore topics in clinical legal education, including the historical pedagogies of academic and clinical programs, their strengths and weaknesses and implications for the legal profession; an assessment of the “success” of clinical programs and their inherent professional and social value; a lunch-hour panel, during which clinic alumni will discuss the value of their educational experiences and how they impacted their legal careers; and finally, a discussion on the implications for future clinical strategies and methods.

The symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Glen A. Lloyd Auditorium at the Law School, 1111 E. 60th St.

“Throughout its 50 years, the Law School’s clinical programs have served the indigent, often in path-breaking ways, while educating and inspiring our law students,” said Saul Levmore, Dean of the Law School.

“I was at first startled by how often I would encounter alumni, in all kinds of careers, who would tell me that their clinical experiences here were the most worthwhile and memorable parts of their education. I am no longer startled, but so proud of how we have expanded our clinical programs. It is fitting that this 50th anniversary will be celebrated by looking back on all we have done, by celebrating our excellent clinics currently in operation, and then by expanding our clinical programs with the creation of our new Federal Criminal Justice project, to be inaugurated later this year.”

One of the Law School’s newest programs is The Exoneration Project, which represents clients who have been convicted of crimes of which they are innocent. Second- and third-year students are involved in all aspects of post-conviction litigation, with the goal of not only correcting the convictions of innocent persons, but also to shed light on more widespread problems in the criminal justice system.

The Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, established in 1957, serves as a legal aid office for Chicago, with students working on cases with guidance from faculty, assuming advocacy for individuals who have been denied access to justice. The Legal Aid Bureau of United Charities partnered with the Law School in establishing the clinic, which has proved over its 50 years to be a successful model for merging formal law education with hands-on practice.

Students involved in the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic’s work explore advocacy in areas of mental health, police accountability, criminal and juvenile justice, discrimination in the workplace and housing.

Current programs at the clinic include the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project, the Employment Discrimination Project, the Housing Initiative, the Mental Health Project, Appellate Advocacy Project, the Social Service Project, the Immigrant Children’s Advocacy Project and the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship and the Exoneration Project.

Levmore will kick off Saturday’s symposium with welcoming remarks, followed by a panel discussion, including University faculty members Randal Picker (’85), the Paul H. and Theo Leffmann Professor of Commercial Law, and Emily Buss, the Mark and Barbara Fried Professor of Law and Kanter Director of Chicago Policy Initiatives at the Law School.

Facilitators of those panels will be Elizabeth Milnikel, Director of the Institute for Justice and the Clinic on Entrepreneurship at the Law School; Randolph Stone, Clinical Professor of Law in the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic; Jason Huber, Clinical Instructor in the Law School; and Craig Futterman, Clinical Professor of Law in the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic.

Randall Schmidt (’79), the Faculty Director of Clinical Programs in the Law School, will deliver the symposium’s closing remarks.