Charlotte School of Law
Charlotte School of Law
2145 Suttle Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28208
www.charlottelaw.edu
Contact Information
Sean W. Lew
Assistant Professor of Pro Bono
Charlotte School of Law
2145 Suttle Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28208
704-971-8590 (Tel)
704-971-0931 (Fax)
slew@charlottelaw.edu
Category Type
Pro Bono Graduation Requirement Program
Description of Programs
All CharlotteLaw students must complete twenty (20) or more Pro Bono hours work before time of graduation. Students who excel at pro bono service are recognized with Pro Bono Honors Distinction at Graduation.
Location of Programs
With the Clinical and Externship Programs
Staffing/Management/Oversight
The Assistant Professor of Pro Bono administers program. Volunteer law school students help promote the Program as law school “Pro Bono Student Ambassadors.”
Funding
In Clinic Budget
Student Run Pro Bono Groups/Specialized Law Education
Projects
Beazer Homes Restitution Fund Community Clinics –this Charlotte Law student group assists homebuyers who were victims of fraudulent business practices acknowledged by Beazer Homes U.S.A. to file claims against a Beazer-supported restitution fund.
Actual Innocence Project®this Charlotte Law student group works with the North Carolina enter on Actual Innocence, a non-profit agency that coordinates the Innocence Projects at each of North Carolina’s law schools. Through these projects, students benefit from the opportunity to review and assist in the investigation of innocence claims made by North Carolina inmates.
Guardian ad Litem(GAL)—A Guardian ad Litem is a trained community volunteer who is appointed by a district court judge to investigate and determine the needs of abused and neglected children petitioned into the court system by the Department of Social Services. The GAL makes independent recommendations to the court for services which focus on the needs of each child. After completing the required training, students will be certified as a GAL. Many Charlotte Law students have completed their GAL training with the Mecklenburg County Guardian ad Litem Program.
SelfServe Center Group Project –The Charlotte Law Self-Serve Center Student Group Project works with the 26th Judicial District Self-Serve Center at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse. Charlotte Law students are trained to help educate members of the community about the steps required to file family law and Landlord -Tenant cases pro se (self-represented). Charlotte Law students are supervised by local attorneys and trained by Mr. Darwin Rice of the Self-Serve Center. The North Carolina Bar Association’s Public Service Advisory Committee recognized Charlotte Law’s Self Serve Center Group Project with its 2009 NCBA Pro Bono Law Student Project Award.
Street Law—the Charlotte Law Student Group of “Street Law”, an innovative public law clinical program began at Georgetown Law in 1972, has worked with young people in Mecklenburg County for several years. The idea for Street Law was cultivated by law students, and several decades later, Street Law, Inc. continues its close relationship with the legal community. Street Law provides lawyers, law students, paralegals, and judges with programs, professional development opportunities, and publications to enable them to teach practical law in their communities and schools.
United Family Services Victim Assistance Legal Project—United Family Services is a non-profit agency that provides services to domestic violence victims. Charlotte Law students accompany victims of domestic violence to civil and criminal court during the day and at the magistrate’s office at night. Students also assist at the Victim Assistance office.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
Faculty Members are encouraged to pursue Pro Bono work in the community and are evaluated on service as part of their annual review. Annually, an “Access to Justice” Faculty Award is presented to a Faculty member who best exemplifies the pro bono ethic of the legal profession through personal service and through engaging students in service, teaching them the importance of the profession’s obligation to meet the unmet legal needs of the poor and disadvantaged.
Awards/Recognition
Law Students completing (50-149) Pro Bono hours at time of graduation receive Pro Bono Honors Distinction certificate and notation on transcript. Pro Bono High Honors (150-249hrs) and Pro Bono Highest Honors (250+hours) are also awarded. Annual Public Service Recognition Event and Dinner held in Spring Semester, which includes announcement of Pro Bono Student and Faculty Member of the year awards.
Community Service
All CharlotteLaw students are required to engage in at least 10 hours of non-legal community service prior to graduation. Pro bono service may count towards this requirement. An annual Community Service Award is presented to a CharlotteLaw student for exceptional work in the community.
Myra Jernigan, MBA
Community Service Coordinator
Charlotte School of Law
2145 Suttle Avenue
Charlotte, North Carolina 28208
704-971-8502 (p)
704-971-0958 (fax)
mjernigan@charlottelaw.edu
Law School Public Interest
Programs
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Contact Information
Cynthia "Cindy" Adcock
Assistant Professor & Director of Experiential Learning
Charlotte School of Law
2145 Suttle Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28208
704-971-8380 (ph) 704-971-0943 (fax)
cadcock@charlottelaw.edu
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
Public Interest Centers
Public Interest Clinics
CharlotteLaw currently offers five recurring clinics. These are:
- Business Law
This clinic targets entrepreneurs and small business owners that have insufficient resources to obtain legal counsel. Legal assistance includes basic business formation, contract review, service agreements for the business, purchase and lease agreements, and/or employment contracts (employee/ independent contractor). - Family Advocacy
This clinic provides holistic representation to indigent parents in the immediate community of the law school who have lost custody of their children due to allegations of abuse, neglect or dependency. - Unemployment Insurance Benefits
This clinic represents individuals seeking assistance in pursuing their rights to unemployment benefits through the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. - Civil Rights
This new clinic will represent clients (both individuals and non-profits) in identifying and resolving violations of civil rights. - Civil Practice
This new clinic will represent clients, or wait-listed clients, from the Neighborhood Advocacy Center, NC Legal Aid, and Legal Services of Southern Piedmont. It will largely focus on housing, domestic violence, child support, and government benefit issues.
- Immigration Law
- Wrongful Convictions
- Wills
- Bankruptcy
Externships/Internships
Currently, CharlotteLaw has three types of externships. These options differ as to time of year, number of hours students spend in the field, the nature of the classroom component, and the student application process.
- First-Time Term-Time Externships (For Students Who Have Not Completed an Externship]
First-time externships taken during the school year range from three to five credits, depending on the combination of placement and companion course. Placements and courses fall into three categories: Criminal, Civil and Judicial.- Criminal Justice. Students selected for a criminal law placement (2 or 3 credits) must take the companion course, NC Criminal Practice (2 credits). The course is taught by an assistant district attorney and an assistant public defender and is focused on North Carolina criminal procedure from arrest through sentencing. The primary objective is to assist students with beginning the transition from "law student" to "criminal trial lawyer" in NC. The course highlights issues unique to criminal prosecutors and defenders including prosecutorial discretion, plea negotiations, calendaring, discovery, special ethical considerations, the role of the victim, current criminal issues in NC state law, and the role that defense attorney and prosecutor play in the criminal justice system. To enhance the extern’s fieldwork, through simulations and observations, externs explore trial skills and practice, client communication skills, evidentiary procedures, courtroom etiquette, and courtroom procedures such as bond hearings and guilty pleas.
- Civil Justice. Students selected for a civil law placement (2 or 3 credits) must take the companion course, Civil Justice (1 credit). With an emphasis on reflective lawyering, the weekly seminar gives students an opportunity to share experiences and to hear about a range of practice areas. They gain understanding of the common issues faced by public interest lawyers, as well as a range of issues of concern to all new lawyers -- from the most practical questions regarding professional etiquette, to the more serious practice concerns that arise in various practice settings. Learning outcomes stress the importance of self-directed learning and the legal needs of those unable to afford a lawyer. The seminar may integrate student presentations and simulations.
- Judicial. Students selected for a judicial placement (2 or 3 credits) must take the companion course, Judicial Decisionmaking (1 credit). This seminar focuses on the judicial process, the judiciary, and the role of judges and attorneys as members of the legal profession. It also stresses the importance of self-directed learning and reflection as a path to excellence and gives students an opportunity to share experiences and hear about a range of judicial settings. The seminar integrates reflective writing assignments, speakers and presentations.
- The Summer Immersion Externship Program (For students who have not completed an externship)
The summer externship program allows students to earn academic credit over the summer while working in a public interest office or government agency. They may extern anywhere in the United States as long as the work provided meets the academic objectives of the course. Students work 240 hours under the supervision of an approved attorney or judge over the course of at least eight weeks earning 4 credit hours. Comparable to the term-time externship course, students must attend an externship orientation lead by the externship professor prior to beginning their externship. Three on-line classes and two individual meetings with the professor are held over the summer. Students also maintain contact with the professor over the summer through weekly journals. Evaluation for the summer course is pass/fail.
There are two course options:- Summer Judicial Externship Course. Same emphasis as the term-time judicial externship course described above.
- Public Interest Externship Course. Combines students with criminal and civil placements and focuses on reflective learning and access to justice.
Advanced Externships (For students who have completed an externship) Students who have completed an externship may apply to engage in a second one for two or three credits. The second externship must provide the student with a different learning experience from the first. Advanced externs are not required to take the externship companion course again. Instead, the educational experience is more student-driven, with a self-developed learning agenda and reading list tailored to the extern’s own interests and work.
Advanced Externs also meet with the Professor two-three times, produce weekly learning journals, develop individualized reading list and write a short, final synthesis paper.
Classes with a Public Service Component
Access to Justice Courses: These one-credit courses are designed to educate students about the unmet legal needs in a particular area of the law and to train the students to provide the needed service. The opportunity for the service is either incorporated into the course (Unemployment Insurance Benefits) or follows the course as part of a pro bono clinic (Custody and Divorce).
Practicums: Practicums are offered based on faculty interest and, thus, vary from semester to semester. A traditional non-clinical course becomes a practicum when the professor partners with an outside organization and builds into the course required assignments that will benefit the outside organization. An example is the Education Law Practicum.
Capstone Courses: Like Practicums, Capstone Courses are offered based on faculty interest and, thus, vary from semester to semester. A Capstone Course gives a small group of students the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member on an intensive, real-world project that builds on previous study and integrates academic and practical learning. There is a classroom component designed to give students the needed foundation and to further the project. Through these courses, students have the opportunity to develop specialized knowledge and engage in advanced problem-solving with faculty, peers and others. Capstone Courses have included Parent Representation, Civil Rights, and Comparative Law: Tanzania.
Independent Projects (IP): Like in a Capstone Course, IP’s give students the opportunity to work closely on an intensive, real-world project that builds on previous study and integrates academic and practical learning. An IP is like Independent Research but with greater flexibility. The projects are supervised by a faculty member but may involve an attorney or judge who also supervises or advises the student. Projects must involve significant legal, social or empirical research or experiences. An IP proposal must be submitted to the Associate Dean of Academics for approval at least four weeks prior to the start of the semester in which the project will be done. The final product must be presented orally to the faculty and external advisor, or a panel of interested persons organized by the faculty or external advisor, or as part of a public discussion. Students can earn one or two credits, depending on the size and academic rigor of the IP.
Public Interest Journals
Public Interest Career Support Center
The Center for Professional Development (CPD) houses a number of Public Interest resources and shares Public Interest Conference and Job Fair information with the law student body.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
Post-Graduate Fellowships/Awards
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Graduate Student Funded:
Other Funding Sources:
Term Time Fellowships/Scholarships
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Graduate Student Funded:
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Summer Fellowships
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Graduate Student Funded:
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Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Programs
Student Public Interest Groups
CharlotteLaw Public Interest Law Society (PILS)
