Program Overview

Introduction to the Disability Rights and Social Justice Clinic

The Disability Rights and Social Justice Clinic advocates to enhance and promote the civil rights, autonomy, and self-determination of people with disabilities, their families, and support networks.

Clinic Overview

The Disability Rights and Social Justice Clinic (DRSJC) facilitates access to justice through direct legal representation, advocacy projects, and community outreach and education. The mission of the DRSJC is to support and advocate for clients as they navigate and challenge systems that seek to exclude, oppress, dehumanize, and disenfranchise.

Program Goals and Objectives

The DRSJC seminar has three main goals to prepare students in developing and strengthening their advocacy skills:

• The Clinic covers substantive law and policy to give students a general foundation for their case and policy work in the clinic and later to explore certain topics in further depth.
• The DRSJC addresses practice skills such as:
  • Client interviewing
  • Fact investigation
  • Client-centered advocacy
  • Cross-cultural lawyering
  • Legal writing
  • Lawyering in the digital age
• The seminar serves as a forum to discuss practical, legal, and ethical concerns that arise in cases and policy work throughout the semester.

Student Responsibilities and Opportunities

Students may represent clients in court and administrative proceedings in a variety of civil legal matters, including:

• Securing eligibility for government benefits and services
• Prisoners' rights
• Discrimination in access to programs and services Students may also work to assist parents and families who are vulnerable to arrest, detention, and removal due to immigration status in protecting their children through advance planning documents. Additionally, students may represent parties as court evaluator or guardian ad litem in adult guardianship cases and represent people who need estate and disability planning with wills, trusts (including supplemental needs trusts), and advance directives (health care proxy, power of attorney).

Additional Resources

A guide to becoming a guardian without a lawyer under Article 81 of the New York Mental Hygiene Law is available, noting that this guide is not a substitute for legal advice from an attorney.