Law Student Engagement in Statewide WebsitesDavid Bonebrake, NTAP

Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net

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Presenters

David Bonebrake, NTAP Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net Daniel Attaway, A2J Student Editorial

Board Rona Roberts, Legal Aid Network of

Kentucky Leah Margulies, LawHelp.org/NY Director

Get to Know Your Law Students

How many law students were seeking a J.D. from an ABA-approved law school in the 2006-2007 school year?

(a) 112, 454

(b) 141,031

(c) 125, 088

(d) 162, 416

Source: ABA Legal Education and Student Resources: http://www.abanet.org/legaled.html

Get to Know Your Law Student

How many American law schools are currentlyapproved by the ABA?

(a) 145

(b) 119

(c) 188

(d) 197

Schools Approved Since 2000 Appalachian Law School (VA) University of Nevada-Las Vegas (NV) Ave Maria Law School (MI) University of St. Thomas (MN) Drexel University College of Law* (PA) Barry University (FL) Charleston Law School (SC)* Faulkner University Thomas Goode Jones School of Law (AL)* Florida A&M University College of Law (FL)* University of LaVerne College of Law (CA)* Liberty University School of Law (VA)* John Marshall Law School (Atlanta, GA)* Phoenix School of Law (AZ)* Western State University College of Law (CA)* Florida International University (FL)*ABA provisionally approved

Get to Know Your Law Students

What percentage of students work during their third year of law school?

(a) 55%

(b) 60%

(c) 74%

(d) 80%

Today’s Presentation

Benefits of using law students Specific Models for law student engagement Real world examples Developing law student projects Barriers and challenges Federal programs Law students as a constituency for your

SWEB

Why Engage Law Students?

Students are a good fit for statewide websitesbecause they:

Embrace technology

Are eager to gain legal experience

Provide a low-cost option

Why Engage Law Students?

SWEBs are a good fit for students because:

Website projects can accommodate students’ busy schedules

Opportunity for students to gain legal-related work experience

Opportunity to help the community

Role of Law Schools in SWEB

Law schools have an interest in providing probono opportunities for their students: In 2004, the ABA changed the accreditation

standards for law schools. Under the new standards, “A law school shall offer substantial opportunities for

student participation in pro bono activities.” Good publicity Critical to their law students’ career development

Models for law student engagement

Institutional partnerships with a law school or pro bono program

For-credit internships/summer placements/part-time positionsConsider Federal Work Study

Volunteers Others?

Institutional Relationships: A2J Student Editorial Board A2J Student Editorial

Board at Chicago-Kent College of Law

Student-run initiative directed at helping law students create A2J Author Interviews for Illinois Legal Aid Online.

A2J Student Editorial Board

The Board has authored 12 A2J Guided Interviews that are now hosted on IllinoisLegalAid.org

Spanish-proficient students have translated Interviews

Students are also involved in writing research memorandum on the law underlying the Interviews they build

Developing Law Student Projects

Identify appropriate projectsWhat are students looking for? What are you

looking for? Common approach: discrete website

projects as part of broader legal aid internship

Law student involvement in substantive projects

TN Relative Caregiver Manual

Law student involvement in substantive projects A2J Interviews for Student Editorial

Board

Law student involvement in substantive projects Law student involvement in content

development for probono.net/VA and VALegalAid.org

Grant from Virginia Law Foundation provided stipends

Content vetted by attorneys

Volunteer placements

VA partnership with law schools

A2J Student Editorial Board

Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation

Matching projects with expertise

Finding students with technology experience

Work with those doing recruiting in your organization to make expertise and interest in technology a greater consideration in hiring law students and staff

Recruiting students

Take advantage of pro bono programs / pro bono hour requirementsAlternative to traditional courtroom lawyering

Identify career placement staff with a public interest

Consider first-year students Some schools have programs to help first-

years find funding for placements

Benefits: The student perspective

Promoting access to justice for low-income people

More control over schedule for semester Opportunity to make legal aid contacts Chance to get to know an area of law as it

relates to how ordinary people are affected by legal problems.

Project management considerations Develop a workplan Consider supervision and support needs Knowledge transfer

Have a system in place to document work done on the site

Barriers and Challenges Students perceive SWEB work as too far

disconnected from “the practice of law” Students do not fully understand the

purpose of the SWEB More practical challenges:

Difficulty writing for a low-income audienceLack of practical knowledge of the lawThe “half-life” of student projects

Students’ Perception of the “Practice of Law” Students enter law school with some perception about the practice

of law and, likely, about legal aid: Court work Interviewing clients Research for a case For legal aid, these activities in context of helping low-income people

It can be difficult to overcome this perception Some programs add a website assignment as part of student’s

internship or work experience At the same time, many students have “bought into” the idea of

statewide websites Just as the SWEB needs to be sold to the broader legal community in

the state, it needs to be sold to law students

Practical Challenges

Challenge of writing for the SWEB audience In law school, students are often rewarded for making

complex and difficult legal arguments in their writing Plain language resources:

http://www.lsntap.org/node/2319 Students lack practical law experience

Purpose of a statewide website is to provide very practical guidance for your client-base

Have students work with or interview advocates Consider advocate or pro bono content

Half-Life of Student Projects

Students begin ambitious projects with lots of enthusiasm

Halfway through the project the student’s other obligations become more pressing

Project is ultimately left unfinished

Federal Work Study

Many programs already use federal work study to pay student workers

Federal government will subside up to 75% of student worker’s pay

Federal work study is financial aid and based on need Not all students qualify Law students financial situation considered

independent of their parents FWS can be combined with for-credit internships

Federal Work Study Community Service Jobs are given special priority in FWS Schools must use at least 7% of its FWS allocation to employ

students in community service jobs According to the FWS Handbook, “community services are defined as

services that are identified by an institution of higher education… as designed to improve the quality of life for community residents, particularly low-income individuals, or to solve particular problems related to their needs.”

In addition, “to be considered employed in a community service job for FWS purposes, an FWS student does not have to provide a ‘direct’ service. The student must provide services that are designed to improve the quality of life for community residents or to solve particular problems related to those residents’ needs. A school may use its discretion to determine what jobs provide indirect or direct service to the community.”

College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 Students that work in public service for ten

years will qualify to have federal loans taken out after the law was enacted forgiven

Makes legal aid more attractive to many students who are passionate about the cause, but are concerned about paying their educational expenses

Law students as a constituency for your SWEB Benefits or recruiting law students as

members Connecting your law students to pro bono

opportunitiesCALegalAdvocates.orgPAProbono.net

Contacts

David Bonebrake – david@lsntap.org Liz Keith – lkeith@probono.net Daniel – Dattaway@kentlaw.edu Rona Roberts –

Rona@robertsandkay.com