University of Chicago: Making a difference in law school

By: Josh Wolff

Dana M. Davenport was just a second-year law student at the University of Chicago Law School when she began using the law to make a difference in the lives of others.

She had started to work with the school’s Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, and one of her first cases was the classic example of an adolescent being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Her 17-year-old client was charged with being an accessory to armed robbery — even though he never held a gun during the incident, Davenport said.

She helped represent the teen, who was charged as an adult, and eventually persuaded him to participate in the four-month Cook County Sheriff’s Boot Camp instead of going to jail for three months.

His co-defendant argued that three months of jail was better than four months of boot camp, but Davenport stressed the life skills that the boot camp could teach. He chose that path.

While there, the teen attended vocational classes, obtained his GED, and received weekly visits from Davenport — she even visited him while studying for the bar exam.

Davenport talked to him about his talents and interest in computers, bringing him information about computers and how he could turn his interests into a career.

He credited her for his drastic change and even invited her, her Mandel Clinic professor, and the clinic’s social worker to his boot camp graduation.

“We met his family and it was just a very moving experience,” said Davenport, a 2007 University of Chicago Law School graduate and current DLA Piper associate.

“To see where this child had come from and then after the four months of boot camp, I felt so empowered. What could have been a fleeting moment, meeting my [clinic] hour requirement, had such a lasting impact on his life.

“[The clinic] taught me a lot about the value of client relationships,” said Davenport, a 2007 recipient of the Edwin F. Mandel Award for exceptional contributions to the clinical education program. “I will carry that with me for my entire career. As a lawyer you have a duty to serve your clients in the best possible way legally, but we also have the power to make such a difference in their lives.”

Since its creation in 1957 as the first legal clinic associated with a law school, the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic has been a pioneer in giving students real-life courtroom experience and providing legal aid to those who cannot afford representation.

Second- and third-year law students help to represent low-income clients under the supervision of clinical faculty while learning “effective advocacy skills, professional ethics, and the effect of legal institutions on the poor,” according to the clinic’s website.

Randall D. Schmidt, faculty director of clinical programs and a clinical professor of law, said the Mandel Clinic, which has eight sub-projects, offers an unparalleled learning experience.

“From the law school’s perspective, it gives students the opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom in real-life settings,” said Schmidt, who has been teaching in the clinical education program since 1981. “It’s one thing to read the court cases in class, but it’s another to argue in front of a judge.”

All second- and third-year law students are eligible to participate in the legal aid clinics, with the Mandel Clinic being one of four offered by the law school.

During the spring quarter, the school notifies first-year students of a meeting to discuss the clinical programs with current clinic students and faculty.

Students then rank their clinical preferences and participate in a lottery to determine their admission at the beginning of their second or third year.

Schmidt said he can’t guarantee that all students will be able to take part in this learning experience, but most students receive the opportunity to work at one of the clinics.

At any one time, about 135 students participate in the clinical education program, and students have the option to participate from one to six quarters.

Though the fundamental goals of the clinical education program haven’t changed, clinical education has evolved in three major ways, Schmidt said.

The clinics take fewer walk-in clients than before, and have become more specialized in their areas of representation — they now receive most of their clients through referrals.

The clinics also now focus more on the education that they provide their students, encouraging them to continue pro bono work in their careers.

Finally, the clinical program, which was housed in small offices, moved into the new Arthur O. Kane Center for Clinical Legal Education in 1998. That helped signify the increased importance of clinical education to the law school, Schmidt said.

“I think that when you have very bright and talented attorneys supervising equally bright and talented students, great things happen,” said Schmidt, who participated at the Mandel Clinic while a student at the law school.

And great things did happen this year when the Mandel Clinic persuaded the City of Chicago to change a decades-old policy of restricting attorneys from using evidence from settlements in other cases.

The challenge to the old policy was issued by clinical professor Craig Futterman, former clinical lecturer Jason Huber, and third-year law student Pier Petersen in an article published in the 2009 May-June issue of the Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Report.

The article, which included research from other Mandel Clinic students, detailed unethical and illegal treatment of witnesses. It described Chicago police officers’ inhumane treatment of witnesses in interrogation rooms, where mostly poor and minority witnesses would be held for extended periods of time, often without essential needs such as toilets, running water, or food.

Futterman said the Mandel Clinic brought a class-action lawsuit seeking monetary compensation and an injunction against the city. The clinic won monetary compensation and a consent decree that the city’s police would stop holding witnesses incommunicado, allowing them to leave police departments whenever they choose.

While arranging a settlement for a client who suffered witness abuse, Futterman also discovered that the city used a policy of insisting on illegal releases that would prevent attorneys from using evidence from one settlement in other cases, arguing that this restricted the attorney’s right to practice law.

Petersen said this practice was an effort to conceal misconduct from the superiors responsible for the oversight of police conduct and the public.

After writing the article, the group also negotiated with the city to stop insisting on the releases.

“It’s a wonderful example of students who have done great work, advocacy, and research into a large bureaucratic organization such as the city and got them to conform to the law and the rules of professional responsibility,” Futterman said.

Petersen, who graduated this year from the law school, said the work she did with the Mandel Clinic inspired her to hopefully practice a similar type of law in the future.

“It was the best experience I had at law school,” she said. “The professors are really invested in their students; they want to see you learn things and see you succeed in great ways.”

Schmidt, the school’s clinical education director, has two immediate goals for the clinical education programs.

While the likelihood of participation is high, he wants it to be a guarantee for all law students, not just a probability.

Schmidt also realizes that it is difficult to meet all the legal demands of the poor and hopes the clinical programs can cover more legal areas.

“It’s what we strive to do. That’s what clinical education is supposed to be about,” Futterman said.

“Our primary mission is to serve others and provide services to others who are in need and have no access to counsel.”

Several students who participated in the Mandel Clinic said they not only leave school more experienced than most law school graduates, but also more confident about their futures.

“If I can do all this not even licensed, imagine what I can do when I get my license,” Davenport said.

“It made me feel like I could truly make a difference as an attorney.”

University of Chicago Law School
1111 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 702-9494
www.law.uchicago.edu

Tuition:
$43,998 for the 2009-2010 nine-month academic year.

When to apply:
Dec. 1, 2009 — Early decision deadline. Feb. 1, 2010 — Regular admission deadline. May 1, 2010 — Response forms due back at admissions office.

LSAT:
The median LSAT score is 171 for the 2008 entering class. The 25th to 75th percentile range is between 169 and 173.

Undergraduate GPA:
The median GPA is 3.68 for the 2008 entering class. The 25th to 75th percentile range is between 3.57 and 3.80.

Law school size:
648 students in the 2008-2009 school year.

Student body statistics :
During 2008-2009, the student body was comprised of 45 percent women and 27 percent minorities. In the 2008 class, 34 states and 91 universities were represented.

Employment statistics:
99 percent of the class of 2008 were employed within nine months of graduating.

Residence life:
Students have various places available to live, ranging from the new graduate residence hall at 1307 E. 60th St. to various apartments around the city. However, most students tend to live in the Hyde Park area — 10 to 15 minutes away from the law school.

Source:
All information provided by the law school.