Making and Breaking Habits: Teaching (and Learning) Cultural Context, Self-Awareness, and Intercultural Communication Through Case Supervision in a Client-Service Legal Clinic

This Essay begins by offering teaching objectives that can be used to focus supervision and education on effective representation of clients from different cultures as issues arise in the course of representation. Culture is a term used not in the anthropological sense, but rather in the sense of differences between individuals that are related to different backgrounds, value systems, religions, classes, ethnicities, races, or other factors that contribute to a person’s experience of the world. The Essay then discusses the context of student supervision and explains how case supervision sessions can be extremely effective moments during which to pursue those teaching goals. It makes suggestions for the most effective stages of supervision in which to address issues of difference. The Essay next examines vignettes that grew out of cases handled by the University of New Mexico’s Clinical Law Program. The vignettes identify cultural issues that have come up in the clients’ cases and suggest ways that effective supervision might be used to help the student develop cultural context, self-awareness, and intercultural communication skills as part of the clinical supervision experience. This Essay seeks to add to the growing literature about the importance of these areas in legal education

Making and Breaking Habits: Teaching (and Learning) Cultural Context, Self-Awareness, and Intercultural Communication Through Case Supervision in a Client-Service Legal Clinic

This Essay begins by offering teaching objectives that can be used to focus supervision and education on effective representation of clients from different cultures as issues arise in the course of representation. Culture is a term used not in the anthropological sense, but rather in the sense of differences between individuals that are related to different backgrounds, value systems, religions, classes, ethnicities, races, or other factors that contribute to a person’s experience of the world. The Essay then discusses the context of student supervision and explains how case supervision sessions can be extremely effective moments during which to pursue those teaching goals. It makes suggestions for the most effective stages of supervision in which to address issues of difference. The Essay next examines vignettes that grew out of cases handled by the University of New Mexico’s Clinical Law Program. The vignettes identify cultural issues that have come up in the clients’ cases and suggest ways that effective supervision might be used to help the student develop cultural context, self-awareness, and intercultural communication skills as part of the clinical supervision experience. This Essay seeks to add to the growing literature about the importance of these areas in legal education

Symposium: Latinas in Legal Education - Through the Doors of Opportunity: Assimilation, Marginalization, Cooptation or Transformation?

On 3 August 2016 South Africa held its fifth local government elections (LGE) since the end of Apartheid in 1994. Against a backdrop of increasing political frustration with the ruling party’s poor performance and continued debates about corruption and cronyism in the highest government circles, the African National Congress (ANC) maintained its dominant position but lost 8 per cent of the aggregate vote (53.91 per cent). The Democratic Alliance (DA) gained some 3 per cent (26.89 per cent) of the vote, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), first-time LGE campaigners, garnered 8.02 per cent. Importantly, the ANC lost control of three of the seven big metropolitan municipalities it had previously held. Since there was no clear-cut majority in four of the eight metros, coalition politics and the art of compromise will become a major feature of South African politics in the coming years. The elections were highly competitive and considered free and fair. At 57.97 per cent, voter turnout was slightly higher than in 2011.Am 3. August 2016 wurden in Südafrika die fünften Kommunalwahlen seit dem Ende der Apartheid im Jahr 1994 abgehalten. Vor dem Hintergrund zunehmender politischer Frustration wegen der schwachen Leistungen der Regierungspartei und anhaltender Debatten über Korruption und Vetternwirtschaft in höchsten Regierungskreisen konnte der African National Congress (ANC) seine führende Position wahren, verlor aber 8 Prozent der insgesamt abgegebenen Stimmen und kam auf 53,91 Prozent. Die Democratic Alliance (DA) konnte 3 Prozent zulegen und kam auf 26,89 Prozent der Stimmen, und die Partei Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), die zum ersten Mal an Kommunalwahlen teilnahm, erreichte 8,02 Prozent. Von Bedeutung ist, dass der ANC die Kontrolle über drei der sieben von ihm bislang gehaltenen Großstadtregionen (Metropolitan Municipalities) verloren hat. Weil es in vier der bestehenden acht Metropolregionen keine eindeutigen Mehrheitsverhältnisse gibt, werden Koalitionspolitik und die Fähigkeit zur Kompromissfindung in den kommenden Jahren wesentliche Merkmale südafrikanischer Politik sein. Die Wahlen waren durch einen lebendigen Parteienwettbewerb gekennzeichnet und werden als frei und fair angesehen. Mit 57,97 Prozent lag die Wahlbeteiligung geringfügig über der von 2011

Coalition Building Among Communities of Color in a Post Integration World

This publication includes a message from the conference chair, Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a schedule of conference events, and acknowlegements of conference contributors and sponsors

Leading Change in Legal Education: Good News for Diversity

Two recent influential books on legal education, Educating Lawyers and Best Practices for Legal Education, come to similar conclusions about the problems with many legal education programs today. Many other suggestions for improvement in legal education programs are also similar. A major point made in both books is the need to train lawyers in their roles and skills as professionals. The books both contemplate a move from the current model of large classes taught through modified Socratic dialogue to a sequenced set of courses and experiences that build on basic legal analytical skill and provide opportunities for real life and simulated practice experience. Assessment would become more outcome-based with genuine opportunities for students to receive constructive feedback on their skill development as it evolves. Different law schools would implement these changes as appropriate for their particularized communities. While those changes would benefit all future lawyers (and future clients of those lawyers), the changes would be particularly welcome for students of color and members of groups which are under-represented in law school

Privacy and the Regulation of the New Reproductive Technologies: A Decision-Making Approach

This article maps out the territory that must be explored in this very complex area and analyzes the implications of governmental regulation of the new reproductive technology. It suggests that the central issue for analysis is the extent to which authority to make decisions concerning reproductive potential should be allocated to individuals rather than to the government. The article describes approaches to allocating decision-making authority with respect to procreative issues. The first is a rights-based approach which emphasizes individual autonomy; this approach will not permit governmental regulation which interferes with personal autonomy in decision making, at least without good reason. The second approach accepts regulation which impinges on individual decision making for the public good