Clean Slate Clinic – Criminal Justice and Community Reentry – Administrative, Litigation, Policy Advocacy

The Clean Slate Clinic provides legal services to help clients address the causes and consequences of contact with the criminal justice system.  The clinic helps people with criminal records overcome barriers to employment, education and civic participation. The clinic also helps clients saddled with court debt – a barrier to employment and pipeline to the criminal justice system – by seeking discharge of the debt, petitioning to lift resulting driver’s license suspensions, and fighting unjust collections practices. Students work in criminal and civil courts, administrative hearings and on policy to increase successful community reentry, reduce recidivism, and fight policies that criminalize poverty. Student work may include:

• Interviewing clients and conducting intake at weekly self-help clinics
• Conducting legal research and writing legal memos and briefs (criminal, employment, consumer rights, traffic, and impact litigation)
• Drafting client declarations
• Administrative work such as intake materials, client correspondence, and court petitions
• Representing clients at motion hearings in criminal court and traffic court (certified law students)
• Representing clients in administrative hearings following denial of professional licenses
• Making presentations to community-based organizations and client groups
• Policy advocacy

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Community Economic Justice Clinic (CEJ) – Community Economic Development

EBCLC’s Community Economic Justice Clinic (CEJ) (formerly known as the Green-Collar Community Clinic) is a community economic development clinic that targets the root causes of poverty to empower community members to uplift themselves. CEJ’s mission is to promote the equitable development of a people-oriented economy through the advancement of community and cooperative ownership of businesses and housing in low-income communities and communities of color. CEJ provides free legal education, advice and representation to community groups, associations, entrepreneurs and nonprofits. Student work may include:

• Researching, organizing and presenting a legal workshop to the community
• Interviewing clients and conducting intake for follow-up legal clinics
• Conducting legal research and writing legal memos regarding issues such as developing worker cooperatives and community land trusts
• Assisting our clients with matters such as entity choice; drafting documents such as operating agreements, articles of incorporation, contracts; permitting and licensing assistance; nonprofit incorporation and applications for tax-exemption; contract drafting, negotiating and review; corporate governance and compliance; and more.

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Consumer Justice & General Clinic – Self-Help Services, Litigation, Policy Advocacy

The Consumer Justice Clinic provides assistance and representation to individuals on a variety of consumer issues. Issues include debt collection defense, student loans, car fraud, predatory lending, and consumer scams, particularly those that target immigrant communities such as notary fraud, fraudulent cross-border services, employment and educational scams, and ESL scams. Students also staff the General Clinic, which provides legal information, education, and advocacy on a wide range of civil legal issues to individuals who cannot find legal assistance elsewhere. Student work may include:

• Litigation, including drafting pleadings and motions, propounding and responding to discovery, developing case strategies, negotiating settlements, and preparing for trial.
• Participation on local and regional policy initiatives on behalf of low-income consumers.
• Issue-spotting and oral and written advocacy on a wide-range of civil-legal issues.
• Students who obtain certification from the state bar may additionally conduct and defend depositions, argue motions, and represent consumers in court.

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Education, Defense & Justice for Youth (EDJY): Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline – Holistic Juvenile Criminal Defense and Education Advocacy

EDJY works to end the school-to-prison pipeline.  Students provide holistic criminal defense and education representation to young people who are ensnared in the juvenile justice system. In collaboration with EBCLC’s other practice groups, students also assist delinquency and education clients in matters such as housing, immigration, criminal record sealing, public benefits and more. Student work may include:

• Interviewing clients and conducting intake.
• Conducting legal research and writing legal memos, demand letters, and briefs.
• Investigating facts and preparing documents to file with the courts or school districts.
• Representing clients in school expulsion hearings.
• If certified, appearing in court.
• Representing clients in special education matters (e.g., IEP meetings).
• Making presentations to community groups on juvenile justice issues.
• Police work on issues related to juvenile justice, special education, and school discipline.

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Health & Welfare clinic: Reducing Health Disparities in Low-Income Communities– Multidisciplinary, Administrative, Litigation, Self-Help  

Students in the Health & Welfare Clinic provide a range of critical legal services to low-income individuals who are at increased risk of poor health outcomes due to the negative effects of poverty, unsafe living conditions, homelessness, inadequate health care coverage, and other destabilizing social conditions. Students assist clients through the HIV/AIDS Law Project, which focuses on helping low-income, HIV-positive individuals maintain access to income, housing and health care; the Medical-Legal Partnership Project, which provides legal advocacy to increase stability in lives of vulnerable children, youth and adults referred through our partnerships with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and Highland Hospital; and the Public Benefits Clinic, which helps individuals maintain access to safety-net public income and health insurance benefits. Students carry their own caseloads and are responsible for conducting client intake and presenting cases at weekly case rounds. Spanish fluency is beneficial, as many Health & Welfare Clinic clients are monolingual Spanish-speakers. Student work may include:

• Representing clients in administrative law hearings to determine eligibility for public disability and other income and health care benefits; representation involves drafting briefs, making opening and closing statements, taking client and witness testimony and cross-examining expert witnesses
• Engaging in pre-hearing negotiations with appeals officers and other public agency representatives
• Advocating on behalf of clients on landlord-tenant issues including habitability violations, rent increases, eviction prevention, subsidized housing appeals, and requests for reasonable accommodations
• Conducting client intake and consultations at off-site locations including medical clinics and homeless shelters
• Conducting legal trainings for medical providers and know-your-rights presentations for patient groups
• Drafting outreach and self-help materials and participating in community outreach activities

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Housing Law Clinic: Ensuring Stable, Habitable, and Fair Housing for Tenants – Litigation, Self-Help Services 

The Housing Clinic is a face-paced litigation practice defending the rights of low income tenants in one of the most competitive rental markets in the country.  In addition to representing tenants in court and administrative proceedings, the Housing Clinic provides limited scope assistance to numerous pro se litigants.

The primary work of the Housing Clinic is defending low-income tenants in unlawful detainer (eviction) proceedings. Due to the summary nature of these cases, students can expect to have a thorough working knowledge of civil procedure by the end of the semester.

Students participate in all aspects of litigation including:

• Initial intake and case selection
• drafting pleadings, motions, and ex parte applications
• propounding and responding to discovery
• engaging in negotiations at court mandated settlement conferences
• drafting settlement agreements
• representing tenants in administrative proceedings before public housing authorities

Students who obtain certification from the state bar may additionally:

• conduct depositions
• argue motions
• represent tenants in bench or jury trials

Students also staff a weekly workshop where they provide advice and brief services to tenants regarding a broad range of landlord-tenant issues such as security deposits, repairs, harassment and discrimination.   According to interest, students may also have the opportunity to participate in policy efforts related to rent control and subsidized housing or in affirmative litigation related to habitability or other housing rights.

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Immigration Law Clinic: Securing Legal Pathways to Citizenship for Vulnerable Individuals & Families – Administrative, Litigation

Students in the Immigration Practice provide legal services to low-income immigrants, with a focus on the most vulnerable populations—people with disabilities and chronic illness, members of the LGBTQ community, youth, and existing EBCLC clients struggling with other legal issues. We prioritize cases involving criminal issues and deportation defense. Students carry their own caseload of immigration cases, and are exposed to a broad range of immigration issues by also conducting intake and participating in case rounds.  A large number of clients come from Spanish-speaking countries, and Spanish language fluency is required. Student work may include:

• Representing clients in administrative hearings before the Asylum Office, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, and Immigration Court
• Preparing affirmative applications for political asylum, U visas, DACA, green cards, citizenship, SIJS, VAWA self-petitions, and relief under Obama’s most recent executive order
• Visiting the local immigration detention facility on a monthly basis to conduct know-your-rights presentations and meet with detainees one-on-one
• Consulting with undocumented clients to explore avenues for obtaining legal status
• Locating expert witnesses, drafting declarations and letters, writing legal briefs, and performing legal research
• Drafting educational materials, conducting community/provider presentations, and developing outreach strategies

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