Engaged Curriculum Grants
Cornell Legal Research Clinic
Addressing the pressing need for legal advocacy among community members.
The Legal Research Clinic is a community resource that provides crucial legal advocacy to those who need it most but can least afford it. Local nonprofit organizations, public interest attorneys, low-income individuals, and startup businesses in Tompkins County and throughout New York state benefit from the clinic’s pro bono legal services. The clinic has also achieved an international reach by offering legal research assistance to foreign judges from around the world. Students working with the clinic have the opportunity to cultivate important professional and interpersonal skills — including a deeper awareness of ethical and cultural issues — by directly engaging with community clients and counseling them on actual legal issues rather than working with hypothetical scholarly exercises. These real-world experiences increase student aptitude at researching, analyzing and interpreting the law as well as exercising sound legal judgment.
Grant type: Development (2017-18, 2016-17)
Topics: Access, Equity and Justice; Children, Youth, Seniors and Families; Law, Government and Policy
The Team
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Eduardo M. Peñalver
Cornell Law School
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Amy A. Emerson
Cornell Law School
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Jonathan Feldman
Cornell Law School
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Barbara J. Holden-Smith
Cornell Law School
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Jens Ohlin
Cornell Law School
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Femi Cadmus
Cornell Law School
- Community partner: Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County
- Community partner: Rev: Ithaca Startup Works
- Community partner: Loaves & Fishes of Tompkins County
- Community partner: New York Civil Liberties Union
In the News
NOVEMBER 28, 2016
Law students resolve questions for residents, nonprofits
– Cornell Chronicle
Engaged Curriculum Grants
Funding teams that are integrating community-engaged learning into new and existing curricula.