Conference Summary

Global Alliance For Justice Education North American Region

International Conference

May 3-4, 2006

 

 

The first North American Regional Conference of the Global Alliance for Justice Education took place in New York City on May 3-4, 2006.  The conference was based at Fordham University School of Law and was co-sponsored by GAJE, Fordham and Columbia University.

 

As with other international and regional GAJE conferences, all conference planning was done by volunteer GAJE members.  Fordham University administrative staff provided considerable help with the on-site logistics.

 

The Planning Committee consisted of Co-chairs, Catherine Klein (Catholic) and Louise McKinney (Case Western) and local Co-chairs, Elizabeth Cooper (Fordham) and Minna Kotkin (Brooklyn); other members who made significant contributions: Barbara Schatz (Columbia), Leah Wortham (Catholic), Peggy Maisel (Florida International), Doug Frenkel (Univ. of Pennsylvania) and Margaret Barry (Catholic).   Catherine Klein acted as liaison with the GAJE Steering Committee.

 

The overall theme of the Conference was International Collaboration in Teaching, Learning, Lawyering and Scholarship.  A spectacular opening reception on May 3 was sponsored by Columbia University at the home of Professor Barbara Schatz.   On May 4, a one-day conference took place at Fordham.  There were six sessions: two plenary sessions and two concurrent sessions. The conference was a tremendous success and was truly international in scope.   There were more than 80 registrants, including delegates who were either from or who had worked in China, El Salvador, Nepal, Mexico, Israel, Poland, Sweden, Moldova, Peru and the UK.  Each of the sessions was excellent, and the many exchanges among the delegates - both during and around the sessions –were exciting and meaningful. There was also a lot of discussion about the upcoming global GAJE conference in Cordoba, Argentina scheduled for late Fall.   A copy of the full agenda is copied below.  Click here to view the conference registration information.

                                   

                                                                       

Global Alliance For Justice Education North American Region

International Conference

 

International Collaboration in Teaching, Learning, Lawyering and Scholarship

May 3-4, 2006

 

Fordham University School of Law

140 W. 62nd Street

New York, New York

 

Co-sponsored by GAJE, Fordham University and Columbia University

 

 

May 3, 2006

 

6:00-8:00pm         Opening Reception at Home of Prof. Barbara Schatz (Columbia University)

 

 

May 4, 2006

 

8:45-9:15   Continental Breakfast

 

9:15-9:30   Welcome

 

9:30-11:00  First session

International Collaboration

Moderator:  Peggy Maisel (Florida International University, USA)

                Jane Aiken (Washington University, USA) Opportunities for Student Involvement in International Collaborations: Lessons from Nepal

                David Chavkin (American University, USA) and Roni Rothler, (Bar-Ilan University, Israel), Cooperative Ventures in Israeli Clinical Education

                Marisa Cianciarulo (Villanova University, USA), International Collaborative Teaching:  An Asylum Clinic in Malta

 

11:00-11:15  Coffee Break

 

11:15-12:45  Second Session

Justice Education—Session #1

Moderator:  Minna Kotkin (Brooklyn Law School, USA)

                Ann Shalleck (American University, USA), Feminism and Clinical Education:  The Relationship of Parallel Movements to Transform Legal Education

                Peter Davis (Touro Law School, USA), Developing Schools of Justice

                Cosmin Corendea (St. Thomas University, USA-Romania), The Political Paradigm of Human Rights Education

 

Collaboration—Session #2

Moderator:  Margaret Martin Barry, (Catholic University, USA)

                Beth Lyon (Villanova University, USA) and  Marisa Cianciarulo (Villanova University, USA) Cross-National Clinic Student Interpreters

                Monica Schurtman (University of Idaho, USA), The Autotrim/Customtrim Case and Its Implications for U.S. Based International Clinical Legal Education 

                Liz Ryan Cole (Vermont Law School, USA), Rewards and Challenges of Cross Cultural Externships  

 

12:45-1:30  Box Lunch

 

1:30-3:00  Third session

Methodology #1—Workshop

Moderator:  Catherine Klein (Catholic University, USA)

                Ann Juergens (William Mitchell College of Law, USA) & Angela McCaffrey (Hamline University, USA), Lawyer Ethics and the Road to Justice:  Lessons from Moldovan Law Students

                Raven Lidman (Seattle University, USA), Teaching Professional Responsibility Through Role Play in Latin American Clinics

 

 

Methodology #2

Moderator:  Douglas Frenkel (University of Pennsylvania, USA)

                Violeta Krasnic (Witness, USA), Using Video in Human Rights Documentation and Advocacy: Effective Strategies from Partnerships with Local Organizations Worldwide

                Felisa Tibbitts (Human Rights Education Associates, USA) and Vivek Maru (Open Society Justice Initiative Fellow, USA), Training Methodology for Preparing Paralegals:  Promoting Access to Justice in Marginalized Communities in the South

                Michael Perlin (New York Law School, USA), An Internet-Based Mental Disability Law Course:  Implications for Social Change in Nations with Developing Economies

 

3:00-3:15  Coffee/Tea Break

 

3:15-4:45  Fourth Session

Legal Education Reform

Moderator:  Barbara Schatz (Columbia University, USA)

                Mao Ling (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, China), Clinical Legal Education and the Reform on the Higher Legal Education System in China

                Mohammad Monirul Azam*(University of Chittagong, Bangladesh), The Changing Scenario of Legal Education in Bangladesh:  Sharing the Experience of Transformation to Justice Education

                Bill Tzemos*(Athens University of Technology, Greece) & Christina Tzemou (Ministry of Justice, Greece), Methods of Facilitating Global Collaboration in Legal Education

                Alicia Alvarez (DePaul University, USA), The Development of Clinical Education in El Salvador

Robert Lancaster (Indiana University-Indianapolis, USA) and Ding Xiangshun (Renmin University, China), Educating Chinese Judges, Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys in International Criminal Trial Norms and the Adversarial System of Justice

            *unable to attend 

 

Final reception at Fordham

 

Program Co-sponsors: GAJE, Fordham University Law School, Columbia University Law School
Program Co-chairs:
Catherine Klein
The Catholic University of America
Columbus Community Legal Services
3602 John McCormack Rd., N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20064, USA
Phone: 202-319-6788. Fax: 202-319-6780
klein@law.cua.edu

Louise McKinney
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
Phone: 216-368-6360. Fax: 216-368-5137
louise.mckinney@case.edu

Local Co-chairs:
Elizabeth Cooper
Fordham Law School
33 W. 60th Street
Third Floor
New York, NY 10023, USA
Phone: 212-636-6934. Fax: 212-636-6923
ecooper@law.fordham.edu

Minna Kotkin
Brooklyn Law School
One Boerum Place
Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: 718-780-7994. Fax: 718-780-0367
minna.kotkin@brooklaw.edu