Following up on my recent post, NY Times: Law School Clinics Face a Backlash: from our sister Legal Profession Blog, “A Serious Blow to Legal Education”: La. to Effectively End Clinics? (Or Dialysis Patients Will Suffer?!):
Law School clinics in several states, notably in Maryland and Louisiana now, are under fire. Real people may be hurt beyond imagination — from indigent clients and neighborhood assocations to law students and ordinary medical patients (the latter because the pending La. bill would cut off funding for their treatments at Tulane). Here is the story by Nick Marinello at Tulane about a pending bill in La. which would effectively kill most clinics at our four law schools.
A pending bill in the Louisiana Legislature that would restrict the roles of university law clinics could “deal a serious blow to legal education in our state,” according to a letter written by law school deans from Tulane and Loyola universities to members of the state senate. …
The law deans’ letter appears here. Contact info for the Committee, in case you can share your view. What a sad way to celebrate the second week of JazzFest: resisting a bill that may be targeted by petrochemical industries at our environmental clinic — this, ironically, while the fishing industry tries to salvage its shrimp bed from oil — but really will end one of the best things about legal education and about Loyola and Tulane. Have they no shame? And will this effort stop at La. and Md.?
Update: letter from SALT opposing bill, here.
- Shreveport Times, Beware Curtailing Law School Clinics



