LAW 7857 - Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic I

(CU-CEL)

Fall or Spring. 4 or 6 credits, variable. Student option grading.

Permission of instructor required.

B. Lyon.

Permission of instructor required. Students who wish to apply to the clinic should submit a resume, transcript, and short statement of interest (no more than two pages) to Prof. Lyon. For more information about the clinic, email Prof. Lyon (beth.lyon@cornell.edu) and schedule a meeting. This course requires off premises travel to meet with clients and participate in hearings. Employment on a farm is one of the worlds' most difficult and dangerous occupations. Farmworkers experience geographic, linguistic, and cultural isolation, separation from family, immigration insecurity reinforced by policing practices, workplace sexual violence, and exclusion from protective employment laws. Working with the new clinic's community partners, Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic I student attorneys will handle immigration and employment matters on behalf of farmworkers in the region, work that will typically involve negotiation and often require litigation. Students will also work in brief advice and referral outreach sessions in farmworker communities. Clinic participants may also have the opportunity to work on research and writing projects with civil rights, environmental protection, and farmworker rights organizations. Farmworker Clinic students will participate in a lawyering seminar and work with a clinic partner on their assigned cases. The lawyering seminar will focus on skills students need for effective client representation. Students will develop key lawyering skills, including interviewing, counseling, fact investigation, drafting, negotiation, language accessible practice, and, in some cases, trial advocacy.

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