Would you like to devote a portion of your summer to thinking critically and creatively about the role that lawyers can play in dismantling and re-imagining unjust systems and helping to repair longstanding injustices? The Systemic Lawyering Corps provides current law students and 2020 law school graduates with robust academic programming and skills training to help you engage intellectually and practically with these critical questions.
The COVID–19 Legal Rapid Response + Systems Summer Institute—a joint venture of the People’s Parity Project, the Systemic Justice Project, and Justice Catalyst—is rolling out its second major initiative (to complement the People’s Justice Fellowship). From June 2 to July 24, the Systemic Lawyering Corps will support current law students and 2020 law school graduates interested in learning about the causes of injustice, theories of advancing justice, and ways that lawyers can help un-rig our systems.
Much of the programming will be based upon the Harvard Law School courses, Systemic Justice and the Justice Lab, which are devoted to delineating the many interwoven sources of our most profound social problems—from climate change to racial inequalities—and to considering various theories of, and opportunities for, producing change, transformation, and repair. As Corps Members scrutinize assumptions around the neutrality and justness of our laws and legal system, they will also reflect on the different roles lawyers can play in transforming those systems and supporting transformative change movements.
Remotely, Corps Members will attend various programming elements (lectures, panels, presentations, discussions, and so on), participate in several trainings, and work in teams to complete a variety of assignments to be shared within the Institute and, in some cases, with the wider public online. Corps Members will spend an average of eleven hours per week in Systemic Lawyering Corps-related work. In addition, Corps Members may also be offered the option to assist with relatively discrete, part-time projects with Institute partner organizations.
Programming is tentatively scheduled for the following times:
Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays (12-1 PM ET/9-10 AM PT)
Tuesdays & Thursdays (5-6:30 PM ET/2-3:30 PM PT)
There are a limited number of spots available in the inaugural class of the Systemic Lawyering Corps. Applications received by Thursday, May 28, will receive priority consideration; accepted applicants will be notified by Saturday, May 30. Systemic Lawyering Corps programming will begin the first week of June. We recognize the brevity of the application window; in order to accommodate as many potential applicants as possible, we have made the application and the process of submission quite simple.
If you’re interested in learning more, we invite you to attend the Systemic Lawyering Webinar on Zoom scheduled for this Wednesday, May 27, at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT. For those unable to attend the webinar, a recording is available. If you have any questions or concerns and are unable to attend our webinar on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. ET, please don’t hesitate to contact us at systemssummerinstitute@gmail.