Fighting to Educate a Different Kind of Lawyer
Since 2008, the Notre Dame Law School has sent students to eastern Kentucky, one of the poorest regions in the country. The students offer pro bono legal services to those who could not afford them otherwise.In recent years, they’ve worked with hundreds of disabled residents who are victims of Eric Conn, a lawyer who committed the largest Social Security fraud in U.S. history. You may have seen the docu-series about him on Apple TV+. Many of the victims have lost their only source of income and are struggling to make ends meet.But this is more than a service trip. It’s an academic course in the school’s curriculum that shapes the way these students perceive and practice law. And it’s one of several experiential learning opportunities with similar, practical objectives.See how Notre Dame is educating a different kind of lawyer: https://go.nd.edu/EducateADifferentKindofLawyer
More from What Would You Fight For?
- 2:07Fighting to Protect the InnocentThrough collaboration with the National Immigrant Justice Center, Notre Dame law students are able to participate in an NIJC externship program allowing them to work on asylum cases of immigrants entering the United States.Law School alumnae Stephanie Torres and Christina Shakour took on the case of Maria and Ariel, immigrants from El Salvador seeking a safer life after receiving threats of violence from gangs. The team worked up to 30 hours a week on top of their course work to help the family in need. In total, they filed more than 300 pages of documentation to prove that the family qualified for asylum. After hours of preparation, Shakour and Torres presented the case before Immigration Court and obtained asylum for Maria and Ariel in the United States.*Because the well-being of Maria's daughters is still in jeopardy in El Salvador, and because gang retaliation could still occur in the U.S., actors were used in this What Would You Fight For video.*
- 2:01Fighting to Explore the MoonIn the 40 years since Notre Dame professor Clive Neal started studying the Moon and its wonders, many discoveries have been made, boundaries pushed and technology improved. But now he’s focused on making sure the next 40 years hold ingenuity, growth and adventure when it comes to the Moon. And he’s going to find the scholars, explorers and researchers who keep the Moon firmly in their sights.