A years-long leader in the field of experiential legal education, Professor Dahlstrom directs the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program at Boston University School of Law, where she serves as Associate Dean of Clinical & Experiential Education.

Over the past year, a deeply troubling pattern of unchecked political interference by federal and state governmental actors in legal education has emerged. The unprecedented rescission of Professor Emily Suski’s contract of employment as Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law is the latest evidence of the power that government actors are willing to use to silence academics for political purposes.

Over the past year, a deeply troubling pattern of unchecked political interference by federal and state governmental actors in legal education has emerged. The unprecedented rescission of Professor Emily Suski’s contract of employment as Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law is the latest evidence of the power that government actors are willing to use to silence academics for political purposes.

The CLEA Best Practices in Legal Pedagogy Committee through the Best Practices Book Sub-Committee seeks proposals for chapters for the next volume in the Best Practices Book Series, which includes Best Practices for Legal Education: A Vision and a Road Map and Building on Best Practices: Transforming Legal Education in a Changing World. This new Best Practices volume will revisit and update some of the topics covered in these prior volumes as well as explore new topics, including current and emerging techniques, strategies, and practices to help guide individual law instructors and administrators as they design their classes, courses, and curricula.

Read the CLEA Newsletter for Winter 2025-2026.

The newsletter includes items on honors, awards, publications, clinical law professors around the country, and it includes committee reports and the recurring column on clinical legal education from Bob Kuehn.

We are now in the midst of a coordinated and escalating campaign against academic freedom, legal education, and the ethical practice of law from the highest echelons of domestic power and influence. The latest deeply troubling example is the attack on Professor Ramzi Kassem, a tenured law professor and clinician at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, who has been singled out by members of Congress for his speech, advocacy, and zealous representation of clients.

Joint Statement from CLEA and AALS Clinical Section on Congressional Attack on Academic Freedom

CLEA Awards Committee Soliciting Nominations!

Register here for the New Clinicians Conference at the University of Baltimore School of Law on Saturday, April 26th: https://www.cleaweb.org/event-6097985.

Registration for the Applied Legal Storytelling Conference is now live!

The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) invites new (and not so new!) clinicians to save the date for the New Clinicians Conference to be held on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at the University of Baltimore School of Law in Baltimore, MD. 

It is time to inaugurate a new class of Bellow Scholars! Please help us spread the word about this exciting program by forwarding the below information to your colleagues and contacts.

The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) continues to oppose the ranking system used by U.S. News and World Reports (USNWR). CLEA exists to advocate for clinical legal education as fundamental to the education of lawyers, and one of our core points of advocacy is to pursue and promote justice and diversity as core values of the legal profession.

The Spring 2020 CLEA Newsletter is now published!

A national survey of law schools confirms a significant shift towards allowing students to earn academic credit in paid externship positions. Most surveyed schools reported that they allow pay in at least some of their externship placements.

The CLEA Awards Committee is once again soliciting nominations for its student awards.  Schools have two student award nomination opportunities through CLEA. First, schools have the option to decide between the CLEA Outstanding Clinic Student or Outstanding Clinic Team Award.

The CLEA Awards Committee is once again soliciting nominations for two awards that are given annually. This year’s awards will be presented during the AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education in San Francisco, and we look forward to this opportunity to recognize and celebrate our clinical community’s valuable and inspiring work.

We are thrilled to hold the CLEA New Clinicians Conference in person this year immediately preceding the AALS Clinical Conference in San Francisco, California. 

Here is the fresh CLEA Newsletter, Winter 2022-2023, with a message from new co-presidents, Lynnise Pantin and Gautam Hans; CLEA's statement on US News rankings; updates from the CLEA committees; articles on clinical legal education; notes on CLEA events; and news and celebration from clinical law profs and this community.