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CLEA Committee Reports: Spring 2026

ABA Bar Standards and Advocacy Committee

Committee Co-ChairsSerge MartinezSerge Martinez
New MexicoSarah WolkingSarah Wolking
Florida

The Advocacy recently submitted a statement in opposition of the proposal from the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to repeal Standard 206. Our statement reads in full:

The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) is the largest national organization of law professors. CLEA was founded more than 30 years ago to advocate for excellence in legal education and the legal profession. A key part of our mission is to “pursue and promote justice and diversity as core values of the legal profession.”

CLEA strongly opposes the current proposal to repeal Standard 206. Removing this Standard would signal a retreat from the Council’s commitment to equal access, meaningful inclusion, and training lawyers to serve an increasingly diverse society. It would also weaken the independent, principle-driven accreditation process amid external pressures that threaten the independence of the profession and the rule of law.

CLEA includes diversity into our core mission because we recognize that diversity in legal education is essential to the profession’s legitimacy and effectiveness. A diverse faculty enhances legal education and connects each law school’s work to the broader community. Prioritizing diversity among faculty also ensures that legal education is accessible and welcoming to students from various backgrounds. This, in turn, leads to a profession that welcomes diverse lawyers who improve the quality of legal services for diverse populations and builds public trust in legal institutions. As an organization of clinicians, each day our members work closely with law students and can testify firsthand to the importance that diversity serves in legal education, from preparing practice-ready, creative, and ethical practitioners to ensuring access to legal services by underserved communities.

CLEA shares and supports the Council’s goals of promoting access to justice, ensuring public confidence in the legal system, and preparing lawyers to serve a pluralistic society governed by the rule of law. The Council’s recent statement of Core Principles and Values of Accreditation recognizes and links the rule of law to “participation in the profession by students, graduates and teachers from all backgrounds and ideologies.” Standard 206 explicitly aligns legal education with these principles.[1] As outlined by the CLEA Committee for Faculty Equity and Inclusion, “[i]ncreasing the diversity of law faculty is a core component in moving towards equity in the profession.”

An inclusive faculty brings a breadth in “academic perspectives, scholarship, teaching styles, and life experiences” and “meaningful dialogue about the possibilities and limits of law and justice.”[2] Standard 206’s requirement for affirmative efforts to increase diversity acknowledges that these outcomes demand deliberation and ongoing commitment.

[1] CLEA Committee for Faculty Equity and Inclusion, The Diversity Imperative Revisited: Racial and Gender Inclusion in Clinical Law Faculty, 26 Clinical L. Rev. 127, 131 (2019).
[2] Id.

Joint Academic Freedom Committee

Committee Co-ChairsGautam HansGautam Hans
CornellLeigh GoodmarkLeigh Goodmark
Maryland

The JAFC continues to work to promote clinical academic freedom and protections for experiential faculty through developing programming, best practices, articles, and individual consultations. Members of the JAFC have presented at the AALS Annual and Clinical Conferences. Should you be in need of assistance, please reach out to Gautam Hans (Cornell), the chair, either at work email or to request a more confidential form of communication.

Best Practices in Pedagogy Committee

Committee Co-ChairsBenjie LouisBenjie Louis
HofstraLauren RogalLauren Rogal
Vanderbilt

The Best Practices in Pedagogy committee is thrilled to report that we have received a wide range of excellent proposals for the next volume in the Best Practices book series. The new volume, which will highlight emerging issues in legal education, will be published by Carolina Academic Press.

Awards Committee

The Awards Committee (co-chairs Dena Bauman, Utah, and Gautam Hans, Cornell) has awarded the CLEA Outstanding Advocate for Clinical Teachers Award to Julie Dahlstrom and the Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project Award to George Washington University Law School’s Health Justice Policy & Advocacy Clinic. Read the full award citations →

Externships Committee

Committee Co-ChairsAshley MendezAshley Mendez
ArkansasKate Devlin JoyceKate Devlin Joyce
Boston Univ.

Welcome spring and welcome to the CLEA Externship Committee! We are delighted to co-chair the CLEA Externship Committee, where we work alongside our incredible colleagues to advance the development of externship pedagogy, promote security of position for externship faculty, and foster the connections to improve community.

This fall, Dena Bauman, the former co-chair of this Committee, stepped down after her term ended. During her tenure, the Committee published multiple reports and initiated the Externship supervisor video project. We are very grateful for her leadership and look forward to her continued involvement with the Committee. This spring the Committee welcomed Ashley Menendez as the new co-chair! We are excited to have her join in leading this wonderful Committee.

During the fall, the Externship Committee held an informative panel on how to prepare for an ABA Site Visit. Leading the discussion were Kim Diana Connolly of the University at Buffalo and Beth Schwartz of Fordham Law. They provided the attendees with specific and strategic tips.

Check out the CLEA Externship supervisor videos. Our amazing community has produced videos, available to assist in educating and supporting field placement supervisors. We continue to add and update videos, let us know if you have suggestions.

The committee is very excited to share that the Externships 13 conference, Energized by Community, Empowered by Innovation will be held on October 8–10, 2026, hosted by Mitchell Hamline School of Law, The University of Minnesota Law School and the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Please consider presenting at the conference. Get to know new colleagues or reconnect with dear friends by submitting an RFP to present! The deadline to submit an RFP is now June 1, 2026. Check out the website.

The Committee is excited to launch into AY 2026–27; we would love for you to join us!

More from the Spring 2026 CLEA Newsletter