News Blog

CLEA news blog: you can use your news aggregator to monitor the latest on the CLEA website.

  • 24 Apr 2013 4:08 PM | Tanya A Cooper (Administrator)
    Please click here to view the newest edition of the CLEA Newsletter or go to the News Tab to see all editions of the Newsletter.
  • 24 Apr 2013 8:21 AM | Laura McNally-Levine
    CLEA turns 21 this year!  In recognition of this milestone, CLEA will host a birthday party on Sunday, April 28, in a historic building courtyard in Old San Juan, from 8:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m.  The party will feature our membership meeting, the results of the CLEA Creative Writing Contest, and dancing and rum drinking until the wee hours (okay, until 11--CLEA may be 21, but most of us aren't!)  The party will be a short distance from the hotel; information about transportation is coming soon.  Make sure to check the clinic listserv and the CLEA website for more details.  We hope to see you there!
  • 31 Oct 2012 4:36 PM | Tanya A Cooper (Administrator)
    To view the newest edition of the CLEA Newsletter click here or go to News Tab to see all editions of the Newsletter.

  • 19 Jul 2012 4:07 PM | Laura McNally-Levine
    To view the newest edition of the CLEA Newsletter click here or go to News Tab to see all editions of the Newsletter.
  • 14 Mar 2012 2:02 PM | Laura McNally-Levine
    To read the current CLEA Newsletter click here or go to the News Tab and select Newsletters - where you will find the current newsletter and an archive of all previous newsletters.
  • 19 Oct 2011 10:35 AM | Laura McNally-Levine
    The Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) issues this statement because the US News & World Report rankings are upon us.  Many of those who receive ballots in their capacity as clinical directors or faculty members find this ranking process very uncomfortable.  There are a number of problems with the ranking of clinical programs, not the least of which is that it pits us in competition with each other, when we as a group see ourselves on the same team in a shared struggle for social justice, equality, and improved legal education.  Second, there are no articulated factors for ranking clinical programs, so to a degree the voting is a bit of a popularity contest.  Third, some schools unfairly suffer because they do not have the budget or the support of their administration to produce and mail clinic brochures or to send their clinic faculty to annual conferences.

     

    While we might wish the rankings would disappear or hope for collective action, the USN&WR rankings are likely here to stay and this year's clinical program ballots are now arriving.  So, what can we as faculty who teach clinics do?  CLEA, acting on the recommendation of its Rankings Committee (Carolyn Grose, Margaret Johnson, Bob Kuehn, Michael Pinard & Karen Tokarz), urges those ranking clinical programs to focus on key factors such as:  1) the range and quality of clinical curricular offerings available to students; 2) the law school's security of position, academic freedom, and governance rights for faculty who teach clinics; and 3) the extent to which the school has fulfilled the goal of diversity in hiring for clinical positions with long-term security.

     

    Beyond the issue of how to handle this year's ballots, CLEA believes that the issue of clinical program rankings and of infusing clinical education more into the equation (and balloting) for overall school rankings are topics worthy of continued conversation and strategizing and welcomes further ideas and input on these issues.

  • 19 Oct 2011 12:42 AM | Laura McNally-Levine
    To read the current CLEA Newsletter click here or go to the News Tab and select Newsletters - where you will find the current newsletter and an archive of all previous newsletters.
  • 19 Jul 2011 4:24 PM | Laura McNally-Levine
    To read CLEAs comment letter filed with the ABA Council on the proposed Model Rule on Admission of Foreign-Educated Lawyers click here.