Three decades serving the most vulnerable clients

Updated 9:30 AM April 2, 2007

Three decades serving the most vulnerable clients

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By Jared Wadley
News Service

As Gemecia sits on the edge of her living room couch, the small voice of her 4-year-old daughter Laila (her nickname is used to protect her identity) can be heard calling, "Mommy" from the nearby bedroom.

Simple comforts of a warm hug and a small bowl of ice cream seem to be the right medicines for Laila, as she becomes more comfortable in her surroundings.

Until the U-M Law School Child Advocacy Law Clinic stepped in three years ago, this scene recently in a two-bedroom Ypsilanti apartment did not seem possible. In 2004, Gemecia lost custody of Laila when Child Protective Services alleged the mother was mentally unstable and a substance abuser.

"It's been a blessing having my daughter here with me," says Gemecia, who now gets unsupervised visitation and has been released by the court system from counseling and drug testing for staying clean for two years.

Since 1976, the Child Advocacy Law Clinic has represented many clients like Gemecia. It was the first law school clinic in the nation specializing in child abuse and neglect cases.

This weekend the clinic celebrated its 30th anniversary with a symposium that featured the clinic's founder, Don Duquette, and remarks from Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and other U.S. and international legal scholars and practitioners, jurists, representatives of organizations such as the United Nations Committee on Children, American Bar Association, and the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as academicians and child advocacy experts.

Student attorneys working in the clinic specialize in matters of child abuse and neglect and children in foster care. They represent children, parents and county offices of the Department of Human Services on a pro bono basis in separate Michigan counties.

There were approximately 340,000 children in the United States foster care system in 1976. Today, the number has swelled to 550,000 children. Duquette, a clinical law professor, says the current figure is evidence the clinic is needed to make a difference in children's lives.

"If we can give children legal and psychological stability early in their lives, they're set up to become good performers in school," Duquette says.

Clinical experience provides practice opportunities and course credit to students, who move beyond classroom theory to real-world law practice. "This kind of clinic puts students in the community, serving people who are underprivileged," he says. "It also inspires them into public service, a long-standing tradition at the Law School."

Michigan Court Rules allow the law students to provide direct representation to clients in various settings, always under the supervision of faculty. They interview clients and witnesses, negotiate with opposing counsel and make legal arguments before judges. Students also develop expertise in client counseling, discovery, negotiation, mediation, legal writing and trial skills.

Kate Pomper, a 20-year-old law and public policy student, thought she would do policy and advocacy work after graduation but her clinical experience has given her in an appreciation for working with clients liked Gemecia.

"Being able to get to know a person, help them with an issue and see a change happen is an incredible experience and has really made me want to do client work," Pomper says.

The clinic also allows faculty members, through court cases, to improve advocacy techniques and make recommendations for educational and policy approaches, Duquette says.

For more information on the clinic, go to www.law.umich.edu/CentersandPrograms/clinical/calc.

Three decades serving the most vulnerable clients

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