2020 Denver Law Day of Service
On August 12, Denver Law hosted its 5th Annual Day of Service for incoming full time 1L students. Given the challenges of COVID-19, this year’s activities were all hosted virtually. Approximately 230 incoming students worked on projects for 15 different Colorado-based organizations. Their tasks ranged from summarizing social science studies around school discipline practices, compiling resources for individuals facing eviction, conducting client satisfaction surveys, identifying resources for victims of domestic violence, and much more.
“With all of 1L orientation being moved online this year because of Coronavirus, we struggled to think about how to shift our Day of Service, which has traditionally involved students working outside and working with their hands; doing things like cleaning up parks and stocking supplies at food banks,” said Professor Alexi Freeman, Director of Externships and Public Interest Initiatives. “At the same time, we knew that we had to find a way to engage in public service activities given the moment that we are living in right now, as the access to justice crisis has only grown. I’m incredibly grateful to our partners who were willing to take time out of their busy schedules to talk with our students about the communities they serve and to design projects that they could complete remotely.”
Ultimately, it was an incredibly busy morning for the students. Metro Volunteer Lawyers reported that students made over 440 phone calls to potential pro bono lawyers. Students gathered resources for students struggling with housing challenges for all 64 counties for the COVID 19 Eviction Defense Project. Others created COVID resource flyers for multiple counties for the Colorado Poverty Law Project and another 20 students contacted almost all federal legislative offices for the National Association of the Counsel of Children.
The full list of partners for this year’s Day of Service included: Alpine Legal Services, Bridge to Justice, Center for Immigrants, Alternate Defense Counsel, Colorado Legal Services, Colorado Poverty Law Project, COVID 19 Eviction Defense Project, Housing First Lab, Justice and Mercy Legal Aid Clinic, Metro Volunteer Lawyers, National Association of the Counsel for Children, Office of the Child’s Representative, Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel, Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, and Volunteers of America: Meals on Wheels program.
