Civil Litigation Clinic Fall 2019 Updates & Faculty Highlights

Students litigated a host of cases in the Civil Litigation Clinic (CLC), including civil protection order, housing, immigration, guardian ad litem and family law cases over the 2018-2019 academic year. They also collaborated with the Direct Action Team, a grassroots group of volunteers in the Denver community committed to fighting wage theft.  The group takes “direct action” in the form of confronting employers who refuse to pay wages before, or in lieu of, filing a lawsuit. When those efforts were not fruitful, students in the Civil Litigation Clinic also represented several low-income workers in court. 

Last year, CLC law students collaborated with two Psy.D students studying clinical psychology at DU’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP ) to provide a multi-disciplinary perspective on clients’ cases and legal work.  Psy.D students Breanne Slay and Dominique Chao and their supervisor Deborah Fishman, a clinical psychologist and adjunct faculty member of GSPP, joined our team for weekly rounds and ongoing consultation.  

Clinical Teaching Fellow Katie Wallat submitted an article on the topic of access to justice, which was accepted for publication by the Marquette Law Review.  CLC Clinic Director Tammy Kuennen submitted an article for publication on the topic of social norm-changing in the context of domestic violence which was accepted for publication by the Brooklyn Law Review.  Kuennen also continues to speak in the community and nationally on the topic of domestic violence. 

Civil Litigation Clinic Faculty Highlights

Professor Tamara Kuennen

Publications

Not All Violence in Relationships is “Domestic Violence,” forthcoming __ Brooklyn  L. Rev. __ (2020)

Presentations

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Improving the Civil Protection Order System:  A Multidisciplinary Approach, Polson, MT (October 1, 2019).

Continuing Legal Education for Guardians ad Litem, Understanding the Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Children, Denver, CO (August 29, 2019).

National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence, Faculty, Continuing Judicial Skills in Civil Protection Order Cases, Denver, CO (August 22-23, 2019).

Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, Domestic Violence in the Context of GAL Cases, Part II, Denver, CO (August 20, 2019).

Domestic Violence and Sex Offender Management Boards’ Annual Conference, Roundtable:  Civil Court Domestic Violence Offender Evaluation and Treatment Orders, Breckenridge, CO (July 10, 2019).

Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, Domestic Violence in the Context of GAL Cases, Part I, Denver, CO (June 17, 2019).

En Banc with Denver County Court Judges, Domestic Violence Training, co-presenter Judge Chelsea Malone, Denver, CO (June 14, 2019).

Continuing Legal Education for Guardians ad Litem, Understanding the Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Children, Denver, CO (June 13, 2019).

American Association of Law Schools, Clinical Legal Education Annual Conference, “Lying” Clients and the Students Who Represent Them, Helping Students Understand Why Clients May Mislead, Provide Mistruths or Otherwise Fabricate, co-presenters Rachel Camp and Laurie Kohn, San Francisco, CA (May 6, 2019).

Pedagogy Workshop for DU and CU Clinicians, Clinical Supervision Rounds, with Prof. Deborah Epstein, Denver, CO (April 9, 2019).

DU Sturm College of Law, Work in Progress, Social Constructions of Domestic Violence and Domestic Violence Victimhood, Denver, CO (January 31, 2019).

Domestic Violence Offender Management Board Meeting, Work in Progress, Social Constructions of Domestic Violence, Lakewood, CO (January 11, 2019).

Clinical Teaching Fellow Katherine Wallat

Publications
Reconceptualizing Access to Justice, forthcoming __ Marquette L. Rev. ___ (2020).