Summary Prepared by Brenda Smith, American University

On September 21-22, the American University, Washington College of Law (WCL) in conjunction with Howard University School of Law held the first of the Equal Justice Colloquia. The Colloquium began with dinner and a presentation by Deborah Howard, Director of the Law School Consortium Project (the funder for the AALS Equal Justice Project), "Expanding the law School Education Mission to Support Graduates Serving the Underrepresented." Over 70 faculty, students and local lawyers attended the dinner.

On September 22, 2000 over 150 people attended a day-long conference held at WCL. The conference was organized around three central themes - teaching, service and scholarship. There were two working group meetings that were organized around interest groups, which included:

Community Economic Development
Criminal Justice
Disability
Family Law
Homelessness/Housing
Immigration and Domestic Applications of Human Rights Principles
Income Maintenance and Labor/Employment
Juvenile Justice
Race
Women's Rights

Speakers in the plenary included faculty from local law schools including University of Maryland Law School, WCL, University of the District of Columbia, George Washington University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and Catholic University Law School. Professor Michael Tigar of WCL was the luncheon keynote speaker.

The meeting ended with a wrap-up of the key themes of the Colloquium - greater collaboration between law schools and legal services providers; useful scholarship generated from the academy; and the role of law schools in preparing lawyers for work in the public interest.

Robert D. Dinerstein
American University, Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016
(202) 274-4141
rdiners@wcl.american.edu