Ilan Wong ’12, Sara Fraser ’13, and Natalie Serra ’13 from the Safe Harbor Clinic successfully gained asylum for their client, a transgender woman from Mexico. The client had taken critical steps in her gender transition and would have been in exceptional danger if she returned to her home country. Although she had been living in the U.S. for four years, the students gathered effective psychological and medical evidence, proving their client’s extraordinary circumstances and bypassing the requirement to file for asylum within one year of entering the country. The students represented their client at her asylum interview last summer and Raquel Liberman ’09, a former Safe Harbor clinician, served as the interpreter. After six months of waiting, in December, Safe Harbor learned that the client’s application had finally been approved.

With the aid of Professor David Reiss and the students in the Community Development Clinic, the NYC Peace Museum is one step closer to opening its doors. BLS students Vincent DiForte ’14, Evan Rosin ’13, Kenneth Craig Reilly ’13, Kyle Antonelli ‘12, Stuart Linder ‘12 and Cameron Weil ’13 helped charter the museum, a process that includes making an application to the NYS Board of Regents. The students have also provided advice and counsel to the Museum’s board and founders.

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In March 2011, BLS added an innovative program to its roster of clinics. Taught by then-Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Hennigan, a Major in the Air Force reserve with 12 years of Judge Advocate General (JAG) experience, the Military Legal Practice Clinic provides a foundation in military law to BLS students. “The idea behind the Clinic was to expose students at BLS to a potential career in the military, and to explore the inner workings of the military legal process so that they can be informed citizens when it comes to the military issues being debated in our nation, including military courts, Guantanamo Bay, and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” said Hennigan.

But the Clinic quickly accomplished more, becoming a steady pipeline for careers in the JAG Corps. Of the 26 students who have participated in the Clinic since its inception, 15 have received job offers with the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, or National Guard.

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Professor Jonathan Askin was recently interviewed by New Learning Times about the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy (BLIP) Clinic and its role in online and digital rights advocacy. Regarding the "hacker ethos" he hopes to instill in the next generation of Internet and tech lawyers, he explains that "[every] revolution requires those trained in law to frame the political, legal, social, and business rules and structures."

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