Clinic - Comm Economic Development

Community Economic Development Hybrid Externship Clinic (5 credits) Faculty: Michael Haber Students in this clinic assist attorneys in the Community & Economic Development Program at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A ("Brooklyn A"), who use the tools of corporate and transactional law to promote racial and economic justice across the communities of New York City and beyond. The Community & Economic Development Program represents non-profit community-based organizations, small, community-based businesses, worker cooperatives and solidarity economy projects, and community activist projects building grassroots power in movements for racial and economic justice. Students will work with Brooklyn A attorneys on contract, corporate, real estate, and tax law issues, all in a transactional context. The seminar component of the course will train students in the core transactional lawyering skills necessary for this legal work, including interviewing and counseling entity clients, contract drafting and negotiation, and navigating ethical issues that arise in group representation. It will also explore the history of how transactional law has been used to work for economic development, grassroots social change, and racial and economic justice. Students in the clinic must work one day per week at the Brooklyn A office in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and should spend a total of 12 or more hours per week on Brooklyn A work. Students earn 3 credits for the externship placement and 2 for the seminar.