Neighborhood Institutions Clinic

L02.2554/2555 Professor David Colodny Professor Paula Galowitz Open to 3L and 2L students Maximum of 8 students		Spring semester 5 credits* No prerequisites or co-requisites.

Course Description
This is a clinic that was offered for the first time in Spring, 2008. The focus of this clinic is the provision of legal services to grass-roots organizations that provide a variety of social services to their members and engage in community development efforts. Students perform fieldwork with attorneys from the Community Development Project (CDP) of the Urban Justice Center, and provide legal services to CDP’s clients throughout New York City.

Neighborhood institutions are abundant throughout New York City, and provide critical services in the communities they serve. They are often at the forefront of identifying and addressing local issues that later become issues of national importance. This course will provide exposure to neighborhood institutions, and how attorneys can support their work. Like many other organizations, neighborhood institutions have a variety of legal needs relating to their formation, growth, and service to members. The transactional needs of the organization itself may include assistance with forming and governing a non-profit; applying for tax exempt status; complying with non-profit, employment and tax laws; and negotiating commercial leases. Litigation typically addresses the issues facing the groups' low-income constituents and members, and supports their organizing efforts around these issues. 

The Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center provides an array of legal services to neighborhood institutions in New York City. CDP’s transactional services include providing legal advice and assistance to grassroots organizations in a variety of legal areas. CDP’s litigation practice focuses on tenants’ rights, workers’ rights, consumers’ rights, and civil rights. CDP works with many neighborhood institutions throughout New York City, such as the Chinese Staff and Workers Association, the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, Make the Road by Walking, and numerous tenants’ associations. More information about CDP’s work can be found on the Urban Justice Center website: www.urbanjustice.org/cdp.

Fieldwork
The fieldwork for this clinic will be primarily or entirely conducted with CDP. Students will be involved in transactional matters, such as incorporating an organization, drafting corporate governance documents, or applying for tax exempt status. In addition to obtaining drafting experience, students will have the opportunity to counsel and work directly with organizational clients. Students may also participate in a litigation matter, which will likely be in the area of workers’ rights or tenants’ rights. Students’ litigation work would likely entail joining an existing team of lawyers working on an ongoing case, and provide an opportunity to meet with clients, strategize with co-counsel, draft documents, and prepare for and observe depositions and court proceedings.

Students will work out of the offices of CDP. Direct interaction with the neighborhood institutions’ staff and members will be an integral component of the fieldwork.  

The Seminar

The seminar will meet weekly on Tuesday from 4:00 – 5:50 p.m. Classes will be participatory in nature, and students will be expected to give presentations, discuss their fieldwork and engage in simulations intended to sharpen practical lawyering skills.

The seminar will cover the following topics: introduction to the work of neighborhood institutions; the non-profit incorporation process; corporate governance of non-profit organizations, such as by-laws and boards of directors; the tax-exempt recognition process (501(c)(3) status); housing code enforcement; employment and labor laws most often affecting low-wage workers, including wage-hour violations and rights to organize; organizing and the legal issues commonly implicated (e.g. SLAPP litigation); and ethical issues arising from representation of neighborhood institutions and their members.

Application Procedure
Students interested in applying for the clinic should submit the standard application, resume, and transcript online through CAMS. Selection of students is not based on interviews. Professors Colodny and Galowitz will meet with applicants in small groups in order to provide a more complete description of the clinic and to answer questions. Please contact Dulcie Ingleton at (212) 998-6446 or dulcie.ingleton@nyu.edu after you submit your application to sign up for a meeting time.

Student Contacts

Students who wish to know more about the Neighborhood Institutions Clinic may speak with the following students who are in the clinic this semester:

Edget Betru                                               Anna Purinton

Hasani Caraway                                       Gregory Raiten

Brandilyn Dumas                                       Adam Stolorow

Alanna Franco                                           Ian Vandewalker

Shevani Jaisingh                                       George Wukoson

Students should also feel free to contact the professors who will teach the clinic. Professor Colodny can be reached at (646) 459-3006 or by email at dcolodny@urbanjustice.org. Professor Galowitz can be reached at (212) 998-6430 or by email at paula.galowitz@nyu.edu.

* 5 credits includes 3 clinical credits and 2 academic seminar credits.