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Touro Law Center’s International Justice Center for Post-Graduate Development Leverages Free WestlawNext Services for Current Law School Incubators & Residency Programs

January 15, 2014

Touro Law’s International Justice Center for Post-Graduate Development (“Center”) was recently created with an understanding that post-graduate legal education has proven to be an effective tool to enable new lawyers to deepen their commitment to social justice as they work to develop solo and small firm practice and not-for-profit organizations. Additionally, the Center is a logical next step or extension of Touro Law’s commitment to preparing students for success in a challenging legal marketplace through experiential learning.

The Center has been working with Thomson Reuters and Thomson has agreed to donate one year of free WestlawNext Patron Access to existing law school, bar association and Legal Aid-based incubators and residency programs. The plan includes Primary Law Access to cases statutes and administrative codes for state and federal laws with KeyCite citation services.

If you are interested in this service for your program, your program must be identified on the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services’ directory. Additionally, you will need to provide an IP address for a dedicated desktop computer at your site that can be used by lawyers in your program to access WestlawNext.  Programs are asked to update any information that may have changed since the directory was compiled.  

The Center will work with law schools, bar associations and Legal Aid organizations that wish to assist lawyers as they set up and then manage community-based practices that serve the pressing needs of poor, economically disadvantaged and working class clients in communities underserved by lawyers.  The resulting practices, which are personally and professional rewarding for graduates who will benefit from ongoing mentoring and professional support, will inevitably increase access to justice in marginalized communities, using client-centered, community-oriented and social-justice focused legal representation. 

Components of the Center will include the following:
  • Collaboration with the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services– The Center will work closely with the ABA to support existing incubator and residency programs for lawyers, to conceptualize new models that address the ever-changing unmet legal needs of people around the globe and support access-to-justice initiatives both at home and abroad.
  • International Conference on Post-Graduate Legal Education, Spring 2014- The Center will cosponsor a conference with the ABA and other law schools to discuss recent trends in post-graduate legal education and to provide technical training and support to interested law schools, bar associations or other organizations interested in developing incubators or residency programs.
  • International Support Center – The Center will solicit funding from United States government agencies  (State and Justice Departments, USAID, etc.), international foundations and bar associations to provide international students/professors/bar leaders and members of the judiciary with the training they need to successfully create post-graduate programs designed to increase access to justice.
  • Expanded Clearinghouse Services and International Listserv- In conjunction with the ABA, the Center will compile and house reports, law review articles, books, articles and other materials that can be used by law schools in the process of developing their own post-graduate programming. A listserv that promotes the free flow of information among its subscribers will substantially enhance communication from institutions around the world.
  • National Training Center- The Center will develop a national training component to provide technical support for domestic law schools/bar associations/state justice commissions and other organizations planning post-graduate programs designed to increase access to justice.
Please feel free to contact Director Fred Rooney with any questions you may have at frooney@tourolaw.edu or by phone at (484) 554-4492.

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York.  Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

About the Touro College and University System 
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.

For more info contact:

Patti Desrochers

Director of Communications

pattid@tourolaw.edu

(631) 761-7062

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