May. 20, 2020—Rising 2Ls and 3Ls will work in federal and state judicial chambers, agencies and law offices, with prosecutors and public defenders, and with public interest and advocacy organizations.
May. 13, 2020—Akinnawonu will work as an immigration attorney at the Mississippi Center for Justice in Jackson. She connected with the MCJ while working at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Jackson during summer 2019.
May. 6, 2020—Banks is one of eight 2020 law graduates honored for their exemplary commitment to public interest law and pro bono work. She was a Garrison Social Justice Scholar.
May. 4, 2020—Sandford will join the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office in Knoxville, Tennessee; DeFuccio will join the Mecklenberg Defenders in Charlotte, North Carolina.
May. 1, 2020—Amber Banks ’20 completed 611 pro bono hours as a VLS student. Eunice Lim ’21 and Jackson Hill ’22 were also recognized for leading their classes in pro bono hours with 299 and 99 hours, respectively.
Apr. 21, 2020—Dozier is working at Just City as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. He supervised a team of students who worked on expungement cases, participating a Court Watch program, and supported other criminal justice advocacy initiatives.
Apr. 15, 2020—Students worked in an expungement clinic, investigated policing practices to support impact litigation, researched the criminalization of HIV and supported other legal advocacy initiatives.
Feb. 14, 2020—Twelve students are providing more than 420 hours of pro bono legal work through Woodbine Immigration Intake Clinics scheduled throughout the academic year at a local church.
Feb. 9, 2020—Clinic students served as co-counsel in Human Rights Defense Center v. Marshall County, Tennessee, which claimed that the county sheriff’s department engaged in unconstitutional censorship.
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Nov. 14, 2019—Kay, who is associate dean for experiential education, has taught at VLS since 1980 and established the law school's first clinic. The award recognizes her lifetime dedication to criminal justice reform and legal advocacy, which includng successfully challenging Nashville's jail conditions. She was honored on Nov. 14.
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Oct. 17, 2019—Supreme Court case addresses the right of citizens to freely access official statutory codes as a means of ensuring effective participation in democratic self-government.
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Oct. 4, 2019—Clarke and her co-authors argue that the Title VII prohibition on discrimination based on sex also means employers cannot discriminate against employees based on sexual orientation or transgender identity.
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Sep. 19, 2019—The 2019 George Barrett Social Justice Lecture, “Political Activism, Legal Advocacy and Labor Organizing: A Conversation on Creating Change,” is a panel discussion featuring actor/activist Danny Glover, ACLU Legal Director David Cole and labor leader Bruce Raynor.
Sep. 6, 2019—Assistant Dean for Public Interest Spring Miller and eight attorneys engaged in legal advocacy in Nashville introduced first-year law students to opportunities to gain legal experience through pro bono service with local organizations.
Aug. 2, 2019—Students are working in the legal departments of federal and state agencies, and in judicial chambers, prosecutors' and public defenders offices, for legal nonprofit organizations and in corporate legal departments.
Aug. 2, 2019—Students received course credit for their work in the legal departments of federal agencies and judicial chambers, with U.S. Attorney’s and states’ attorneys general offices, for legal nonprofit organizations and in corporate legal departments
May. 21, 2019—Thompson will focus on labor trafficking at Legal Aid of North Carolina; Zapata will advocate for medical care and support for adults with disabilities at the Tennessee Justice Center.
May. 14, 2019—Dozier will work at Just City, a legal nonprofit in Memphis that focuses on adults and teenagers involved with the criminal justice system.
May. 9, 2019—Heller will join the Hamilton County Public Defender’s office in Cincinnati, Ohio. McCarley will join the Nashville Public Defenders.
May. 8, 2019—Mitchell is the winner for the South Region of the Equal Justice Works competition.
Apr. 29, 2019—Fay will spend this summer working at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence; Cappetta will work at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for digital privacy and free speech, and South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
Apr. 24, 2019—Galloway will join the Criminal Enforcement Section of the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice based in Washington, D.C.
Apr. 24, 2019—Students logged a combined 6,908 of pro bono legal work and community service as participants in Vanderbilt’s Pro Bono Pledge program.
Apr. 18, 2019—Six students worked at Atlanta Legal Aid with Equal Justice Works Fellow Darrius Woods ’17, supporting programs to reform predatory lending practices and provide property tax relief to low-income clients.
Apr. 9, 2019—McWeay was named executive director of Still She Rises Tulsa, an initiative of the Bronx Defenders that represents mothers in the criminal justice system, in January. Essence magazine published this interview with McWeay March 19.