Public Interest News

Gautam Hans launches First Amendment Clinic at VLS

Nov. 7, 2018—Funded through a grant from The Stanton Foundation, the clinic will give students opportunities to development and use legal strategies while working on cases addressing First Amendment rights.

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Public Interest Law conference addresses reform prosecutors, bail reform, access to justice and economic justice

Nov. 6, 2018—Conference hosted by the George Barrett Social Justice Program features 20 leading advocates and scholars in the areas of immigration law, criminal procedure and economic justice.

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Alumni Faculty News General News Public Interest News


Randy Hiroshige ’20 J.D./M.T.S.

Oct. 16, 2018—Randy Hiroshige’s undergraduate courses in ethics and philosophy led him to consider a career in law. “During college, I started to see how structures propagate injustice and developed an ethical commitment to helping those ground down by legal structures,” he said. His desire to pursue graduate degrees in both law and theology led him to...

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Cara Suvall joins Vanderbilt’s law faculty as an assistant clinical professor of law

Aug. 16, 2018—Suvall will teach the new Youth Opportunity Clinic, which will support to youth who are at risk for criminal legal involvement.

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105 VLS students receive 2018 summer stipends to support pro bono legal work

Jul. 9, 2018—VLS students are working in 18 states, D.C. and the Netherlands for federal and state courts, government legal departments and nonprofits.

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45 VLS students receive course credit to support pro bono legal work in summer 2019

Jul. 9, 2018—Students secured externships with federal and state courses, government agencies and legal nonprofits and in corporate legal offices.

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Kevin Coker and Sean Dowling named 2018 Gideon’s Promise Fellows

May. 17, 2018—Coker will work at the Metropolitan Nashville Public Defender’s Office and Dowling for the Shelby County Defenders.

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Alana Seixas and Lynn Stopher named 2018 George Barrett Social Justice Fellows

May. 17, 2018—Stopher will work at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago; Seixas will work at the Children’s Law Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Kristen Clarke of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law delivers 2018 George Barrett Social Justice Lecture

Apr. 10, 2018—Clarke’s lecture, “Democracy under Attack: Race, Rights and Resistance,” addresses the role of lawyers in responding to racial injustice, voter suppression and other civil rights issues.

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Amber Banks ’20 receives Garrison Social Justice Scholarship

Mar. 27, 2018—Banks will spend summer 2018 working at the Texas Civil Rights Project.

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VLS students help create a new nonprofit through Vanderbilt’s Transactional Pro Bono Spring Break

Mar. 27, 2018—A six-student team helped the Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union create a new nonprofit.

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VLS Pro Bono Spring Break students successfully argue bond motions for immigrant detainees

Mar. 21, 2018—Seven VLS students traveled to Lumpkin, Georgia, to work with attorneys from the Southern Immigrant Freedom Initiative on behalf of immigrant detainees.

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Alumni General News Public Interest News


Medical Legal Partnership conducts free Legal Needs Assessments for patients of the Shade Tree Clinic

Mar. 16, 2018—Members of Vanderbilt’s Legal Aid Society volunteer at free medical clinic run by Vanderbilt Medical School students to identify needs for legal services and refer patients to legal aid resources.

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Ten VLS students volunteer at Mississippi Center for Justice for Pro Bono Spring Break

Mar. 23, 2017—Students worked for low-income Mississippi residents on education, expungement and heirship-related cases.

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Nathan Walsh ’16 named Vanderbilt Law’s first George Barrett Fellow

May. 17, 2016—Walsh will advocate for homeless students with disabilities as a fellow with Disability Rights Tennessee.

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Anne-Marie Moyes ’03 featured in New York Times story about wrongful conviction

May. 5, 2016—Moyes' work to exonerate a wrongfully convicted prisoner is chronicled in a graphic story by Patrick Chappatte in the New York Times.

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Alumni Public Interest News


Social Justice Program to be named for renowned civil rights attorney George Barrett ’57

Aug. 26, 2015—Darren Robbins '93 made a gift to endow the Social Justice Program in Barrett’s name.

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2015 graduates Clarke Agre and Nakeisha Jackson named Gideon’s Promise Fellows

Jul. 14, 2015—Agre and Jackson will work as public defenders in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, and Knox County, Tennessee.

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Spring Miller named Vanderbilt Law School’s inaugural Assistant Dean for Public Interest

Jul. 10, 2015—Miller will create public interest opportunities for Vanderbilt Law students and facilitate graduates’ entry into public interest law careers and fellowships with government and nonprofit organizations.

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39 Vanderbilt Law students serve externships for course credit during summer 2015

Jun. 10, 2015—VLS students are working in federal and state judicial chambers, in the offices of U.S. Attorneys and state attorneys general, and with corporations and advocacy organizations.

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72 Vanderbilt Law students receive 2015 summer stipends to support pro bono work

Jun. 10, 2015—Students receiving Vanderbilt Law stipends are working pro bono during summer 2015 for 76 legal offices and organizations in 20 states, the District of Columbia and one foreign nation.

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Abby Moskowitz is Vanderbilt’s first Garrison Social Justice Scholar

Mar. 30, 2015—New scholarship provides tuition and summer stipend support to students preparing for social justice careers.

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Vidhi Sanghavi ’15 awarded Skadden Fellowship

Dec. 17, 2014—Sanghavi will work at the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee to develop a legal advocacy program to help people with criminal convictions reenter their communities.

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Contracts classes compete in fall food drive to benefit Second Harvest

Nov. 20, 2013—Food drive organized by Reeshad Ali, the VBA's Community Service Chair.

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Appellate Clinic’s victory in LaFountain v. Harry corrects Sixth Circuit precedent

Jun. 11, 2013—Four members of the Class of 2013 establish the right of indigent clients to amend cases filed in federal courts.

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