GEORGE BARRETT SOCIAL JUSTICE PROGRAM FAST FACTS
“Social justice is the heart of law. The George Barrett Social Justice Program keeps it at the heart of Vanderbilt Law School.”
TERRY MARONEY |
Law school is where each attorney’s unique path to building a better world through law first takes shape. The George Barrett Social Justice Program at Vanderbilt Law School promotes a dynamic atmosphere in which students and faculty focus on issues of equality, access and service—both inside and outside the classroom. Endowed by Darren Robbins, Class of 1993, in honor of civil rights attorney George Barrett, Class of 1957, the program is just one element of Vanderbilt’s institutional commitment to lawyering in the public interest. Here, students can also gain invaluable hands-on experience in our clinical courses, pursue volunteer opportunities through student organizations such as the Legal Aid Society and Law Students for Social Justice, take the Pro Bono Pledge to devote time each year to public service, participate in a Pro Bono Spring Break, and spend a summer or semester interning at a public interest organization or government agency.
“Helping people navigate a really complex process like immigration successfully is exactly the kind of work I want to do.”
Robert S. and Theresa L. Reder Professor of Law
An Array of Elective Courses and Clinics Students may choose from a variety of courses and clinics addressing a diversity of topics, including immigration law, non-litigation strategies for social change, race and the law, drug law and policy, juvenile justice, human rights, labor and employment, poverty law, mental health law, bioethics, education law, refugee law, gender and the law, reproductive rights and wrongful conviction. The program also enriches the curriculum each year by bringing in top public interest lawyers to deliver talks and teach short courses in their areas of expertise. 2021–22 George Barrett Fellow Vel Lewis is working in the Protection and Solutions Unit of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees in Washington, D.C.
George Barrett Distinguished Practitioner in Residence The program brings a prominent social justice lawyer to Vanderbilt each year to mentor students and deliver a talk. Distinguished practitioners have included New Orleans Chief District Defender Derwyn Bunton; Kristen Clarke, then of the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Ahilan Arulanantham, director of advocacy and legal director of the ACLU of Southern California. Events, Activities and Opportunities Each year the Social Justice Program sponsors speakers, conferences and workshops on issues ranging from wrongful conviction and education reform to religious exemptions from civil rights laws. To deepen students’ understanding of social issues and help them build public interest connections, the program also enables students to travel to conferences and training sessions nationwide and sponsors films and reading groups.
“The faculty at Vanderbilt are really invested in your personal and professional development and go out of their way to connect you to exciting opportunities.”
ALLEN KING
EMILY BURGESS
Allen is developing an automated online screening system that uses a simple questionnaire that’s available in several languages to guide prospective clients through the JFON intake process to determine their eligibility for immigration relief. As the son of Chinese immigrants, Allen had firsthand experience with the American immigration system. He got the idea for his fellowship project while volunteering at a TN JFON intake clinic during law school.
After Professor Karla McKanders encouraged Emily to write an article discussing a recent Sixth Circuit decision for the immigration section of the Tennessee Bar Association, she was offered part-time work with the immigration attorney who edited her article, which has allowed her to explore her interest in immigration law.
| Class of 2021 2021–22 George Barrett Social Justice Fellow Staff Attorney, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors
| Class of 2022 Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey Public Interest Scholar Justice-Moore Family Public Interest Scholar 2022–24 Clerk, Judge Travis McDonough, U.S. District Court for the District of East Tennessee
Social Justice Summer Stipends Students seeking to launch social justice careers receive summer stipends from the George Barrett Social Justice Program to help defray their living expenses while they work pro bono for public interest organizations. Past recipients have worked for federal and municipal defenders’ offices in several states, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project in New York, national and state disability rights organizations, the Capital Appeals Project, and the Investor Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s Office. Nationally renowned civil rights lawyer Arjun Sethi teaches a short course, Policing in the 21st Century, at Vanderbilt and meets with students interested in careers in public interest law for one-onone mentoring sessions.
Core Faculty Program Co-Director
Daniel Sharfstein
teaches American Legal History, Federal Indian Law and Property. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow, he is the author of two awardwinning books. Program Co-Director Jessica Clarke teaches Gender and the Law, Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure. An expert in American equality law, she studies constitutional guarantees of nondiscrimination based on traits such as race, sex, sexual orientation and gender orientation.
Gautam Hans directs the First Amendment Clinic. His work examines how individuals and organizations grapple with the complex legal and policy issues involved with technology and civil liberties.
Joni Hersch is an economist
Karla McKanders directs
Matthew Shaw is a public
who works in the areas of employment discrimination and empirical law and economics. She teaches Labor Markets and Human Resources.
the Immigration Practice Clinic. Her research focuses on the efficacy of legal institutions charged with processing migrants and refugees.
Susan Kay heads the
Spring Miller teaches
policy expert whose work addresses federal law, education policy and minority status. Currently in residence at VLS, he is on the faculty of Vanderbilt’s Peabody College and teaches Education Law.
clinical and experiential legal education program. An expert in criminal procedure, she directs the Criminal Practice Clinic.
Terry Maroney teaches Actual Innocence, Criminal Law and Juvenile Justice. She studies the role of emotion in law.
Sara Mayeux teaches First Amendment Constitutional Law, Law and History, and Constitutional Rights II: Individual Rights. Her work examines the history of indigent defense and the constitutional right to counsel.
Adjunct Law Professor Aisha McWeay, Class of 2009, taught a short course, Holistic Defense and Intersectionality in Legal Representation, in September 2021 through the George Barrett Social Justice Program. McWeay is executive director of Still She Rises Tulsa, the first holistic defense office in the nation dedicated exclusively to representing mothers in both the criminal and civil legal systems. She joined SSRT with more than 10 years of experience as a public defender in Nashville. Kira Benton, Class of 2021, joined the SSRT legal staff after graduation after working for the organization as an intern during summer 2020. “I had a great opportunity to get to know clients, talk with them about how their lives looked, and learn how we could help them,” she said.
The Public Lawyer, oversees the pro bono and externship programs, and mentors and advises students seeking careers in public interest law.
Jennifer Prusak directs Vanderbilt’s Housing Law Clinic, in which she and her students represent tenants facing eviction proceedings and advocate for affordable and accessible housing.
Lauren Rogal directs the Community Enterprise Clinic, which supports nonprofit organizations and start-up entrepreneurs.
Jennifer Shinall teaches Employment Law and Employment Discrimination. She studies employment discrimination in the areas of gender and disability.
Cara Suvall teaches the Youth Opportunity Clinic, which represents teens and young adults at risk of criminal legal involvement in the areas of education, housing and employment.
Vanderbilt Law School 131 21st Avenue South Nashville, Tennessee 37203 615-322-6452 615-322-1531 fax law.vanderbilt.edu
© 2021 Vanderbilt University Law School