Willamette Law launches Innovative Immigrant Justice Scholars program

Willamette Law is proud to announce the launch of the Immigrant Justice Scholars (IJS) program. This groundbreaking initiative aims to support social justice-minded students in a specialized course of study and community participation, leading to post-graduate attorney positions in funded fellowships.

The program includes an immigration-specific curriculum, experiential learning opportunities, and a final immersive semester of clinical work in Portland. Participants will be eligible for partial tuition scholarships and, after successful program completion, will be competitive for the Oregon Immigrant Justice Fellowship Program, sponsored by Oregon Worker Relief (OWR). Fellows would be employed for one year, with the potential to renew for a second year, providing direct legal services as part of the Equity Corps of Oregon (ECO) universal representation program.

In addition to the usual law school curriculum, scholars will benefit from a strong foundation in immigration law and hands-on experience with experts in the field under the umbrella of the Portland Immigration Initiative. Professor Sarah Purce views the program as an opportunity to redefine many aspects of legal education and immigration advocacy in Oregon.

In fact, the program’s launch could not come at a better time for both the state and Willamette Law.

“This program is going to be beneficial to its scholars by taking advantage of the confluence of three events,” Purce explains. “Willamette Law has the only immigration law clinic in the state; Oregon has the most expansive universal representation program for immigrants in the country; and the state recently adopted historic attorney licensure reform in the form of the Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination.”

The opportunity for scholars to turn their knowledge into action will help advance access to legal services for underserved immigrant communities in Oregon. The College of Law looks forward to welcoming its first cohort of students in the IJS program in the Fall 2024 semester.

These important changes demonstrate Willamette Law’s commitment to training the next generation of lawyers with the skills required to practice and provide representation to underserved populations in Oregon.

Willamette Law is also uniquely positioned to capitalize on significant new developments in Oregon in both access to justice for immigrants and attorney licensure reform. Oregon has recently made great strides in expanding representation for immigrants through the creation of the most expansive universal representation program in the nation.

Simultaneously, Oregon implemented a more equitable and skills-focused approach to attorney licensure for students with the recent approval of the Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination (SPPE). With their hands-on experience, clinic students are exceptionally well-positioned to take advantage of these new developments. Their significant training, coupled with Willamette’s strong alumni network, ensures that the students will be able to find SPPE supervisors and jump into practice equipped with the skills needed to be effective advocates for those most in need.