Lowenstein Clinic

The Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Law Clinic is a Law School course that gives students firsthand experience in human rights advocacy under faculty supervision by Clinic Director Jim Silk, Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Liz Brundige, the Cover/Lowenstein Fellow in International Human Rights.

Named for human rights activist Allard K. Lowenstein, the Clinic undertakes a wide variety of projects each term on behalf of human rights organizations and individual victims of human rights abuse. Projects are designed to:

• give students practical experience with the range of activities in which lawyers engage to promote respect for human rights
• provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective human rights lawyers
• contribute to efforts to protect human rights through valuable assistance to appropriate organizations and individual clients.

Class sessions provide an overview of basic human rights principles and their application; help students integrate the theory and practice of human rights: and provide training in human rights research, writing, and other advocacy skills. The clinic has one or more student directors.

Balancing Civil Liberties and National Security After September 11 is a separate clinical course affiliated with the Lowenstein Clinic that focuses on cases arising out of U.S. government policies enacted as part of the war on terror.