Michael J. Wishnie ’93 to Discuss Resistance and Regeneration in William O. Douglas Inaugural Lecture
Michael J. Wishnie ’93, Deputy Dean for Experiential Learning and a pathbreaking clinical professor who heads up Yale Law School’s renowned legal services organization, will present his inaugural lecture as the William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law on Monday, April 8, 2013. The event has been moved from its original February date due to weather. The lecture will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Room 127 and will focus on “Resistance and Regeneration."
“In a world of scarce resources for poor and subordinated households and communities, what sort of legal advocacy is most likely to aid individuals and advance social and economic justice in the United States? If one believes that enduring reform is more likely to result from collective action than elite interventions, then what sort of law practice can best serve social movements? And how can such a practice be learned and taught?” said Professor Wishnie. “These questions have engaged me for years. In this talk, I hope to share some reflections on lawyering for social change with low-wage workers, undocumented immigrants, disabled veterans, alleged terrorists, and law students.”
Professor Wishnie joined Yale Law School as a clinical professor in 2006 and was appointed director of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization in February 2011. In 2012, he was named the William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law and then Deputy Dean for Experiential Learning. His teaching, scholarship, and law practice have focused on immigration, labor and employment, habeas corpus, civil rights, and veterans law. In recent years, he has taught the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, Veterans Legal Services Clinic, Civil Liberties and National Security After September 11 Clinic, and Federal Courts: Selected Topics. He and his students have represented a wide range of community groups, churches, labor unions, and individuals in litigation and other forms of advocacy to defend and advance the rights of working people, immigrants, and veterans.
He holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
The William O. Douglas Clinical Professorship of Law was established in 1989 by a gift from Mrs. Gordon B. Tweedy and her daughters in memory of Gordon Bradford Tweedy ’32, on the occasion of the anniversaries of his graduation from Yale College and Yale Law School, and in honor of the Honorable William O. Douglas, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1939–75.
