Topic: Public Interest
95 results
In Practice Spring 2017
On the Front Lines of Europe’s Human Rights Concerns
Sometimes Bojana Urumova, ’96, works on high-profile issues with regional or global implications. Sometimes the work simply concerns individuals. But in her line of work, nothing is really simple.
@UMICHLAW Fall 2017
Equal Justice Works Fellows Advocate for Underserved Communities
Equal Justice Works is the nation’s largest post-graduate public interest fellowship program—and one of the most prestigious. The two-year program matches recent graduates who are passionate about public interest work with organizations that need their talents.
@UMICHLAW Spring 2017
DLAW Class Explores Affirmative Litigation Opportunities for Detroit
As senior adviser and counsel to the mayor of Detroit, Eli Savit, ’10, knows that the legal challenges facing the city are vast. So vast, in fact, that there simply is no way for staffers to explore affirmative litigation opportunities. Such public interest lawsuits filed on behalf of the city could address topics like consumer protection, environmental justice, housing, and nuisance abatement.
@UMICHLAW Spring 2017
Learning by Doing: Students Assist with Real-Life Workplace Law Issues
While raising the minimum wage around the country has become a well-known political and legal battle, many people are being paid 40 cents an hour—or even less. And it’s perfectly legal. This so-called “subminimum wage” is paid to people who have physical and mental impairments. An organization called Disability Rights Texas decided to push back, and they did so with the help of students in an innovative Michigan Law class.
Briefs Fall 2017
Innocence Clinic Victories
The Michigan Innocence Clinic has secured the release of three clients from prison this year, two of whom were exonerated. Desmond Ricks, who, in 1992, was charged with murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison, was released in May.
Features Spring 2017
A Girl, Her Wonder Dog, and a Supreme Court Ruling
Last Halloween was momentous for Brent and Stacy Fry and their 12-year-old daughter, Ehlena. While Ehlena’s peers were getting ready for trick-or-treating, the young girl and her retired service dog, Wonder, were at the U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments in their disability-rights case Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools.
Impact Fall 2017
Stephen and Faith Brown: Planning for the Next Generation of Leaders and Best
“We decided to make Michigan our ‘child’ in terms of estate planning,” says Stephen. “We both benefitted greatly from our Michigan education, particularly in our careers.”
@UMICHLAW Fall 2017
Pediatric Residents Join Michigan Law Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic
Melissa* was at wit’s end. Her daughter Olivia’s school district did not agree that special accommodations were necessary for the little girl, who has a feeding disorder and needs reminders and encouragement to help her eat and use the bathroom.
Cover Story Spring 2017
Can Detroit Schools Be Saved?
Think of everything you’ve heard about Detroit Public Schools in recent years: gym floors buckling, walls covered in toxic black mold, archaic math books scattered around the classroom floor of an abandoned school. A state bailout and restructuring plan. Teacher shortages, fraud charges against suppliers, and what The New York Times described as a “chaotic mix of charters and traditional public schools,” in which students in many charters as well as traditional public schools lag behind in testing and other metrics.
Now set those ideas to the side for a moment, and meet Stephen Chennault III, known as Trey.
Cover Story Fall 2016
Tension: Privacy vs. National Security in the Digital Age
Cindy Cohn, ’89, was in her office at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), interviewing a job candidate, when a staff member knocked on her door. Cohn initially said she couldn’t step away from the interview, but her colleague persisted. It was June 5, 2013—the day that would change everything.