At any given time, several members of the faculty sponsor ongoing research projects that include opportunities for student research. You can get 1-3 independent research credits (pass/fail or graded, as determined by each professor) for participating in such a project, depending on the amount of time you spend. (For students interested in spending fewer hours than is required to earn credit, pro bono participation is also an option. The hours of pro bono participation would count towards fulfilling the Law School’s Pro Bono Pledge but would not count towards fulfilling the New York’s Pro Bono Bar Admissions Requirement.) The project requirements vary, and enrollment requires the pre-approval of the sponsoring faculty member. Interested students should contact that faculty member directly. If permission to enroll is granted, students should follow the directions in the online registration instructions (Enrolling for Research Credits).
CIVIL RIGHTS LITIGATION CLEARINGHOUSE: This website, at https://clearinghouse.net, collects documents and information from civil rights cases in over a dozen case categories ranging from jail and prison conditions to same-sex marriage to deinstitutionalization. It is used by scholars, teachers, students, policymakers, advocates, and the public, to facilitate greater understanding of civil rights litigation. 2 or 3 credits, only, unless you’ve previously worked on the Clearinghouse for credit, in which case you can sign up for 1 credit. Faculty Sponsor: Margo Schlanger, [email protected]
DATA FOR DEFENDERS: Data for Defenders (https://datafordefenders.org) is a publicly-available database with sample briefs and motions that incorporate social science into criminal defense advocacy. MDefenders partners with public defender offices and organizations, MDefenders alumni, and indigent defense providers around the country to incorporate motions and briefs into the database that will be used by defense attorneys to inject social science research into criminal courtrooms. A few students each year work with Professor Primus to research and draft motions and briefs for inclusion in the database and to review submissions to the database. Faculty Sponsor: Eve Brensike Primus, [email protected]
TRIBAL COURT CLERK: Students working as tribal court clerks for faculty member who serves as a tribal appellate judge will research pending tribal court cases, draft bench briefs that summarize the legal questions and offer preliminary recommendations, and prepare draft opinions. Students may also be involved in tribal court improvement and infrastructure development projects such as drafting tribal codes and court rules, or work related to entities such as the Michigan Tribal-State-Judicial Forum. Faculty Sponsor: Matthew Fletcher, [email protected]