DePaul Legal Clinic Spotlight, Fall 2022

Photo provided by DePaul College of law Library (Dialogue The Magazine of DePaul University College of law) Abigail Rogers, Jill Guzman, Olga Rojas, Joanne Boy, Derek Strain, Judge James R Fujimoto

Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning

Welcome to the DePaul Experiential Learning newsletter! This year, I will begin my new role as assistant dean of the law school’sExperiential Learning Program. My background serving as the Director of DePaul Law’s Legal Analysis Research & Communication (LARC) Program and as the faculty advisor to the moot court and national trial teams, as well as my previous work as a trial lawyer has prepared me for this role. Many thanks to my predecessor, Professor Julie Lawton, who had a strong vision and left the program in great shape. This newsletter will highlight the work of our Asylum and Immigration clinic celebrating its 25-year anniversary. Since 1996, the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic has

provided students the opportunity to advocate on behalf of immigrants, refugees, and asylumseekers and to collaborate with immigrant-serving nonprofits. The continued success of the clinic is due in large part to the dedication and work of Sioban Albiol who serves as the Director of the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic. Since joining the clinic in 2001, Professor Albiol has overseen the expansion of the Legal Resources Project from seven to twenty-eight partner agencies, which benefits both our students and the community. In addition, the clinic is fortunate to have James Fujimoto, a former Immigration Judge, who serves as the Senior Practitioner in Residence with the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic. The newsletter also highlights the work done in our other clinics, externships, trial advocacy, and skills programs, including the law school’s unique experiential learning programs, such as theThird Year in Practice (3YP) and the Litigation Lab, where practicing lawyers consult with current students to prepare actual cases.

Message from Martha Pagliari

Co-founders and partners of Asylum and Immigration Legal Clinic discuss its inception and growth.

On April 21, the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic (AILC) celebrated its 25th anniversary recognizing and reflecting on the contributions of so many—founders, partners, alumni, former clients, pro bono attorneys and interpreters and supporters. We were so proud to celebrate AILC’s 25 years of education, training and service, representation of refugees and immigrants and technical assistance and support to communities an effort to improve access to justice.

Dean Jennifer Rosato Perea, Craig Mousin and Alicia Alvarez, AILC Co founders; Susan Schreiber, co founder of AILC’s Legal Resources Project; and Kvein Woehr, Legal Supervisor at World Relief Chicagoland, an AILC partner

Lhesly Navarrete Fernandez (JD 19), Attorney, Asylum Office , Anne G Relias (JD 01) Senior Attorney, Scott D Pollock & Associates, PC , Victor Cerda (JD 95) , Evelyn Anaya (JD '01) international consultant with Axiom International Limited supporting a counter terrorism justice project in Iraq, Guadalupe Perez (JD '16) Staff attorney at the Law Office of the Cook County's Public Defender Immigration Unit

Director of Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic

Prior to joining the Clinic in 2001, Sioban Albiol served in various capacities at the organization now known as the National Immigrant Justice Center and served as a staff attorney at Prairie State Legal Services As AILC’s director, Prof Albiol has taught a generation of law students who have gone on to become immigration advocates across the country. In addition to teaching Clinic students in the classroom and supervising their representation of clients in Immigration Court and before the Department of Homeland Security, she has provided service opportunities for students who have assisted crime victims, naturalization and DACA applicants, and individuals and families held in detention She has overseen the growth of AILCs community facing Legal Resources Project (LRP) from seven to twenty eight partner organizations Through the LRP, AILC enhances the scope and quality of immigration legal services provided by immigrant serving nonprofits throughout Illinois with the goal of increasing access to legal information and representation for low income immigrants

Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic history and background

DePaul law students first answered the call to assist asylum seekers through service in 1992 when they traveled to Miami to assist Haitian refugees and to Harligen, Texas to assist individuals being held in immigration detention Traveling on their own during spring break to assist asylum seekers, these DePaul law students inspired AILC Co founder Prof Craig Mousin

(University Ombudsman and adjunct faculty member) to adjust his doctrinal asylum course into a service learning opportunity. Students mentored by pro bono attorneys, represented asylum seekers before the Immigration Court These experiences, this student interest and dedication lead then Clinic faculty member Alicia Alvarez and Prof Mousin propose and the faculty to

adopt an asylum clinic course, offered for the first time in the 1996 1997 academic year This cases gave students the opportunity to develop legal skills while serving the greater community. Profs. Alvarez and Mousin co taught the Clinic in its first two years One of the clients successfully represented by AILC in her asylum claim went on to be one of the plaintiffs in the case against Salvadoran generals

Chris Kleizer (JD ’99) one of the first stude seekers in the Clinic and Alicia Alvarez form conducted her own factual investigation an from El Salvador, was granted asylum AIL informed and self care training approach t mental health experts from the Marjorie Kovler Center for Treatment of Survivors of Torture to train students on the impact of trauma and identify approaches to support torture survivors

Chris Kleizer, Alicia Alvarez Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Experiential Education at UIC Law

Elizabeth Rompf Bruen (JD 04) Chicago Chapter Chair, American Immigration Lawyers Association

Community-Based Organizations partners

In 1999, AILC developed a pilot program, partnering with four immigrant serving community based organizations, to provide technical assistance and training for their legal staff in order to enhance the quality and scope of legal services for low income immigrants and refugees The project was supported by local funders including, the Fund for Immigrants and Refugees, the Lawyers Trust Fund, Polk Bros Foundation, and the Chicago Bar Foundation Since then, AILC has expanded its geographic reach to over twenty eight community based organizations in an effort to build legal services capacity. It further supports an additional 26 immigrant serving organizations through Illinois Access to Justice.

Service

Since its inception, AILC has supported law students through service, in particular traveling to places where access to legal counsel is limited

2016 service trip participants, from left to right: Edgar Gaucin, Michael Santomauro, Raya Stoicheva, Oliver Soleiman, Xiaoxue Du, Karen Ramirez and Michael Kasprzynski

2014 service trip participants, from left to right: Max Suchan, Guadalupe Perez, Angela Griffin, Dyzio Guzierowcz, Angelica Lopez and Andrea Zambrano

Alumni Impact

Kelli A. Fennell (JD '12), Milton Duvin Mendez Escobar, Natalie Long

Marisol Gallegos, Catherine Norquist, World Relief Chicagoland, Vanessa Esperanza Lopez, Olivia Villegas, Giovanna Valdez

AILC has trained a generation of immigrant advocates including legal aid lawyers, private practitioners, Asylum Officers, Immigration Judges, and immigration policy advisors at the local, state and national level

The DePaul College of Law Family Law Clinic provides legal assistance with marriage, divorce, invalidity of marriage, legal separation, parentage, and adoption through a partnership with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (“CVLS”)

All work in the Family Law Clinic (“Clinic”) is performed under the supervision of Clinic co directors Profs Phil Mohr and Rob Zielinski

Here are some updates from the divorce cases worked on by Clinic participants this academic year:

The client and her husband married in 2013 They lived together until the end of 2015 when they separated due to the husband’s substance abuse Client had no choice but to move back in with her family in Chicago. In 2021, Client sought representation in her divorce case. She hoped to legally formalize the end of her marriage Clinic

participant Alexis Beamon conducted an initial intake interview of Client and recommended representation to the rest of the Clinic The class agreed and Alexis filed Client’s case and had the husband served. After the husband failed to file an appearance or response, Alexis proceeded to a prove up hearing in the Domestic Relations Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County She elicited testimony from her client via Zoom, and the Court granted Client’s request for a divorce from her spouse Thanks to Alexis, Client was able to achieve a much needed fresh start

The client was a senior who needed help resolving a divorce case When he reached out to CVLS, Client had been married to his wife for nearly 40 years, but they had been separated for over 30 Client did not have the resources to hire an

attorney, so he tried to navigate the court process by himself without much success He struggled to electronically file his case and with appearing remotely for court Third year law student, Hoyeon Yoo, interviewed Client and presented his case to the Clinic. The students voted for representation, and his case was placed with fellow classmate, Olivia Kappers Olivia filed Client’s case and took on direct representation Knowing that technology was a challenge for Client, Olivia helped him install Zoom on his smartphone and practiced with him ahead of time On the day of the prove up hearing, Olivia was able to achieve her client’s goal of getting divorced without a single technological issue

When the third client sought CVLS for legal representation, she had already filed for divorce against her

Lakeyah Scales (hat), Olivia Kappers (in the back), Alexis Beamon (glasses), Robert Zielinski (in the back), Hoyeon Yoo (denim jacket), Phil Mohr

husband. Although the parties had no property or other assets, Client wanted sole decision making and primary parenting time of her two minor children. After several court dates as a self represented litigant, Client’s judge noticed several errors and told her to find a lawyer to draft her final documents Client contacted CVLS for pro bono legal services, and her case was assessed by the Clinic Olivia Kappers, a 3L in the Clinic, met with Client and reviewed her paperwork Finding that Client was nearly at the finish line, Olivia revised Client’s final judgment and represented her at a final Zoom hearing Client was awarded a divorce as well as sole allocation of parental responsibilities and majority parenting time Due to Olivia’s advocacy, Client now has the security of knowing her children are safe with her CVLS is happy to say that Olivia has plans to continue volunteering with CVLS after law school

The fourth Client filed her Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and managed to get her husband served, but when it came time to finalize her divorce, the Court recommended that she hire an attorney Unable to afford private legal representation, Client contacted CVLS for pro bono assistance Client’s case was relatively straightforward, but she needed help navigating the process and creating a parenting plan for her two young boys DePaul 3L, Hoyeon Yoo, performed Client’s intake interview and agreed to represent her Hoyeon drafted all of the necessary documents for Client and reviewed her options for relief through a default divorce case To the client’s satisfaction, Hoyeon was able to negotiate an agreement between the parties and proceed with the timely finalization of their divorce Hoyeon elicited testimony from Client in court and she is excited to continue volunteering with CVLS during the summer

Criminal Appeals Legal Clinic

Gilbert Lenz of the Criminal Appeals Clinic Wins "Bruce Robert Jacob Award"

Adjunct Professor of the Spring Criminal Appeals Clinic, Gilbert Lenz, was selected by the Illinois Public Defender Association to be the recipient of the Bruce Robert Jacob Award during their May 2022 conference. According to the State Appellate Defender website, this award is present to a Defender "whose efforts embody the core values of the Public Defender Movement in the United States and the State of Illinois This award recognizes the efforts which epitomize the selfless dedication to the constitutional precepts which form the basis of the criminal defense of the indigent accused in Illinois "

Criminal Appeals Clinic Victorious in Obtaining Conviction Reversal for Client

Recently, Adjunct Professor of the Fall Criminal Appeals Clinic, Elizabeth Botti, and her students from the Fall 2021 clinic obtained an outright reversal of conviction for their client The defendant was charged by accountability with drug induced homicide, acquitted of that charge, but found accountable for possessing the decedent's drugs as a lesser included offense of drug induced homicide Professor Botti and her students argued that the decedent's possession of drugs is not a lesser included offense of drug induced homicide The appellate court agreed and reversed the defendant's conviction outright

Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning; Senior Professional

SiobanAlbiol

Senior Professional

and Director,

Immigration Law Clinic

JamesR Fujimoto

Clinical Adjunct Instructor

Senior Practitioner in

Asylum & Immigration Law Clinic

SteveWiser

Director of Externships Director, Business Law Clinic

AbigailIngram

Clinical Adjunct Instructor

Business Law Clinic

EricZhi Clinical Adjunct Instructor Business Law Clinic

VictoriaGray Clinical Adjunct Instructor Business Law Clinic

DavidRodriguez

Faculty Director, Third Year in Practice Program (3YP); Clinical Instructor, Civil Litigation Clinic; Senior Professional Lecturer

MariaHarrigan Clinical Adjunct Instructor, Criminal Appeals Clinic

Elizabeth A.Botti Clinical Adjunct Instructor, Criminal Appeals Clinic ebotti@depaul.edu

EdithaRosarioMoore

D'AnthonyThedford

SarahBaum Clinical Adjunct Instructor

PhillipMohr