This year’s Citizenship Day held on Saturday April 14^th attracted a record number of applicants from the Jacksonville community.  The Citizenship Skills Lab with the help of student clinicians in the Immigration Rights Clinic planned, set up and successfully held this annual event initiated by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”).

Volunteering at the event this year were 40 attorneys from the Jacksonville area, students from Professor Kara Roberts’ Citizenship Skills Lab, 15 clinicians from the Immigrant Rights Clinic, 35 other law students, and 12 interpreters from a local non-profit organization.  Students as well as attorneys were dedicated to the cause and to making this event a success. Prior to the event student clinicians helped the Citizenship skills lab conduct pre-screens of interested members of the community.  This helped filter out candidates with more complex issues who may not be a good fit for Citizenship Day, also allowing things to move more swiftly on the day of the event.  Some students and faculty dedicated their entire day to the event, starting as early as 8 AM and leaving the event well after 6 PM.  The stories from the community were diverse and heartwarming.  It means so much to these individuals that with the help of FCSL students they were able to take the final step on the path of becoming American citizens.

Students were able to assist 100 people from the Jacksonville community file their citizenship applications.  Several other individuals whose applications needed more attention are being referred to local attorneys for pro bono representation.  The applicants who attended were from various countries.  Some of the countries represented at the event were: Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Russia, Vietnam, Sudan, Panama, Liberia, Costa Rica, and a few European countries.

The community came out in great number and expressed gratitude for this life changing event put on by Florida Coastal School of Law.

Consumer Law Clinic student Zena-Melissa Sabell had a true taste of what it feels like to practice law last week.  She had three hearings in one week:  one in circuit court, one in county court, and one in small claims court.

In circuit court, she thought she was going in to argue a complicated motion to compel.  But when we arrived at the hearing, we learned that the client had hired a new attorney and that he was planning to argue the motion to compel.  We then had to address the procedural issue of what to do when two attorneys are counsel of record and they do not agree on what discovery is relevant.

In county court, Zena argued what should have been straightforward motion to dismiss in a debt collection case. However, the clinic students learned about judicial discretion and that despite was the rules may say, the judge has the final say on what is sufficient to state a cause of action.

And finally, in small claims court, Zena appeared at a pretrial conference to argue another motion to dismiss in a debt collection case.  Most of the other clinic students were able to attend these hearings as well and share in the experience of litigating in state court!

Immigrant Rights Clinic student Anshul Krishn presenting at last month's Interpreter Training

Last month Immigration Rights Clinic students Shavae McKnight and Anshul Krishn organized and conducted an interpreter training event for students.  The event which drew quite a large crowd, was attended by bilingual students interested in volunteering their time to help student clinicians communicate with their non-English speaking clients.  This is significant since the clinics depend on student volunteers for interpreting.  The training also attracted students who are not bilingual but recognize the need for interpreters in our growing multicultural society, as well as the importance of accurate communication in legal representation.  Also stressed in the presentation were possible ethical duties involved in using interpreters in legal practice as well as the rules of professional responsibility triggered by its use.

Thanks to the training, the clinical program was able to expand its interpreter database significantly.  It garnered interpreters in a wide range of languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Turkish, French, Polish , Urdu, Farsi and a few other languages.

Okay, I don’t know if it’s actually going to be lucky, but I’ll put that thought out there. Court this a.m. to set a case for jury selection. . .of course it’s set for May 14th. Oh well. Hard to tell the Judge that I’ll be a little short of students that week. And we have another jury selection set for April 16th which should go. So, a bit of juggling going on, but it’s all good. Issues keep popping up: admissability of 911 calls, reverse Williams rule, stand your ground. And you thought evidence class was just an esoteric exercise. See, there is a reason to pay attention in class!

There has been a lot of discussion lately about how Florida Coastal “serves the underserved.” It is one of Coastal Law’s mission pillars. How does the clinic achieve that mission pillar? The Coastal Law clinical program is one of the most visible forms of service to the underserved and indigent community.

In the family law clinic, students assist individuals in abusive relationships get a divorce, represent children;s best interests in contested custody cases and assist fathers in establishing paternity so they can visit their children.

The disability and public benefits students challenge state agencies to help mentally retarded individuals maintain their community supports, they assist disabled children reaching the age of majority with maintaining social security benefits, and they assist parent caregivers in getting guardian advocacy over their disabled children so they can continue to assist in making healthcare and financial decisions.

The immigration clinic assists victims of domestic violence in filing their own petitions to become citizens, prevents refugees and asylees from having to return to their country of origin, and facilitates human trafficking victims rise above their enslavement to achieve permanent residency.

The consumer clinic represents victims of predatory lending, fights companies engaged in abusive debt collection practices, and defends against foreclosures so families can stay in their homes.

The criminal defense clinic defends individuals who cannot afford an attorney who have been charged with misdemeanors. Our clients come from diverse backgrounds and usually meet the Court’s indigency standards. They are individuals unable to afford a private attorney and don’t necessarily fit within the priorities of other local legal programs for the poor.

The students get real experience with live clients who, without the students’ help, would be in desparate circumstances. Individuals may debate the meaning of our pillar, “serving the underserved” but time spent in the clinic reveals the every day down and dirty meaning of the concept. The clinic is the lifesblood of Coastal Law’s mission pillar, “serving the underserved.”

Students in the Naturalization Skills Lab and in the Immigration Clinic recently participated in a community outreach information session for Jacksonville residents who are interested in applying for United States citizenship.  The outreach was held at a local Burmese church and the students provided the attendees with information on what the skills lab and clinic are doing to help applicants with the naturalization process. The students are in the process of pre-screening applicants for Citizenship Day, which will be held at Florida Coastal on April 14, 2012. On Citizenship Day, the students will help approximately 200 residents with the paperwork needed to apply to become naturalized United States citizens.  Pictures of the outreach session appear below.  Any student who would like to volunteer to help on Citizenship Day and earn pro bono hours should contact Professor Ericka Curran or Professor Kara Roberts or Professor Karen Millard for more information.

In past semesters, the Family Law Clinic had a partnership with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA) wherein clinic students assisted with client intake (interviewing clients, directing them, assisting with family law forms, etc.). This arrangement was mutually beneficial in that it provided assistance to JALA in accommodating the numerous family law clients while affording the Family Law Clinicians with the opportunity to hone their interviewing and counseling skills. Unfortunately, due to budget issues, JALA currently does not take many family cases and thus stopped hosting intake. Instead they refer family cases to us and to other pro bono attorneys in the community.
In Fall 2011, the family court contacted Florida Coastal’ s Family Law Clinic seeking assistance in its Family Court Services division. Family Court Services is a division of the family court which provides self-represented (pro se) litigants with an accessible and coordinated means of resolving their family law cases. Family Court Services interviews all persons who are seeking pro se assistance with family law matters and assists them by: determining what type of legal relief is appropriate and then providing information about available court approved forms that may be used by the litigant; providing case information entered in the court file of the litigant; providing definitions of legal terminology; and providing general information about court process, practice, and procedures; as well as other needed assistance.
Due to budget shortfalls, Family Court Services lost personnel and thus developed a need in the area of intake (which involves dealing with walk-in pro se family law litigants, interviewing them, pointing them in the right direction, and assisting with family law forms). Faced with the prospect of curtailing its hours or closing the office on certain days of the week, the family court contacted our legal clinic and requested our assistance. Since Fall 2011, Family Clinicians have been assisting with intake at Family Court Services. Clinicians who have participated in this partnership have been exposed to all types of family law and Family law-related issues and have gained extensive experience with interviewing and counseling, issue spotting and problem solving.

The partnership has been extremely beneficial for all involved because it has afforded our clinicians with valuable legal experience while allowing the office of Family Court Services to continue serving pro se family litigants at its current capacity. The staff at family court services has been extremely complementary of the quality of work provided by our students that a new for-credit externship was created and two family law clinicians (Shachar Spiegel and Nequosha Anderson) have even been extended opportunities to work directly with the Family Court Services Magistrates!

Preparing an Asylum case for a Haitian client

Immigrant Rights Clinic students conduct “Know Your Rights” presentations to immigrant populations. This month the clinic will assist JALA attorney ( Coastal Grad) Karen Winston in conducting a Know Your Rights Presentation to Haitian’s detained in ICE detention centers. Karen’s project focuses on immigrant women in detention.

Follow Karen’s Blog:

http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/new/blog/one-year-later

For more information about country conditions in Haiti  for women see http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0831/Haitian-women-fight-back-against-abuses

Below find a link to Spanish language news coverage on Last year’s Know Your Rights Presentation to the Latino Community of NE Florida. The clip features Coastal Grad Carlos Martin and 3L Andrea Reyes.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=672131048001

The Consumer Law Clinic accepted two new cases last week where we will be helping an active duty and a retired servicemember.  One new client was sold a car that had been completely wrecked.  The client did not know this and took out a loan and paid a substantial sum of money for a car that now has a negative value.  When he attempted to trade in the car, he learned that the car had been in a wreck and declared a total loss.  The Clinic is now investigating who rebuilt the car and attempted to pass it off as a usable car. We will also sue the dealer who sold him the car and attempt to get his money back so that he can satisfy the loan. 

The other new case is for a client who was sued for a debt while he was deployed.  There is a federal law governing the rights of deployed servicemembers, and this law says that a creditor cannot get a judgment against a servicemember while he is deployed.  The debt collector in this action filed an affidavit with the court tesitfying that the client was not in the military and was not currently deployed when in fact he was.  The client did not find out about the debt collector’s judgment until it started garnishing his wages a few months ago to collect on the judgment. We will be asking the court to set aside the judgment and allow us to litigate the merits of the case and perhaps file a counterclaim against the debt collector for filing a false affidavit.