Photo by Logan Weaver via Unsplash

Experiential Education

When Representation Goes Remote

Students in BU Law’s clinics and externship programs have maintained a high standard of work, conducted remotely.

“The judge had to walk us through the hearing, which was really complicated, because you can’t communicate the same way as in a courtroom,” Weyrick  says. “It was harder to get across what we needed to, and when our client tried to speak to us during the hearing the only available remedy was to ask them to text us. It was very difficult to try to figure out a quick solution.”

Patierno and Weyrick have continued to represent their client even after Boston University President Robert Brown announced in mid-March that classes would be conducted remotely until the end of the spring 2020 semester. In response, departments across the university quickly developed processes and policies for administering coursework. Students in BU Law’s experiential learning programs faced the additional challenges of how to continue working and representing clients when they could no longer meet in person.

Associate Dean for Experiential Learning Karen Pita Loor worked with directors of the clinics, practicums, and externship programs to solidify expectations for students and supervising attorneys so students could fulfill the requirements of their coursework and continue to serve their clients and gain the valuable experience and lawyering skills conferred by hands-on practice.

With more than 60 students completing externships in courts, hospitals, state and federal government agencies, law firms, nonprofits, and legal services organizations, program directors and supervising attorneys have had to adjust and provide meaningful learning opportunities while accommodating the confidentiality concerns of, for example, legal services organizations. To their credit, every organization managed to figure it out. “For example, one federal district court judge is holding hearings over Zoom,” says Director of Externship Programs Kate Devlin Joyce. “So the student placed with him is observing and participating in that way.”

The externship directors, meanwhile, spent class time early in the transition helping students adjust to working from home. From setting a clear schedule to making time with their supervisors at the end of every day to ask questions, go over project milestones, and receive feedback.

“We have an amazing student body, and they all met this new challenge with complete aplomb,” says Devlin Joyce. “Many of them have figured out how to continue on with their work projects. Some of them have gotten additional or different projects to work on. But they’ve all managed this transition beautifully.”

While some clinics were able to transition into fully remote coursework and representation relatively seamlessly, others have had to pivot as courts closed or moved to remote hearings. “The expectation for our students has been that they would still do everything they would have to prepare for a hearing,” Loor says. “We’ve tried to approximate, as best we can, what a semester would look like, but it’s been a challenge.”

As part of the Civil Litigation & Justice Program, the Access to Justice Clinic represents clients in civil matters including domestic relations, eviction defense, and employment law. “The challenging part for us is that while the courts are shutting down right now, our clients are becoming more and more marginalized,” says Director Naomi Mann. “Our clients live more on the margins, so the impact is being really deeply felt. A lot of the cases, even despite the courts shutting down, haven’t slowed down. Clients are losing their jobs, are unable to pay for housing… we’ve even had some hearings proceed that shouldn’t have.”

Patierno and Weyrick say that much of the background work they have done for the case—researching, writing, and filing motions—has remained the same, but that representing their client has required a big shift. They’ve prioritized being more available on their phones rather than scheduling in-person meetings.

“In general, when you’re talking about socioeconomically disadvantaged clients, there’s a concern about things like phone minutes,” Patierno says. “Services aren’t supposed to be shutting off phones right now, but there’s still a concern that it could happen. If any client loses their phone connection to us, that’s all we’ve got right now. If we can communicate, there’s a lot we can do to try and help with barriers.”

Finding quick but workable solutions to new problems has become the norm during the pandemic. “We’ve been putting out the little fires that have popped up because the laws have been changing so quickly,” Weyrick says. “We’re trying to make sure that our client is secure in their housing while all of this is going on, and then trying to research and figure out how they can still be secure after all of this is over.”

“I’ve been so impressed, that in the midst of my students having their own personal challenges related to COVID-19, that they have really remained so committed to keep working on their cases,” Mann says. “They have stepped up in a really incredible way to realize the power and importance of their legal role with their clients.”