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The Education Law Practicum | A Student’s Perspective

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Participating in a practicum at the Education Law Center was one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had at Temple.  I first learned about this practicum from the Temple Law School practicum website. I had come to law school really interested in Education Law. I had heard amazing things about the Education Law Center and I knew it was a leader in fighting for civil and educational rights of students and families. So, when I saw this practicum, I knew I had to apply.  The Education Law Center practicum is 3 credits and 10 hours per week. I went to their office twice a week for 5 hours at a time. They just got a new office and it’s beautiful! It’s right in Center City, down the street from City Hall. The first few days of the practicum, you get a really in-depth orientation where you learn about the organization, special education law, and the realities of education in the Philadelphia area. You are then trained in making intake calls for the organization. After orientation …

North Philly | My Philly Neighborhood

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I found my accommodation through Craigslist. I reached out to the owner and drove down for a tour of the home. As soon as I saw it I fell in love with the space. I live in a North Philadelphia Row Home, near the Temple University Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry by 13th and Allegeny. These homes were first constructed to meet the needs of industrial workers who wanted to live close to their factories. My house in particular was constructed in 1916—and has beautiful period features. The home has high ceilings, intricate tile-work, tiled over fireplaces, a skylight in the dining room, and floor to ceiling butler pantry. It is an old home and slightly rough, but with much character. My landlord connected me with another Temple Law student from Washington State interested in the property. We spoke about the house and decided living together would be a fit! I paid about $500 in rent per month for my room-utilities included. I chose the neighborhood in large …

Intellectual Property Law Society | Student Organization Voices Series

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Your Name: Catherine Cuff Graduation Year: May 2020 Name of Organization: Intellectual Property Law Society (IPLS) Position in Organization: President Temple Law School: When did you join this organization? Catherine Cuff: I joined IPLS as a 1L my first year at Temple. I worked in IT prior to law school and knew I was interested in the subject. I made sure to sign up at the student activities fair. TLS: Why did you decide to join this group? CC: With our society relying more and more on technology I wanted to better understand how law and science interact. I also wanted to demonstrate to employers that this was an area of interest for me. Embarrassingly, I’ve always had a bunch of crazy ideas for inventions. I wanted to learn how to make them reality! TLS: What is your organization’s mission? CC: The purpose of IPLS is to promote the discussion of legal challenge presented by technological advances through speakers and events. We want to connect students with this wonderful field of law! TLS: Can you …

The Family Law Society | Student Organization Voices Series

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Your Name: Erin Ambrose Graduation Year: May 2021 Name of Organization: The Family Law Society Position in Organization: President Temple Law School: When did you join this organization? Erin Ambrose: I joined the Family Law Society as a 1L at the student organization fair! TLS: Why did you decide to join this group? EA: I decided to join this organization because it is an area of law that I am interested in practicing. I knew that the organization worked with the Family Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association so there would be great opportunities to network as well as learn more about this subject area. TLS: What is your organization’s mission? EA: Our goal as the Family Law Society at Temple is to increase family law awareness and allow students to explore family law opportunities. We want students at the law school to gain a deeper understanding of the various aspects of family law by hearing guest speakers, panel discussions, and attending networking events. We will also aim to raise awareness of the expansive …

Center for Compliance and Ethics Practicum

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One of the benefits of being a Temple Law student is the opportunity to step out of the classroom and work in the field with practice area experts. As a participant in the Center for Compliance and Ethics Practicum, I have had the opportunity to build fundamental skills in healthcare compliance. Through the efforts of Professor Jon Smollen and Bea Raccanello, of the Center for Compliance and Ethics at Temple Law, I have been given the opportunity to intern with Temple University Health System and experience the day-to-day work of a compliance department in a major healthcare entity. No textbook or class discussion can measure up to the benefits of an experience like this one. I have been working at Temple University Health System in the Office of General Counsel, specifically with Senior Counsel, Corporate Compliance and Privacy Officer, Maribel Valentin. At Temple Health, I am gaining firsthand experience in understanding the compliance and regulatory risks of a major healthcare organization. I am actively learning and working in privacy matters related to HIPAA and HITECH. …

School Discipline Advocacy Service | Student Organization Voices Series

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Your Name: Araesia King Graduation Year: May 2021 Name of Organization: School Discipline Advocacy Service (SDAS) Position in Organization: Program Director   TLS: When did you join this organization? AK: I joined SDAS as 1L last year. Getting involved with SDAS was actually one of the reasons why I was excited about coming to Temple. I knew that I was interested in education law and this organization is a great way to learn the basics. I had looked up the program before coming to the school and made sure to sign up at the student activities fair. TLS: Why did you decide to join this group? AK: I chose to get involved with SDAS because it is a great way to interact with the community that I hope to work with in the future (students in the public school system and their families). I also was looking for a way to do some community service during my time here at Temple. TLS: What is your organization’s mission? AK: The organization operates in three schools in …

National Lawyers Guild | Student Organization Voices Series

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Your Name: Celia Givens Graduation Year: May 2021 Name of Organization: National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG) Position in Organization: Co-President TLS: When did you join this organization? CG: I signed up for NLG at the student organizations fair at the beginning of 1L fall. Later during the fall semester, I applied and was selected to become a 1L rep for NLG’s Criminal Justice Committee (along with the other current Co-President of NLG, Sarah Kim). TLS: Why did you decide to join this group? CG: Before I came to law school, I worked for four years at the Legal Aid Society in New York City as a paralegal in their Criminal Defense Practice. It was somewhat of a culture shock going back to school after taking time off to work and I missed being able to work with clients on issues directly impacting their communities. I was interested in joining NLG because they focused on the areas of law that I am most passionate about, including client-centered defense, criminal justice reform and direct-client services. TLS: What is …

A Day at the High Court of Uganda

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For most of this program, I am the sole lecturer, and our days are taken up with typical Trial Advocacy coursework – directs and crosses; openings and closings; basic trial skills; depositions and mediation.  This past Thursday morning, however, the program brought in a guest speaker to speak about technological developments related to African courts.  While I’m sure I could have learned a great deal from the speaker, I used this as an opportunity to sneak off to the Ugandan High Court. The High Court building is surrounded by a high, guarded gate and barbed wire, but is open to the public nonetheless.  The High Court serves as the trial court level for significant criminal cases in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.  Lesser criminal offences start off in magistrate courts elsewhere.  I am told the High Court hears appeals as well. Still, given that the population of Kampala is a little larger than Philadelphia, the building struck me as small.  As near as I could find, there were only 6 courtrooms, and only one of them …

More Than Volunteering

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If you asked me five years ago if I ever saw myself completing a marathon, the answer would have been a stern no. Despite the fact that I loved team sports, I never considered myself a runner. However, this fall, when two students told me they wanted to complete the Philadelphia Full Marathon their senior year, I could not say no; I was their running mentor after all. Students Run Philly Style (SRPS) is a nonprofit organization that provides youth with mentorship, training, and opportunities to run nationally-recognized races without cost. SRPS encourages kids to “run” the streets instead of being consumed by the violence often found in their neighborhoods. I became involved with SRPS in the fall of 2016 while I was still a high school English teacher. Within three months, alongside four of my students, I was crossing the finish line of my first half marathon. Since then, we have completed the Philadelphia Half Marathon a second time, the Broad Street 10-miler twice, countless other informal races, and most recently, the 2018 Philadelphia …

Coming Full Circle Through Guided Research

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During an undergraduate course on race in the United States, I was tasked with interviewing someone who identified as a “hyphenated American” to discuss this person’s experiences as nonwhite in America. I decided to interview my grandfather, a Mexican-American man who grew up in the American Southwest. While I was aware that all of my grandparents had faced some form of discrimination in their lives because of their Mexican ancestry, this exercise gave me a chance to learn more details about my grandfather’s experiences and contextualize those experiences with historical perspective. As that class ended, I knew that I wanted to continue to dive deeper into the history of Mexican-American people and other Latinx folks, and decided that I should double major in Chicano/Latino Studies. That decision completely changed the trajectory of my education. From that point forward, I viewed my political science studies through a new lens, analyzing the intersection of political systems and low-income minority populations. For most of my life I thought that the hardships my grandparents faced were those of a …