Lawrence Wood : Courses and Seminars
Poverty and Housing Law Clinic
LAWS 90512
This practicum, conducted over two sequential quarters, exposes students to the practice of poverty law work by giving them the opportunity to work on housing-related cases at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, which provides free legal services to indigent clients in civil matters. Students will spend at least thirteen hours per week in one of LAFMC's six neighborhood offices--located in Chicago's South Side, West Side, and Northwest Side, in the Loop, and in Evanston and Harvey--or in LAFMC's Housing Law Project or Foreclosure Prevention Project (both of which are located in downtown Chicago). Students may be asked to appear with tenants at administrative grievance hearings, represent defendants in eviction or foreclosure actions, file suit to enjoin landlords from performing lock-outs or refusing to make necessary repairs, participate in ongoing federal litigation, advocate on behalf of tenant groups, comment on proposed federal housing regulations, and file bankruptcy petitions on behalf of subsidized-housing residents who are trying to preserve their tenancies. All students will be expected to interview clients, prepare written discovery, and draft motions. Students with 711 licenses may be asked to appear in court at status hearings, conduct depositions, argue contested motions, negotiate with opposing counsel, and participate in bench or jury trials. In addition to working at LAFMC, students will attend a weekly two-hour seminar at which they will learn about laws governing the landlord-tenant relationship, eviction actions, foreclosures, public housing, the Section 8 tenant-based and project-based rental assistance programs, housing discrimination, the affordable housing crisis, and preservation and production of affordable housing. Enrollment is limited to twelve students. This practicum is run by Richard Wheelock (supervisory attorney, LAFMC's Housing Law Project) and Lawrence Wood (supervisory attorney, LAFMC's Northwest Office). The student's grade is based on class participation (20percent); one paper--10 pages minimum (10percent); and work at LAFMC (70percent).
Winter 2010
Richard Wheelock, Lawrence Wood
Poverty and Housing Law Clinic
LAWS 90512
This practicum, conducted over two sequential quarters, exposes students to the practice of poverty law work by giving them the opportunity to work on housing-related cases at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, which provides free legal services to indigent clients in civil matters. Students will spend at least thirteen hours per week in one of LAFMC's six neighborhood offices--located in Chicago's South Side, West Side, and Northwest Side, in the Loop, and in Evanston and Harvey--or in LAFMC's Housing Law Project or Foreclosure Prevention Project (both of which are located in downtown Chicago). Students may be asked to appear with tenants at administrative grievance hearings, represent defendants in eviction or foreclosure actions, file suit to enjoin landlords from performing lock-outs or refusing to make necessary repairs, participate in ongoing federal litigation, advocate on behalf of tenant groups, comment on proposed federal housing regulations, and file bankruptcy petitions on behalf of subsidized-housing residents who are trying to preserve their tenancies. All students will be expected to interview clients, prepare written discovery, and draft motions. Students with 711 licenses may be asked to appear in court at status hearings, conduct depositions, argue contested motions, negotiate with opposing counsel, and participate in bench or jury trials. In addition to working at LAFMC, students will attend a weekly two-hour seminar at which they will learn about laws governing the landlord-tenant relationship, eviction actions, foreclosures, public housing, the Section 8 tenant-based and project-based rental assistance programs, housing discrimination, the affordable housing crisis, and preservation and production of affordable housing. Enrollment is limited to twelve students. This practicum is run by Richard Wheelock (supervisory attorney, LAFMC's Housing Law Project) and Lawrence Wood (supervisory attorney, LAFMC's Northwest Office). The student's grade is based on class participation (20percent); one paper--10 pages minimum (10percent); and work at LAFMC (70percent).
Spring 2010
Richard Wheelock, Lawrence Wood
