Coalition Against Gendered Violence
The CAGV has a three-fold mission: (1) to raise awareness in the Duke Law community about domestic violence and sexual assault; (2) to foster student advocacy on behalf of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors; and (3) to identify and address gaps in services available to domestic violence and sexual assault victims in the Durham area. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leader Julienne Dewalt.
Guardian ad Litem
Duke Law students work with the Durham County Guardian ad Litem program to become trained as independent advocates to represent and promote the best interests of abused, neglected or dependent children involved in the court system. Students carry their own caseload, under the supervision of a licensed attorney. Certification is required for participation in this pro bono experience, which involves a significant training that takes place over a series of evenings early in the Fall semester. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leader Jamie Yoo.
Health Law Society Cancer Pro Bono Project
- Students work with the Duke Cancer Center to provide legal assistance to low-income cancer patients. In addition to providing “Know Your Rights” outreach, students will assist in the preparation of POA’s and Advanced Directives. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leaders Hilary Campbell and Christine Kearsley.
Immigration Education Project
The immigration education project helps Triangle-area immigrants to gain a sense of security and control over their lives by educating immigrant teenagers and adults about their rights and responsibilities under US immigration law. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leaders Kristi Lundstrom and Sonya Shao.
Innocence Project
The student volunteers of the Duke Innocence Project work to exonerate victims of wrongful convictions by investigating claims of actual innocence. The Duke Innocence Project is part of a network of similar projects coordinated by the NC Center on Actual Innocence, and works in coordination with the Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leader John Hibbard.
Iraqi Asylum Support Project (IRAP)
IRAP is a subsidiary of RASP, focusing specifically on the needs of Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leader Brandon Figg.
Justice Matters
Duke Law students work with Justice Matters, Inc., which provides legal services and preventative and empowering legal education to low-income members of the Durham community, in partnership with local non-profit and church organizations. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leaders Seth Reich and Ebi Okojie.
Mediation Project
Students work with the Durham Mediation Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to the process of conflict resolution through mediation and education on dispute resolution, communications skills, and cooperative decision-making. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leader Seth Ascher.
North Carolina Wills Project
Students spend part of their Spring Break helping to draft wills and powers of attorney for "first responders" and low-income individuals in North Carolina. For more information and to become involved, please contact Kim Burrucker (Director of Public Interest & Pro Bono).
Refugee Asylum Support Project (RASP)
Students in RASP assist refugees and asylum seekers with matters related to US immigration law. Students provide attorneys with research assistance on human rights issues, and prepare legal memoranda in support of applications for asylum. RASP also raises awareness of these issues by engaging in education and advocacy by sponsoring speakers at Duke Law School, and tracking and organizing political initiatives. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leaders Erica Kassman and Anton Brett.
Social Enterprise Law Project
This new pro bono project is an initiative of the Duke Law Association for Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ASEI) to support Durham-area social entrepreneurship by assisting local non-profit organizations to address questions and challenges related to non-profit incorporation. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leaders Ashley Eisenberg and Julian Veshi.
Southern Justice Spring Break Trip
Students spend the week of Spring Break providing legal services to underserved and underrepresented individuals in cities across the Southeast US. Students work on a variety of issues, such as prisoner's rights, mineworker rights and safety, family law, environmental law, immigration issues, and wills/trusts. For Spring Break 2012, group trips are planned for New Orleans LA (student leaders Bud Baker, Kathleen Horrigan and Nancy Nguyen); Miami FL, - Atlanta GA, Jackson MS, Whitesburg KY and Prestonsburg KY (student leader Lauren Bugg).
Street Law
Duke Law School's Street Law program is part of a nationwide Street Law program through which law students provide practical, participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights by teaching secondary school students about the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Duke has two Street Law projects: Middle School Mock Trial, and the Durham Youth Home. Through the Middle School Mock Trial project, Duke Law students work with groups of middle schoolers to help them choose and play out roles in a simulated criminal or civil trial that is held at the law school, where law students serve as "jury" and a local judge presides. For more information and to become involved with the Mock Trial project, please contact student group leaders Elyse Lyons and Casteel Scherger. Through the Durham Youth Home Street Law Project, Duke law students work with kids in juvenile detention, to teach them about the criminal justice system, children's rights, the political system and democracy. For more information and to become involved with the Durham Youth Home project, please contact student group leaders Katie Claire Hoffmann, Erin Lunsford, and Ben Kahn. Through the Street Law Mock Trial Teen Court Collaborative Duke Law students assist middle school students in preparing arguments for juvenile cases in the Durham County Teen Court system. The goal of this program is to establish satellite courts to assist in alleviating the overcrowding of the current Durham County Teen Court system. For more information and to become involved, please contact Lesley Hamming.
Teen Court
Law students work as teachers and coaches to youth attorneys participating in the Durham County Teen Court and Restitution Program. The goal of the program is to reduce the chance that juvenile offenders will commit new crimes by holding the offenders responsible for their actions and providing insight into how the judicial system works. For more information and to become involved, please contact student leader Benjamin Holt.
Veteran's Disability Assistance Project
VDAP students work with Legal Aid NC attorneys to assist veterans to obtain disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. For more information and to become involved, please contact student group leaders Whitney Bosworth and Jonny Havens.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Project (VITA)
The VITA program provides income tax assistance to low-income and working poor individuals and families in North Carolina. In addition, students assistant foreign nationals who are studying or working at Duke to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). For more information and to become involved with the VITA program, please contact student group leaders Nick Atallah and Natalie Laflamme.