打破常规的律师服务

政治学副教授 塔利亚冈萨雷斯 was a biology major at Arizona State University when her younger brother was arrested and expelled from high school. 尽管她没有接受过法律培训, González shepherded him through the court system and the school’s discipline process, 一次大开眼界的经历改变了她的生活, 这让她进入了法学院和Gerald López的工作.

López，现在是加州大学洛杉矶分校的名誉法学教授，他因1992年出版的书而闻名 叛逆的律师:一个墨西哥裔美国人对进步法律实践的看法. His vision of “rebellious lawyering”—a collaborative approach to public-interest law that immerses lawyers in the low-income and under-resourced communities where they work—“stands among the transformational canons of clinical theory and practice,法律学者安东尼·阿尔菲利(Anthony Alfieri)在2016年的《 临床法律评论 致力于López的开创性工作.

“我读过 叛逆的律师 too many times to count and what is remarkable about López’s work is that I always find something new in it,冈萨雷斯说。. “作为一名法律系学生, it challenged me to be deeply conscious about how I held space for individuals and communities who are often dismissed to redefine what justice means to them, 而不是为他们定义. 作为一名教授, it is the constant reminder to be vigilant in my teaching a discipline—law—that is deeply shaped by social, 政治和经济排斥."

Soon after her arrival at Oxy in 2009 as an assistant professor of politics, González launched Oxy的叛逆律师项目这是国内唯一一所面向本科生的大学. 比如学院的Kahane United Nations和Campaign Semester项目, it is a unique opportunity for students to combine classroom theory with hands-on experience—in this case, 与洛杉矶的公益律师事务所和非营利组织合作.

叛逆的律师，或Reb法律, 正如学生们所说，这是学院公平使命的合理延伸, 卓越, 社区, 和服务, 根据González. “The whole purpose is to think more critically about the operation of the legal system and how traditional legal practices can perpetuate inequality, 而不是结束它.”

这个项目的校友对González和Reb Law的经历赞赞不已. “It’s an amazing class and Professor González was one of my favorite Oxy professors,13岁的凯特琳·罗说, 卡尔斯巴德的优等生政治专业学生, U.N. 项目参与者, and All-SCIAC forward in women’s basketball who is now clerking for a federal judge in 洛杉矶. “我想说，它比其他任何东西都更让我难忘.”

“她的课是我在奥施康定的一个亮点,12岁的卡特·诺弗利特表示同意, 他是德尔玛大学政治专业的转校生, 现在是利特勒·门德尔松洛杉矶办公室的律师, 全球劳动就业律师事务所. “《雷布·劳》让我跳出框框看待律师行业.”

叛逆律师意味着策略性地使用特权. Exercising an individual’s skills and knowledge of the law with those of the greater 社区 to work together towards justice, 在现有系统的内部和外部. 它是关于利用每个人的律师，并为正义而合作.”  -塔利亚González, 2012年春季

2010年首次提供两个单元的试点学期, 法律现在由两门同时选修的四单元课程组成——政治学340, 课堂组成部分, 和政治260, an internship with a 社区-based legal organization or law firm for a minimum of 12 hours a week. 利用她在法律界的人脉, González还举办了一个长达一个学期的公益律师演讲系列. Oxy律师协会, 哪一个González建议, also gives interested students the opportunity to participate in moot court and mock trial competitions.)

Open to students outside of the politics major—participants have included philosophy, 经济学, 社会学, 外交与世界事务, and urban and environmental policy majors—the application-only program typically enrolls 12 to 15 students. 每个人都必须提交一份简历, a written statement of why they are interested and what they will bring to the course, 并接受González的采访. 他们还会接受潜在法律主管的面试.

“It’s a real commitment,她说。, noting that the integration of theoretical and applied is key. “你必须两者兼顾. The research bears out that where you have service learning just for its own sake, it’s not as effective for students or 社区 partners as when you are integrating both theory and practice.“奥施康定在洛杉矶, which combines a history of legal innovation with an unfortunate array of societal inequity, makes it possible to provide students with a range of cutting-edge internship opportunities, 她补充说.

Reb Law practitioners stress the importance of clients speaking on their own behalf and participating meaningfully in the legal process. “In this vision, lawyers are participants in a collective venture,” Gonzalez说. “It’s about being able to use your legal skills to empower people so that they can truly exercise their power for social change, 关于某人有能力重新掌控自己的生活.”

While the idea of rebellious lawyering is traditionally introduced in law school, González sees advantages to exploring the legal system critically at the undergraduate level. “Being an undergraduate doing this work frees you—you are not already being told what lawyering means, 这是正统的. 你不会被其他学生围绕着讨论侵权行为, 合同, 试着以一种特殊的方式表现. 你可以突破界限.”

感谢González的联系人, 学生们在各种各样的非营利组织实习, 包括bettzedek法律服务公司, 公共法律顾问, 洛杉矶法律援助基金会, 美国公民自由联盟, 人道移民权利联盟, 以及亚裔美国人促进正义. 她说:“我的学生们知道他们不会复印。. “The organization will be treating them like a first- or second-year law student.”

Oxy的Reb法学院学生一直都很适合, 露丝·库西克说, 公共法律顾问高级监督律师. “我们一直能够利用奥施康定的学生, 有时会给他们一个真正具有挑战性的法律研究项目. 它们确实增加了价值.”

来自蒙大拿州比林斯的18岁哲学专业学生阿里安娜·诺德说., interned with 公共法律顾问’s consumer law section, primarily with victims of credit card fraud. “我负责过一些案子, and at the weekly case review meetings it would be my responsibility to give updates,诺德说。, 他是华盛顿大学法学院二年级的学生. “我和法学院的学生一起工作，一开始我很害怕, 但它帮助我建立了信心. 我意识到我可以做到.”

罗在美国大学实习.S. 检察官办公室, where she had the opportunity to watch criminal trials and hearings and work on what she called a “really interesting” insurance fraud case. 应用ing her Reb Law critique while working with federal prosecutors “was a great learning experience,她说。. “你可以整天谈论理论，但看到它如何发挥作用真的很重要. Reb Law has really shaped my understanding of how I want to practice and how I want to use my expertise.”

卡蒂克·拉曼' 15, a politics major from Fremont who went on to law school at the University of Minnesota, says Reb Law gave him hands-on experience and a perspective that was invaluable in law school.

“法学院试图让你进入法官的思想, 知道哪些是重要的, 但是法律和律师的平等权利, or issues in the housing system that perpetuate people’s inability to pay rent—those kinds of issues definitely are not addressed there,拉曼说。, who interned at 公共法律顾问 as a senior and participated in Campaign Semester as a sophomore. “I was really glad to get in on the ground floor before even getting to law school to confront those questions.”

而她的许多黑人法学院学生最终都去了法学院, 这根本不是这个项目的重点, Gonzalez说. “Are you the teacher who ensures the classroom is a safe and equitable learning environment for all students, 为解决结构性歧视而重新设计法律的立法者, 支持社区活动人士工作的资助者, 或者是代理青少年犯罪案件的律师?她问道。. “There are many different intervention points for social change and they all can be rebellious.”

González was photographed remotely by 马克·坎波斯 on February 25 using the VShoot app on an iPhone.