Community Justice Clinic
Our Work
The Community Justice Clinic serves as general counsel for nonprofits, nongovernmental organizations, religious communities, and other justice-minded organizations. Its work involves corporate, transactional, and policy practice. The Clinic's clients work for human rights, social justice, economic development, and empowerment for vulnerable people around the world.
Scope of Work
The Clinic and its clients address some of the most pressing issues in the nation and the world, including homelessness and generational poverty, gender violence, human trafficking and modern slavery, refugee migration, food security, environmental sustainability, and access to education, medical care, and justice.
The Clinic's practice is local, national, and global. Our clients are at work in California and the U.S. and in dozens of countries on five continents. Clinic students work on local matters and in comparative law, international transactions and compliance, and policy research across borders.
Our Clients
These are a few of our clients doing heroic work in the world:
- Counsel to Secure Justice, advancing restorative justice in India
- Justice Revival, promoting human rights in the United States
- Justice Ventures International, liberating people from bonded labor and trafficking partners in South Asia
- Kibo Group International, empowering health, flourishing communities in Uganda
- Land Core, advancing soil health policies and programs that create value for farmers, businesses and communities
- Malibu Community Labor Exchange, promoting dignified, just work for day-laborers in Malibu
- Medicine for Humanity, building capacity to heal women and train doctors in Uganda
- Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, working for community empowerment in California
- The Abundant Table, building just communities around sustainable agriculture in Southern California
Student Experience
Clinic students practice across three main areas:
- Corporate practice: students serve and counsel clients with corporate formation, governance, and compliance matters
- Policy and Advocacy practice: students serve clients with research, strategy, and writing to advance our clients' work in the world
- General and Transactional practice: students work with clients to answer questions, resolve problems, and advance deals that expand clients' capacity to serve their communities
In the weekly Clinic seminar, students learn the law, practice skills, hone strategies, and explore ethical and moral questions of lawyering. In practice, students work with increasing independence to accelerate their readiness for practice after graduation. The Clinic teaches for transfer, so that lessons learned in clinical practice inform students' careers in any area of law. Students complete the Clinic with clearer expectations about the profession and better preparation to serve clients. Along the way they advance justice in the world doing some of the best work of their careers.
Professor Jeffrey R. Baker teaches and directs the Community Justice Clinic and supervises students' work. For more information about the Clinic's course or practice, contact Professor Baker at jeff.baker@pepperdine.edu or 310-506-6350.