The UDC David A. Clarke School of Law proudly announces the appointment of Professor Lindsay M. Harris as the Associate Dean of Experiential and Clinical Programs. Dean Harris will oversee the nationally ranked clinical program while also directing the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic.
“It is an honor to lead the Clinical program and work alongside incredible UDC Law students, faculty and staff,” Harris said. “I look forward to creating and innovating together as we prepare our graduates to stand alongside our communities accessing justice and making positive change.”
Dean Harris leads UDC Law’s robust clinical program. UDC Law students enrolled in the day program take two seven-credit clinics to graduate, while students enrolled in the evening program engage in a 10-credit “clinical semester.” Students graduate from UDC Law ready to practice law, promote justice and change lives.
As Director of the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, Harris and her students represent individuals in humanitarian immigration cases, including cases for individuals seeking asylum, immigrant victims of crime in the United States and Afghans seeking humanitarian parole. Clinic students have also traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to assist asylum seekers at the border.
Harris co-created the The Learning Legal Interviewing and Language Access Film Project, a set of two interviewing videos for use in experiential education settings with Tulane Professor and Associate Provost Laila L. Hlass. In 2020, Harris received the Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Before UDC Law, Harris worked with the American Immigration Council and as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and later staff attorney at the Tahirih Justice Center. As an Equal Justice Works fellow, she launched the African Women’s Empowerment Project, conducting outreach to and representing survivors of gender-based violence in the DC metro area. Harris developed the Refugee and Asylum Law Course at George Mason University and was trained in clinical pedagogy at Georgetown University Law Center’s Center for Applied Legal Studies.
Harris is a national expert on asylum and frequent contributor in the media, including ABC News, The Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, USA Today and The Hill. Her research examines the human outcomes of immigration laws and policies and frequently looks beyond the law, employing social science research methods to assess the efficacy of laws and policies. Her recent work focuses on levels of vicarious trauma and burnout among immigration attorneys working on asylum representation and on critical interviewing as a lawyering skill.
Dean Harris speaks French and is a member of the California bar. From 2016 to 2021, she has served as a founding Board member and Vice-Chair of the board of local non-profit, Asylum Works. She has also served as Vice-Chair of the National Asylum and Refugee committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and remains a member of the committee. She previously served on the board of the Clinical Legal Education Association and participates in CLEA activities, including as a facilitator for the New Clinicians Conference.