Originally published in Student Lawyer magazine, March 2004 (Vol. 32, No. 7). All rights reserved.

Grant Program: Hastings Journal Presents Access to Justice Symposium

by Kenneth Gorton

The Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal at the University of California Hastings College of the Law conducted its first symposium last spring-"Reclaiming Civil Rights: Access to Justice." The event drew more than 120 students, professionals, and media representatives from across the country.

The symposium explored civil rights issues affecting racial minorities, the poor, and other underrepresented communities. Participants discussed topics such as access to legal services and institutional discrimination. The symposium was supported in part by a grant from the ABA Law Student Division.

"The event was a great success," says 3L Brian Lambert, the journal's co-editor in chief who helped coordinate the symposium. "We believe dialogue in the legal community on these issues is imperative."

Panelists included Eric Yamamoto, a professor at the University of Hawaii School of Law and author of more than 40 articles and book chapters on civil rights, and Maria Blanco, the national senior counsel for the Sacramento office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Panelists urged law students to become involved in civil rights and improve access to justice in their state and local communities.

"The California Bar Association recently published a report showing there is only one lawyer for every 10,000 people living in poverty, so it is clear that as a profession, and, more importantly, as human beings, we must work harder to serve those who need access to justice the most," Lambert says.

While editors at the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal sponsored the event to promote dialogue on access-to-justice issues, they also hoped to spread the word about their new publication. The journal hopes to obtain status as an official university journal sometime this year. According to Lambert, membership in the journal has grown from 12 to 90 students in the past two years.

"Every day, we see the effects of these injustices in real terms as we walk to law school and between buildings, past homeless people and people of color who have not had access to the opportunity we hold so dear," Lambert says. "We hope our journal will help us address these injustices."

If your student organization is putting on an activity and you need some funding to help pull it off, the ABA Law Student Division may be able to help.

The Division's Grant Program supports new programs and projects of student organizations at ABA-approved law schools that provide professionalism and ethics training, promote diversity in the legal profession, and advance public interest and public service efforts in local communities.

Grant applications are reviewed on an individual basis throughout the year, and funds are awarded on a reimbursement basis only. Approved applications may receive $500 or less, depending on the nature of the project and the availability of funding. Applications must be received by the Division's Chicago office at least four weeks before the date of the project, which must be completed by May 1.

For detailed guidelines and to download an application, visit www.abanet.org/lsd/grant.html.