Conference: Representing the Vulnerable

Readers interested in the history of poverty law and lawyering may wish to take note of this upcoming conference at the University of California Hastings College of Law:

Representing the Vulnerable and Remembering Ralph Abascal: Lessons from the 1970s

Start:  3/16/2012 from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Location:  200 McAllister, Alumni Reception Center

This conference examines the role, responsiveness, and effectiveness of lawyers in representing socially vulnerable groups on policy matters. The first session will focus on advocacy undertaken by government-funded legal services lawyers in California in the early 1970s to counter then Governor Ronald Reagan’s welfare reform proposals. This multi-faceted campaign is the subject of a forthcoming book by UC Hastings Professor Mark Neal Aaronson on representing the poor. Subsequent conference sessions will discuss social justice lawyering today and what lessons can be learned from the 1970s. The closing session will be a remembrance of the life and times of Ralph Santiago Abascal, who was the key legal architect of the welfare advocacy campaign discussed during the first session. Abascal was a UC Hastings graduate (1968) and later a member of its Board of Directors (1981 - 1993).

The event is free, but RSVP is encouraged, even if you are local.

The roster of participants is impressive. It includes Martha Davis (Northeastern University), Reuel Schiller (UC Hastings), Florence Roisman (Indiana University), and Scott Cummings (UCLA).


Hat tip: Poverty Law Blog