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The Pendulum Swings Back: Poverty Law In The Old And New Curriculum, Martha F. Davis

Martha F. Davis

In the 1960s, poverty law was new to the law schools. The energy and creativity that drove its development and integration into the legal academy was tremendous. In just a few years, dozens of new courses were introduced, preparing law students to meet the legal needs of the poor and stimulating thinking about economic inequality and societal structures that perpetuate poverty. Law schools also established new poverty law clinics, enabling direct engagement with low income clients and organizations. Political shifts and poverty's intransigence eventually dampened initial ambitions of using law to end poverty. In subsequent decades, there has been periodic …