Affirmative Litigation
One of our most wide ranging and immersive trainings, Affirmative Litigation guides participants through an area of our practice that’s uniquely challenging, often complex, and, for many, somewhat intimidating - but also one of the most powerful roles that we can play in our communities and in society at large. Many of the most profound societal contributions of our legal services system - from the virtual invention of procedural Due Process to the recognition of a right to safe and sanitary housing and to objective, standards-based access to public assistance - are products of creative affirmative legal aid litigation in state and federal courts.
Our Affirmative Litigation course guides you through the process of creating and prosecuting an affirmative case in a fashion designed to put this practice firmly in your repetoire, not through oversimplifying the core issues at stake but by breaking them down into more easily digestible components over a manageable time frame. In the context of a compelling, and all too real legal services case problem, you'll spend three weeks of online activities (about 6-10 hours a week) using interactive video lectures, webinars, readings and handy forms and analysis tools to identify, craft and plan a legal strategy to address a systemic legal problem and secure broad based relief for a group of clients, while securing changes in the practices of the defendant institutions to prevent others from facing the same problems in the future. You'll end the online portion by drafting a federal complaint to initiate the lawsuit.
"Put simply, CLAE's Affirmative Litigation training was the best legal training I have ever had. It taught me skills to do this work, revealed strategies for increasing the impact of Legal Aid work, and inspired me to press on with the mission for social change."
- Jason Dodson
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
Sample In-Person Training Agenda
Here's how the four in-person days of Affirmative Litigation typically break down (we also include timely breaks for beverages and snacks, as well as an hour each day for lunch):
DAY 1
9.00am - 12.00: Introduction, Discussion, and Identifying Barriers
12.00 - 12.45: Complaint Drafting
1.45 - 5.00pm: Seeking Emergency Relief
DAY 2
9.00am - 11.00: Exhaustion, Standing and Mootness
11.00 - 12.00: Damages and Attorneys Fees
1.00 - 2.00: Non-monetary Relief
2.00 - 3.00: Sovereign Immunity
3.30 - 5.00pm: Individual Complaint Review
DAY 3
9.00am - 11.00: Discovery
11.15 - 12.15: Securing Broad Based Relief
1.15 - 5.00pm: How to Survive a Motion to Dismiss - The View from the Bench
DAY 4
9.00am - 12.00: Motion practice
1.00 - 2.30pm: Nuts and Bolts of Federal Practice, Closing Plenary
For further information on Affirmative Litigation, please click here.