Empowering Ukraine’s First Legal Responders: Ukrainian-US Collaboration and Clinics

Susan Felstiner; Davida Finger; Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin; Maria Tsypiashchuck

doi:10.19164/ijcle.v31i2.1607

Authors

Susan Felstiner Lewis and Clark Law School
Davida Finger Loyola University New Orleans
Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin Cardozo Law School, Yeshiva University
Maria Tsypiashchuck National University of Ostroh Academy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19164/ijcle.v31i2.1607

Abstract

At the onset of the full-scale Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, U.S. law clinic professors worked alongside the leadership of the Association of Legal Clinics of Ukraine. The mutual objective was to support Ukrainian law professors and facilitate the continued legal education of their students, particularly the acquisition of skills typically taught in law clinics. Ultimately, the online partnership that developed focused on skills training and included seven Ukrainian law schools, faculty from over six U.S. law schools and one private law firm, and USAID Justice for All Activity in Ukraine. The overall goals of this collaboration were to support the teaching and skills training for Ukrainian students as they pivoted their work to grapple with accessing an entirely new set of skills to navigate lawyering during the war.

Author Biographies

Susan Felstiner, Lewis and Clark Law School

Clinical Professor of Law at the Small Business Legal Clinic of Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, United States.

Davida Finger, Loyola University New Orleans

Clinic Professor and Director of the Law Clinic and Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, United States.

Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin, Cardozo Law School, Yeshiva University

Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Filmmakers Legal Clinic, Director of the Legal Program and Senior Heyman Fellow, Center for Corporate Governance at Cardozo Law School, New York, United States.