Seminar description
Welcome to Lawyering for Change. This course will explore how lawyers advance social and institutional change both using and moving beyond the traditional model of litigation. By linking theory and practice, the class will explore innovative roles and strategies for addressing pressing social problems and advancing social justice in challenging times. Over the course of the semester, we will explore a variety of theories of change currently in use, and link each theory to practice by (1) meeting with a practitioner involved in advancing change or (2) conducting a workshop designed to build knowledge and skills needed to put that theory of change into practice. Students will select a cluster organized by issue or problem area (such as education, criminal justice, employment, immigration, community economic development, child welfare, health, racial and gender justice, LGBTQ issues) and will work in those clusters to critically assess and apply each theory of change.
The class will cultivate the strategic capacity lawyers need to effectively collaborate and address difficult and complex problems. The course will introduce a systems approach to addressing complex problems, and a variety of cutting edge change frameworks and strategies for advancing change through law. It will address strategies for collaborative change as well for addressing intractable change and the backlash that predictably accompanies transformational change. We will consider the role of judicial intervention in producing mobilization and counter-mobilization. By developing practical tools informed by theory, students will be enabled to produce their own theories of change and plans for their roles as change agents. To see a tentative syllabus, please go to
For their final project, students will write a paper that (1) identifies and critically assesses the theory of change guiding a current or past change initiative in which lawyers play a role or (2) explores their own theory of change for a project or goal they would like to pursue either now or in the future.
The class will cultivate the strategic capacity lawyers need to effectively collaborate and address difficult and complex problems. The course will introduce a systems approach to addressing complex problems, and a variety of cutting edge change frameworks and strategies for advancing change through law. It will address strategies for collaborative change as well for addressing intractable change and the backlash that predictably accompanies transformational change. We will consider the role of judicial intervention in producing mobilization and counter-mobilization. By developing practical tools informed by theory, students will be enabled to produce their own theories of change and plans for their roles as change agents. To see a tentative syllabus, please go to
For their final project, students will write a paper that (1) identifies and critically assesses the theory of change guiding a current or past change initiative in which lawyers play a role or (2) explores their own theory of change for a project or goal they would like to pursue either now or in the future.