Students can participate in the work of the Domestic Violence Institute beginning in their first year by enrolling as Interviewer Advocates (I/A) in a unique interdisciplinary collaboration with the Boston Medical Center*, which places law students in the Adult and Pediatric Emergency Department to interview women patients and assist in identifying victims in need of services. Students with prior domestic violence advocacy experiences act as Team Leaders (TL) in this program, assisting inexperienced students in their efforts to interview patients and providing direct legal advocacy services to patients who identify as battered.
*The Boston Medical Center Project is open to law students from any area law school and is not exclusively for NUSL students.
Second and third year students can participate as Team Leaders or Interviewer Advocates in the Boston Medical Center Program as described above. Additional advocacy experience can be obtained through a variety of co-op placements that are open to NUSL students interested in gaining a family law or criminal law perspective on domestic violence and sexual assault.
Second and third year students may also train as a court-based legal advocate by enrolling in the Dorchester Court Clinic which is offered during both rotations each year. They can also enroll in several academic courses offered periodicially, including Domestic Violence and the Law and the Probate Litigation Seminar.
Upper level students are urged to propose work study and independent study projects that advance the goals of DVI, including research into the rights of battered women in the criminal justice system, securing legal immigration status, obtaining priority housing, medical care and mental health services, and to ensure that they have the income to support themselves and their children.
For more information regarding individual opportunities, click on the left-hand links.