Windsor Law wins recognition for clinical legal education

program logo

The Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education conferred two of its three annual awards to Windsor Law professors for their dedication to clinical legal education.

The association created awards to honour three of its longest-serving board members in 2020:

  • The Buhler Award, named for Sarah Buhler, professor at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, recognizes a professor, clinical professor, or other individual whose work intersects academic and clinical approaches to clinical and experiential legal education.
  • The Cirillo Award, named for Lisa Cirillo, director of Downtown Legal Services, recognizes an individual clinician who has made a significant contribution to the life of their legal clinic.
  • The Ferguson Award, named for Doug Ferguson, director of Community Legal Services at Western Law, recognizes one or more members of a clinical project or program that promotes access to justice and clinical law within a law school setting.

Windsor Law professor and Migrant Farmworkers Clinic administrator Vasanthi Venkatesh received the 2021 Buhler Award. As one of her nominators states: “Professor Venkatesh has consistently exemplified her passion, empathy, and dedication to remedying and acting on systemic oppression. Windsor Law — especially its law students — have benefited deeply from her contributions and are indebted to her.”

Professor Venkatesh says she is delighted to receive the award, which reflects Windsor Law’s commitment to community-engaged scholarship and law-in-action.

“Experiential programs like the Migrant Farmworkers Clinic encourage students to think critically and recognize the value of connections between organizing, community engagement, and poverty law,” she says.

Windsor Law’s Project-Based External Placement program received the 2021 Ferguson Award in recognition of the work of acting dean Beverly Jacobs and professors Sylvia McAdam, Vasanthi Venkatesh, Anneke Smit, Jillian Rogin, and Tess Sheldon for advancing the interests of their client groups and issues that are public-facing.

“We are grateful for the recognition of the Project-Based External Placement program which allows professors, lawyers, law students, and community members to connect with each other and to work collaboratively on solving complex legal and political challenges,” says Professor Rogin. “They place students in the community and respond to community-identified priorities.”

For more information, visit the Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education website.

Read this story on the DailyNews website.