Colorado Law American Indian Law Clinic Hosts 20^th Anniversary Celebration

One of the first clinics of its kind, the University of Colorado Law School’s American Indian Law Clinic will be celebrating its 20^th Anniversary on April 26, 2012 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Flatirons Room, Center for Community, on the CU Boulder campus.  Clinic alumni and former clients are invited to come and catch up with fellow alumni and the four Directors who guided the program over the past two decades.  This celebration is a precursor to “A Life of Contribution for All Time: Symposium in Honor of David H. Getches.”

Colorado Supreme Court Justice Brian D. Boatright will be joining us and will offer a few comments on the value of clinical education, and the work of the AILC in particular.  The celebration will include drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  A donation of $25.00 is suggested. There will also be a Silent Auction, the proceeds of which will benefit the AILC Client Support Fund. Donations for the Silent Auction would be greatly appreciated.  Clinic alumni are requested to r.s.v.p. before April 5, 2012 to Renee Garcia, Clinical Programs Manager at (303) 492-2635 or at renee.garcia@colorado.edu.

Following the celebration at 5:30 p.m. at the Wittemyer Courtroom, Wolf Law Building, renowned author, Indian and Natural Resources law teacher, and a close lifelong friend of Dean Getches, Professor Charles Wilkinson will deliver the keynote address, “Hero for the People, Hero for the Land and Water: Reflections on the Enduring Contributions of David Getches.” On Friday, April 27, 2012, the symposium (which has been accredited for eight general Colorado CLE credits) will take place between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Register for the symposium at: http://lawweb.colorado.edu/apps/eventRegistration/getchesSymposium/

The American Indian Law Clinic is an experiential learning course that gives second and third year law students the opportunity to practice Indian law in a supervised setting while still in law school.  Since 1992, dozens of American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and hundreds of individual have received valuable no-cost legal services through the Clinic. Student attorneys have drafted numerous tribal codes and tribal court rules and have appeared at all levels of the Colorado court system. Their work has also included assisting in the preparation of an amicus brief for the National American Indian Court Judges Association, the Northwest Intertribal Court System and the Navajo Nation in 2008 in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Company, Inc., 514 U.S. 316 (208).

For additional information about the celebration, symposium, or the Clinic, please don’t hesitate to contact Jill E. Tompkins, Director, American Indian Law Clinic at jill.tompkins@colorado.edu or at (303) 735-2194.