Beth Lyon, Clinical Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Experiential Education, Clinical Program Director, and Director of the Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic

Last month, Cornell Law School hosted its 19th Annual Exemplary Public Service Awards ceremony, the first to be held in person since the pandemic. One wonderful moment was honoring alumna Barbara Babb ’81, the inaugural recipient of the Barry Strom Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award. In her inspiring career, Barbara founded and directed the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts, and she also helped establish the law school’s Bronfein Family Law Clinic. Barry Strom ’74 was on hand to confer the award. He was one of the first students in the Cornell Legal Aid Clinic course, and he went on to teach in the clinic and direct the Clinical Program (check out his oral history online). He emphasized that Barbara was a great choice for the first “Barry” award and we look forward to celebrating more alumni clinicians in the coming years.

This year brought a string of significant outcomes for clinic clients, including transformative settlements in Labor Law Clinic cases and a decision in an Appellate Criminal Defense Clinic case cutting a sentence down by more than half for a client who suffered violence, retaliation, and extreme medical neglect while incarcerated. The Gender Justice Clinic provided the opportunity for people directly affected by sexual violence in the military and criminalization of sex work to engage directly with the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

As the Entrepreneurship Law Clinic and Low-Income Taxpayer Law and Accounting Practicum celebrate their fifth anniversaries this year, each program is in an exciting moment, creatively expanding support for subordinated communities by launching new initiatives and building alumni capacity for career-long service.

You will read about these and many other developments in this issue of our clinical newsletter. And, as always, please do stop in and see us if you find yourself here “high above Cayuga’s waters.”

Walk gently,

Beth