Via Claire Raj and Cindy Wilson, AALS Clinical Section Executive Committee Co-Chairs: 

On behalf of the AALS Clinical Section Executive Committee, we are delighted to announce the winners of two 2022 Section awards – the William Pincus Award recipient Professor Lisa Brodoff from Seattle University School of Law, and the M. Shanara Gilbert Award recipient Professor Bernice Grant from Fordham University School of Law. Please join us to honor and hear from the recipients at the virtual Clinical Conference on Wednesday, May 11 at 5:30 p.m. EST.  

The Pincus award is intended to honor someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the cause of clinical legal education. The criteria include scholarship and activities beneficial to clinical education or to the advancement of justice. Professor Brodoff is an Associate Professor and directed the Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic from 2010 to 2021. She has been instrumental in developing innovative programs to spread clinical pedagogy broadly throughout the law school curriculum and to integrate externships into the clinic program. She is a frequent presenter at clinical and other conferences and was the chair of the Planning Committee for the 2019 clinical conference. Professor Brodoff is known for her creative approach to teaching, scholarship, and learning, including introducing lightning rounds, a community quilt, and a karaoke session to the 2019 clinical conference. She has mentored new clinicians for many years and is known for taking a compassionate, supportive, and respectful approach to her mentorship. Her clinical work includes both individual representation and broader advocacy, and she is very active in community service related to issues of elder, disability, and queer law.

Designed to honor an "emerging clinician," the M. Shanara Gilbert Award honors a clinical professor with ten or fewer years of experience. This year’s recipient, Bernice Grant, is the founding Director of the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC) at Fordham. The theme of the ELC is “Transactional Lawyering with Social Impact.” Its clients include a formerly incarcerated entrepreneur who ran a business that hired 50 formerly incarcerated individuals with a 0% recidivism rate. In addition to her clinical work, Professor Grant designed and launched a legal podcast for entrepreneurs called “Startup LAWnchpad," hosted by Fordham Law students. The podcast focuses on social, economic and racial justice topics such as access to capital for minority and female entrepreneurs, impact investing, social enterprise law, and immigration law considerations for entrepreneurs. Professor Grant is also a leader in the national transactional clinical community. She is a frequent presenter at the Transactional Clinical Conference, AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education, and the NYU Clinical Law Review Writers’ Workshop. 

Please join us in celebrating these two amazing clinicians and we look forward to hearing more about their work on Wednesday, May 11th! 

(Hat tip to our friends at Clinical Law Prof Blog)