Academics

Relationship Approaches to Lawyering and Justice - LAWN556

2 Credits

This course provides exposure to the theory, practice, and skills of integrative law and an exploration of the roles, professional, and personal values of the lawyer. Integrative Law refers to a movement in law that merges the practices and methods of the traditional legal system with newly emerging, more humanistic, and relational approaches to practicing law and achieving justice. Also known as Comprehensive Law, Holistic Law, Law as a Healing Profession, and by various other names, it includes new models of problem-solving courts, such as drug courts, mental health courts, domestic violence courts and community courts, along with Restorative Justice, Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Collaborative Law, Transformative Mediation, and many other approaches. Some practices, such as peacemaking circles, originated among tribal societies. Others, like Sharing Law and Conscious Contracting, are more recent developments. All emerged and are based upon a new vision for what it means to be a lawyer who expresses and applies personal and professional values, focuses on problem-solving, peace-making, and healing approaches, while being client-centered. This course will offer a survey of the approaches, models, skills, and perspectives of the Integrative Law movement and will combine theory and experiential exercises. Integrative lawyers in various fields of law and conflict resolution will be frequent guests. The course may be taken for two- or three-credits. For three credits, in addition to the weekly two-hour seminar, students will spend an average of 5 hours per week in an Integrative Law setting of their choice. Since Integrative Law also includes living as an integrated person, you will have an opportunity to take inventory your own values and principles and how to integrate those into your professional identity and career. You will have the opportunity to go in depth about a specific area of interest within the movement.

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