Statement on the Importance of Law School Clinics and the Dangers of Political Retaliation

Rule of Law Facts & Resources

The New York City Bar Association (the “City Bar”) expresses grave concern about recent efforts by elected officials to deter and punish law school clinics for providing legal representation that is politically controversial and challenges possible government overreach.

On July 15, 2025, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing titled “Antisemitism in Higher Education: Examining the Role of Faculty, Funding, and Ideology.”^[1]  During that hearing, members of Congress questioned the Chancellor of the City University of New York (“CUNY”) about the university’s employment of Professor Ramzi Kassem, a faculty member at the CUNY  School of Law and the founder of the law school’s legal clinic, Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (“CLEAR”).  A member of Congress criticized Professor Kassem for CLEAR’s legal representation of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student arrested and detained by the Department of Homeland Security in connection with his participation in Gaza-related campus protests. The official then called on CUNY to terminate Professor Kassem’s employment based solely on this representation.[2]

Attempting to penalize a law school clinic for the clients it represents is deeply troubling and strikes at the heart of our legal system. Law school clinics serve a vital function. They provide legal services to those who otherwise would have no access to counsel—particularly in cases involving civil liberties, immigration, criminal justice, and other areas where power imbalances are steep. Clients represented by law-school supported legal clinics are, like any other clients, represented by counsel, and in many cases this is the only legal counsel they can obtain. The Congressmember’s demand is not as much focused on how lawyers are trained (although if acceded to, it will damage that effort), but is an effort to prevent people the Congressmember does not like from being represented by lawyers. Law school clinics should not be targets in partisan politics. They are legal institutions embedded in our law schools, where students learn not only legal doctrine but the values of professional independence, zealous advocacy, and service to the rule of law.

Clinics like CLEAR train future lawyers to engage meaningfully with the justice system, to represent clients regardless of public opinion, and to defend constitutional rights—even—and especially—when the exercise of those rights is under attack. To attack a clinic based only on its client’s identity is to attack these core democratic values. The Constitution protects the right to counsel, the legal profession’s independence, and freedom from government retaliation based on viewpoint. That protection must not be eroded by political pressure campaigns targeting university-affiliated legal advocates.

The City Bar condemns antisemitism unequivocally. It must be taken seriously and addressed forcefully wherever it appears. But using the specter of antisemitism to suppress legal representation or intimidate clinics into avoiding cases that challenge possible government overreach is neither constitutional nor productive. It does nothing to advance the fight against antisemitism and only undermines our system of justice.

If law school clinics fear retribution for taking on disfavored or controversial clients in need of representation, the damage to the legal profession—and to our democracy—will be profound. Rather than learning the fundamental role of lawyers—providing legal representation to ensure everyone has access to independent legal counsel and that lawyers are not identified with their clients as a result of discharging their obligations as lawyers—law students will be chilled from representing disfavored clients in critical, or potentially controversial matters. Universities will retreat from sponsoring clinics. And the people most in need of legal protection will be left without recourse.

The City Bar urges lawmakers and academic institutions alike to reaffirm their commitment to law school clinics’ independence and mission. They are not partisan tools. They are a cornerstone of legal education and access to justice—and they must be protected.

About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has over 20,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org