What our profs are up to
Before I get into the rest of my blog entry for this week, I got a question on last week's entry about the types of clients we serve at Greater Boston Legal Services. Because we provide free legal services, we use income guidelines to determine who is eligible to receive our services. I'm not familiar with the exact specifics of the guidelines, but just because a potential client fits within the guidelines does not necessarily mean that we will take on their case. In addition to the income guidelines, we also look at the strength of their legal claims, to make sure that we can actually help them, if we do decide to take on their case. Cases get assigned to specific units, such as the Elder Law Unit, the Immigration Law Unit, the Welfare Unit, the Housing Unit, and my unit, the Consumer Rights Unit.
I usually use this blog to write about the student experience at NUSL, but on occasion it's also helpful to give you a glimpse of what our professors are up to. Professor Peter Enrich, who was my 1L Contracts professor, is an expert on state and local government issues, including state and local budget and fiscal issues. He was recently interviewed for our local Fox TV affiliate, where he discussed how a relatively new tax credit for film production isn't as good a deal for the state and its municipalities as we've been led to believe. The clip is below. Interesting stuff, at least for those that are interested in state and local policy issues.
We finally have had a stretch of a few beautiful days, so everyone in Boston is in a way better mood. This weekend I'm trying to spend as much time outside as possible, opting for the bike instead of the car, and spending time with friends and family. Tonight we're going to see Sacha Baron Cohen's new Bruno movie, which I've been excited about ever since the Borat movie came out a few years ago.
Yesterday I turned in an early application to co-op in the winter for a judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeals. I have no idea how hard it is to get those co-ops, but I figured it would be a great opportunity to continue improving my legal research and writing skills.
Have a good weekend, and for those of you in the Boston area, enjoy the weather!