Teaching Poverty Law

This semester I’m teaching Poverty Law at Seattle U. Law. It has been a fun and challenging task to put together a syllabus and decide what should be included in a class covering such a broad topic. So much of what is taught in law school I would consider rich people’s law and so much of what poverty lawyers do in the day-to-day is not covered in law school courses or tested on the bar exam. Trying to create a class that might address all the enormous constant legal issues faced by poor people (eviction, criminalization, child welfare, public assistance, old age benefits, immigration, low-wage work, Medicaid, consumer rights, credit, gentrification, etc.) and all the ways that the law structures our economic relations to create poverty is daunting. Continue reading “Teaching Poverty Law”