Beginning in September for a two-semester course, the NYU/Innocence Project postconviction litigation clinic will be staffed and led by senior attorneys at the nonprofit Innocence Project, giving law students hands-on experience on cases with strong claims of innocence.
The partnership, which is expected to eventually include additional relationships between the Innocence Project and other NYU graduate programs, will allow students within and outside the law school to work on a variety of legal matters, according to the university.
In addition to exoneration cases, NYU students will be able to work on legislative policy reform, data science and research analysis related to wrongful convictions, as well as social work for clients and their families. Students will also help evaluate the thousands of requests for representation the Innocence Project receives each year.
The partnership has been under consideration for "some time," according to Troy McKenzie, dean and Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law at the law school. He said the Innocence Project approached NYU Law because of the school's "unparalleled clinical program" as well as the university's large overall ecosystem with a variety of graduate programs. One of the Innocence Project's co-founders, Peter Neufeld, graduated from NYU Law.
"We are undoubtedly going through a challenging period in this country, but our mission at NYU Law remains the same," McKenzie said in an email on Wednesday through a spokesperson. "Working with the Innocence Project enables us to provide our students, as well as the public at large, with critical expertise to the practice of law in the furtherance of justice."
The partnership is designed to not only give students exposure and perspective but also allow the nonprofit access to the university's deep bench of academics to advance the organization's own work.
Founded in 1992 at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the Innocence Project aims to free innocent convicts and defendants, as well as prevent wrongful convictions and promote equitable systems of justice. In the three decades since, the nonprofit has worked to pass hundreds of legislative reforms and helped free or exonerate more than 250 people who, combined, have spent nearly 4,000 years imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, according to Wednesday's announcement.
Innocent Project executive director Christina Swarns noted NYU's pioneering work in public interest law as a key reason for the "incredibly powerful partnership."
"Our staff and clients will benefit enormously from NYU's energy and experience," she said in a statement.
Organization co-founders Neufeld and Barry Scheck said working with the next generation of lawyers was particularly important for the nonprofit with the emergence of new technology and artificial intelligence.
"Engaging with a new generation of lawyers and graduate students in the era of AI about the causes of wrongful convictions and effective strategies to prevent their occurrence is very exciting," they said in a statement.
--Editing by Karin Roberts.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
