Civil Rights Appellate Clinic files amicus brief with Third Circuit
Most cases handled by the Civil Rights Appellate Clinic are student-identified ones in which they think the clinic could play an important role. Not so in a case on appeal before the U.S. Third Circuit in which the clinic was appointed as amicus in a suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
"When we are dealing with a pro se party or are faced with a very complicated case, it's not unusual for the court to approach a clinic and say, 'We could really use some help on this. Please serve as a friend of the court and provide us with a brief on these points,'" explained U.S. Third Circuit Court Judge Thomas Vanaskie '78.
In the months following the Third Circuit's appointment, clinic students parsed their way through nearly 1,400 pages of transcripts, examined lots of exhibits, and analyzed pre- and post-trial briefs to gain a better understanding of the issues involved.