Professor Russell Engler has long lobbied for the delivery of legal services to the poor, and access to justice has been a cornerstone of his legal career and scholarship. He recently brought that expertise to Boston College Law School, when he participated in a conference sponsored by its Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, entitled Opportunities and Challenges in Access to Justice: Lessons from the U.S. and Brazil.
Both countries have responded to systemic problems in access to justice with initiatives such as free legal representation and alternative dispute resolution. Brazil has relied primarily on free representation, while the U.S. focuses more on alternative means through which to promote justice. Professor Engler joined other experts from the United States and Brazil to compare and evaluate the two countries' efforts.
Professor Engler, who serves as Director of Clinical Programs at New England Law, also directs the Center for Law and Social Responsibility Public Service Project, through which he has worked on several long-term projects to improve access to the justice system for the underprivileged, often with the assistance of students and in collaboration with judges, bar association groups, and other members of the legal community.
Professor Engler serves on the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission and is a member of the Steering Committee for the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel. In 2013, he was appointed to a new Boston Bar Association Statewide Task Force on Civil Legal Aid in Massachusetts
Learn more about the clinical programs Professor Engler directs, including New England Law’s Public Interest Law Clinic, here.