News
Maine Law’s Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic Receives Community Hero Award
Professor Deirdre Smith, Director of the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, recently accepted the “Community Hero Award” on behalf of Maine Law’s Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic at the Safe Voices Annual Meeting on October 20, 2011. The award was presented to the Clinic for its “invaluable efforts on behalf of victims of domestic violence in the courtroom.”
Safe Voices is a nonprofit organization based in Lewiston whose mission is "to support and empower those affected by Domestic Violence and engage the community in creating social change in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin Counties." For more than 10 years, the Clinic has partnered with Safe Voices in assisting victims of domestic violence seeking protection from abuse orders in Lewiston District Court. The Clinic and Safe Voices work with more than 200 clients every year to ensure that clients receive support, safety planning, and other services to help them through the court process and ultimately escape abusive situations. Safe Voices and the Clinic, as well as several other agencies, are partners in a new collaboration to enhance and expand services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking in Androscoggin, Oxford, and Franklin Counties.
The Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, a program of the University of Maine School of Law, is a legal services provider in which "Student Attorneys," third-year law students specially licensed by the state and federal courts, provide legal services to low-income clients. The Student Attorneys practice under the close supervision of Maine Law faculty members and gain valuable hands-on experience while addressing a critical societal need. For additional information on the Clinic, please visit http://www.mainelaw.maine.edu/programs-centers/clac.html.
