Professor Christina A. Zawisza, PALS Faculty Advisor and Director of the Child and Family Legal Clinic

Access our National TWEN Course "Memphis Alternative Spring Break 2013" to learn more about this year's program.

To register online, please CLICK HERE. 

 Alternative Spring Break 2013 at Memphis Law

 March 11 – 15, 2013

The Public Action Law Society’s 2013 Alternative Spring Break program seeks to serve the community while simultaneously providing students the opportunity to gain experience in the legal field. This program has allowed University of Memphis law students to partner with dozens of law schools around the country in the common cause of service and is the only student-led Alternative Spring Break program in the country to recruit nationally, taking applicants from any ABA-accredited law school.

Eight specialized tracks:

• Advance Directives
• Family Law
• Immigration- Knoxville
• Immigration – Memphis
• Research and Writing: Nonprofit Management
• Research and Writing: Public Interest Advocacy
• Research and Writing: Human Trafficking
• Criminal Defense

Only 20 students will be accepted on a national level!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE!

Those interested in hotel accommodations can contact the Spring Hill Suites in downtown Memphis at 800-285-1563 and specify that you are booking a room for the University of Memphis School of Law Alternative Spring Break function to receive the discounted rate of $115 per night (before taxes). Reservations by attendees MUST be received on or before February 11, 2013.  

HISTORY OF ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) began in the spring of 2010 when fifteen UofM law students traveled to Miami after the Haiti earthquake to help Haitians stranded in the U.S. apply for temporary protected status.  These students returned to Memphis motivated to help local Memphians in need of quality legal services. 

In the spring of 2011, PALS hosted ASB at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of law.  Under the supervision of attorneys, thirty-seven law students from eight law schools served in three areas or tracks:  (1) Pro Se Divorce, (2) Advance Directives, and (3) Non-Profit Organizations.  Of the thirty-seven students who participated, twenty were from the UofM.  In the pro se divorce track, students assisted couples with no joint property or kids to file pro se divorces.  In the advance directives track, students traveled to nursing homes and senior centers to prepare legal documents such as powers of attorney, health care surrogacies, and wills.  Students participating in the nonprofit advocacy track worked on different law-related projects with Court-Appointed Special Advocates, Literacy Mid-South, and the RISE Foundation. 

The Third Annual Alternative Spring Break took place from March 5-23, 2012.  This year, PALS hosted sixty-two students, twenty-nine from the UofM, who participated in four tracks:  (1) Pro Se Divorce, (2) Advance Directives, (3) Legislative Drafting, and (4) Immigration.  The two new tracks, Legislative Drafting and Immigration, were added to directly respond to the need in Memphis and allow more student participation.  Students working in the Legislative Drafting Track partnered with three organizations to draft legislation regarding human trafficking, post-civil commitment proceedings, and predatory lending.  The Immigration Track took place over three weeks with the University of Tennessee College of Law and the University of Mississippi College of Law partnering to finish the second and third weeks.  Students in the Immigration Track processed U-Visa applications for five victims of serious domestic violence who cooperated with law enforcement. 

Morris Dees, the founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, was the keynote speaker at the 2012 ASB Luncheon.  Mr. Dees spoke to the students about his humble roots in rural Alabama, his formative years as a civil rights lawyer, and his current effots to curtail discrimination against immigrants. 

If you are interested in participating in the 2013 Alternative Spring Break, please access our National TWEN Course "Memphis Alternative Spring Break 2013" or contact ASB Coordinator, Andrew Solarski, at solarski@memphis.edu or (901) 297-0702.