Dis-Orientation is an annual city-wide retreat for law students hosted by the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago. This year, Dis-Orientation was hosted by the Northwestern Law School NLG Chapter. The speakers included NLG Chicago activist and law professor Bernardine Dohrn, Juan F Perea of Loyola Law, Destiny Peery of Northwestern Law, and community organizer & recent law grad Quinn Kareem Rallins.
Prof Juan Perea introduced “the Epistemology of Ignorance” to a group of mostly 1st year law studentsat Dis-orientation, teaching them all the ways the constitution is pro-slavery. You can read Prof Perea’s law review article about the pro-slavery constitution here.
Bernardine Dohrn spoke about how lawyers & law students can support current social movements. Quinn Kareem Rallins discussed the question of whether change comes from the law or organizing people. He shared the story of using legal services at Boston Legal Aid to support organizing by Project No One Leaves in their fight against foreclosures.
Prof. Destiny Peery reminded us of the dangers of implicit bias in both teaching and the practice of law. The most important step in combating implicit bias is acknowledging it exists. You can take a test and explore your own biases here.
Finally, there was a panel of current law students shares their strategies for surviving & thriving in law school.
For more resources check out the Guerrilla Guides to Law Teaching.
