Jane Wettach

Durham, NC    The Children’s Law Clinic is a legal project of Duke Law School focused on protecting the health, education, and well-being of children.  The Clinic is staffed by law students who are supervised by two Duke faculty members, Jane Wettach and Brenda Berlin.  The program has the joint mission of providing free legal services to low-income families and providing hands-on opportunities for law students to develop their professional skills.

The Clinic opened in 2002 as part of an expanding program at Duke Law School to offer clinical opportunities to its students.  During the time it has been serving families, it has developed expertise in three main areas of law:  special education law, school discipline law, and children’s disability law.  These areas of law were selected by Jane and Brenda after an extensive assessment of community need.  Especially in the areas of special education and school discipline, they found that few lawyers in the Triangle had the necessary expertise to advise and represent children having these types of legal problems.

Now in its tenth year, the clinic offers free advice and representation to children in 11 counties in the Triangle region.  The law students in the clinic investigate claims such as refusal of a school district to evaluate a child for special education services, failure of a school system to provide appropriate special education services, or imposition of inappropriate discipline to students with disabilities.  They attend IEP (Individualized Education Program) meetings with parents, negotiate with school personnel, and handle due process and state complaint proceedings on behalf of clients.  They also represent children who are facing a long-term suspension from school in appeal proceedings.  Finally, they represent children who are appealing denials of SSI benefits (Supplemental Security Income).   The Children’s Law Clinic does not handle abuse and neglect, juvenile delinquency, or other criminal matters.  It likewise does not handle child custody or personal injury cases.

The need for legal advocates for children is great.  Education law and SSI law are complicated!  While many parents are effective advocates for their children, they often need someone with greater expertise to support them when major disputes occur.  It’s very gratifying when a law student can intervene in a conflict and get it resolved.  Not only does the law student learn advocacy skills, but a child ends up with an improved educational program or a reduced school suspension or benefits that can ease some of the family hardship.  That’s always the goal!

The Clinic is supported by Duke University as well as by donations. Duke prefers donation checks to be written to Duke University, with a memo line notation that it should be directed to the Children’s Law Clinic.  Nevertheless, a check written to the Duke Children’s Law Clinic will be processed and directed to the clinic.  All contributions are tax deductible.

Professional volunteers are needed for specific cases, for specific tasks. Jane and Brenda hope to compile a list of professionals, especially child and educational psychologists and educational consultants – that they could call on for help as needed.  Having several means that no one person is overloaded. They need help with evaluations, observations, file reviews, and suggestions for better and more appropriate services.  They very, very occasionally need someone who is willing to testify in a hearing on behalf of a child (after having done an observation, evaluation, or file review).

The Duke Children's Law Clinic has answered questions about my own children and I've served as a tutor for one of their clients. In addition, Jane and I have served together on the board of the Augustine Project and I've always been so impressed with her knowledge and calm confidence. Educational law IS complicated and not always accessible to those who need it most. I'm very grateful to Jane and Brenda for their passion for these kids.