Technological advances are driving greater economic, political, and social change, raising increasingly complex and critical questions for civil liberties and civil rights. The Technology Law and Policy Clinic is a semester-long, 6-credit course that engages with many of these questions through the representation of individuals and nonprofit organizations. It involves a mixture of fieldwork and seminar discussion ranging from technology law and policy to the ethical challenges of lawyering in the public interest.
The clinic is open to students from all backgrounds and seeks to expand the notions of “technology law” and “technology lawyers.” No technical degrees or past experience with any particular doctrines of law are required; the only prerequisite is a dedication to social justice. The clinic strives to fight for the public interest in such areas where corporate or government interests often predominate.
Every semester, the clinic takes on a diverse set of matters, so students in the clinic get broad exposure to the field of technology law even as they immerse themselves deeply in one or two projects. In Fall 2024, students will assist individuals, nonprofits, and other public-interest clients in addressing cutting-edge issues at the intersections of technology and free speech, privacy, surveillance, and transparency. Approximately one-half of the students will work with the supervisors of the clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy & Technology Project on issues or cases currently on the Project’s docket. Representative matters include:
- Filing public records requests and lawsuits to inform the public about government surveillance programs. For example, the ACLU has litigated Freedom of Information Act requests to force the disclosure of records regarding warrantless tracking of people’s cell phone location data, as well as regarding new methods and technologies for disrupting large-scale protests;
- Contributing to various criminal and civil cases, through direct representation or amicus support, that challenge government surveillance, mass data collection, and hacking;
- Contributing to various criminal and civil cases, through direct representation or amicus support, regarding the use of automated systems or artificial intelligence in ways that impact civil liberties or civil rights, including challenges to discriminatory technology use by government and private sector actors;
- Submitting regulatory comments addressing law enforcement use of biometric technologies like facial recognition;
- Supporting legal efforts to allow for independent journalism techniques and research that investigates and holds accountable online platforms;
- Counseling a reproductive health organization on First Amendment protections for abortion-related features of a smartphone app.
The NYU Technology Law & Policy (TLP) Clinic was founded in 2012 by Director and Clinical Professor Jason Schultz. The Clinic is currently co-taught by Adjunct Clinical Professor Esha Bhandari, Adjunct Professor Vera Eidelman and Deputy Director Jake Karr. Since its founding, the Clinic has been co-taught by Catherine Crump, Brett Max Kaufman, Amanda Levendowski, Christopher Morten, Sunoo Park, Lee Rowland, Aaron Williamson and Ben Wizner.
Students interested in applying to the Clinic should visit NYU Law’s course description page for more information.
The TLP Clinic is a program of Washington Square Legal Services, Inc., a New York not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation affiliated with NYU Law. While the TLP Clinic shares some faculty with the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at NYU Law, the Clinic and Center are distinct. Views expressed by the TLP Clinic and its clients do not necessarily represent the institutional views of the Engelberg Center or NYU Law, if any.