DLA Piper in San Francisco Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM

This fall, nine "brave souls," undeterred by a 7:30 a.m. class start time, will be the first students in the new University of Pennsylvania Law School's appellate advocacy clinic.

The clinic joins a growing community of law school Supreme Court and appellate litigation clinics. But there's a difference, said clinic co-director Ilana Eisenstein, partner and co-chair of DLA Piper's appellate advocacy practice.

"I hope we will have some cases referred to us, that we take on, but the core of the work we hope we will do is adopting issues of importance that may be percolating not just in one case but in many cases in many jurisdictions," Eisenstein (at left) said. "We want to teach the students how do you create an advocacy strategy around key issues."

Eisenstein, a former federal prosecutor and assistant to the U.S. solicitor general, will share leadership duties with Penn Law professor Jean Galbraith, a former clerk to the late Justice John Paul Stevens.

What follows are some thoughts and plans Eisenstein shared about the new venture. The conversation was lightly edited for length and style.

Law.com: How did the idea for the clinic develop?

Eisenstein: Penn Law's been in the [clinic] waters for a long time in different capacities. It had a Supreme Court clinic for many years led by then-professor now-Judge Stephanos Bibas. It also has a longstanding externship for appellate advocacy that is going to continue.

But after Bibas left for the bench, I started talking to the law school about reincarnating it but looking at things through a broader lens, not just limited to the U.S. Supreme Court, but more broadly at appellate dockets in the federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts. From where I sit, the Supreme Court has a limited docket. There is huge competition for those cases among the clinics.

How will you develop a "broader lens?"

We are looking at working with existing and well-established legal advocacy organizations, both local and national, already tackling these issues. We don't need to recreate the wheel. These organizations don't have bandwidth to deal with all of these issues they face. We have a few lined up that we're excited about.

Some of our initial cases—we have a case on an immigration matter, some are focused on the criminal justice system, for example, bail and fees-and-costs issues being litigated in Pennsylvania, and criminal procedure cases as well.

But from a subject matter standpoint, we're not going to be limited in any particular respect. We're looking for issues and great partnerships we can engage on.

How large will the clinic be?

We're starting small. We have nine signed up. Particularly because of my schedule, we start at 7:30 a.m., and a few brave souls were willing to do so. We wanted to start small since this was our first year. I anticipate it will remain a seminar class. It's very hands on in terms of writing and developing cases. Both professor Galbraith and I will be focused on how to litigate these cases and issues.

What role, if any, will your law firm play?

We plan on working the cases with DLA Piper. They will all be pro bono matters. We'll look at these cases like the other pro bono cases we very frequently take on. It also will help support the cases outside of the school year because litigation goes on. From DLA's end, the firm will be part of the case continuity to keep them moving forward irrespective of the school year or vacation schedule.

The firm has been very supportive. We have a lot of our partners teaching as adjuncts in academic settings. We're all excited about this clinic.

At the same time, you are building an appellate practice at DLAPiper. How is it going?

I spent 12 years at the Department of Justice. I was a prosecutor for eight years and four years at the solicitor general's office. I was ready to move back home to Philadelphia. I was ready to have a broader range of clients. There's a lot of pride in representing the government and the United States. I've been very happy at DLA and building this appellate practice.

We already had some great colleagues and we brought on some new ones. There's a lot of need and desire for lawyers with appellate advocacy skills. Part of our thinking at the appellate clinic is the way I work in private practice. I'm not limited to courts of appeals; a lot of it is at the trial level. It's been busy.

Do you hope to return to the Supreme Court lectern, or do you miss those arguments?

I hope we'll have cases that land back there. Whatever forum, there's always opportunity for advocacy. I haven't wanted for chances at the podium. I am pretty regularly filing petitions and amicus briefs. I wouldn't rule that out. Frankly, it's not something I single-mindedly pursue. There are advocates that spend time trying to find those cases. That's not me.

 

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