Pioneering course

“The class is an opportunity for students to have frank conversations about bias—exploring how it influences interactions among the students themselves as well as its impact on the legal system,” says Zelda B. Harris, Mary Ann G. McMorrow Professor of Law, who designed the PIF course with Professor Juan Perea, Professor Miranda Johnson, then-Assistant Dean Josie Gough, and then-Adjunct Professor Carla Kupe, who also served as PIF director from 2020 to 2021.

Over the span of five weeks, students gather in small groups for discussions and activities. In the very first class, they engage in a simulation where they assume the role of someone seeking legal aid. “They get to step in the shoes of an individual navigating the legal system,” says PIF Director Kimberly Mills (LLM ’15). “The purpose is to show that people are treated differently for various reasons, and that the legal system is a complex and intimidating system.”

“We take time to make sure that our students not only understand the law, but they also understand themselves, and how the law impacts people in everyday society.”

The new ABA requirements allowed Loyola to evolve the class. In rebuilding the curriculum, Harris examined feedback that PIF had received since its launch and worked with people across the school–including Mills. The redesign approached some of the same questions that students would consider in the classroom. “What is professional identity? What does it look like? How are we going to get the students to engage with this information?” Mills remembers asking. “Understanding why you are coming to law school–and what that means for who you become–is essential to legal education.”

How does race affect their clients? What about gender? Sexual orientation? Income? What if a client is an undocumented immigrant? What if they’re a citizen, but someone in their home isn’t? By encouraging empathy and understanding, the PIF course lets students unravel the complicated (and often overlapping) biases their clients might encounter in the legal system. Adjunct faculty work alongside student teaching assistants, with contributions from full-time faculty who have knowledge in cultural competence, ethical obligations, and how the law has been used as a tool of oppression. Together with students, they discuss topics like power, privilege, empathy, and cultural humility.

Mills first came to Loyola in 2016 to work with Life After Innocence, a program that offered pro bono legal services and support to exonerees. She helped redesign the program into a clinic where students helped clients obtain certificates of good conduct, expunge criminal records, and more. Since then, she has worked with Loyola’s externship program and taught several PIF courses herself. In 2022, she stepped up as PIF’s director–bringing with her years of experience connecting students with individuals seeking legal aid.

“Yes, being a good lawyer definitely means understanding the law and being able to apply it correctly,” says Mills. “But it also means really being able to understand why you’re showing up to do the work.”

As a second-year law school student in 2018, Imani Hollie (JD ’20) helped build the original iteration of PIF—including reviewing curriculum, structuring the class, and recruiting student facilitators. Now, in a full-circle moment, she’s an adjunct professor and the PIF associate director. After years of working with the course, she’s witnessed how much effect it has on students in the early days of their legal education. “It’s like the beginning of a tool box,” she says. “Throughout the course, and throughout law school, you’re going to gain these tools to be able to connect to clients.”

“The class is an opportunity for students to have frank conversations about bias—exploring how it influences interactions among the students themselves as well as its impact on the legal system.”

The PIF course has been so successful that the school is developing a follow-up course for second- and third-year students. “Talking about racism isn’t easy. It’s emotional and requires vulnerability,” says Harris. “We continually seek feedback to help us balance participation among all students and create a safe environment where all feel able to engage transparently.”

By preparing students to ask deep questions and consider the world outside of themselves, Hollie thinks the PIF course really exemplifies the spirit of the University. “We take time to make sure that our students not only understand the law, but they also understand themselves, and how the law impacts people in everyday society,” she says. “It really just embodies what Loyola is about.” –Megan Kirby (March 2023)