Since 2002, the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education has hosted the Bellow Scholars program to support empirical research of clinical law professors and improve access to justice. The program was founded to reflect the ideals of late Harvard Law professor Gary Bellow, one of the founders of clinical legal education who played a crucial role in establishing legal services for the underserved.
Every other year, the section's Committee on Lawyering in the Public Interest seeks project proposals for a new class of Bellow Scholars. Scholars are appointed for a two‐year term and are selected based on project proposals that meet the program's objectives.
Bellow Scholars receive support and feedback for their projects and participate in information‐sharing, discussion, and critique during presentations at the AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education and at annual workshops organized by the committee. More information can be found in this 2021 AALS News article on the program.
In the video below, committee co-chairs, Alina Ball (University of California, Berkeley School of Law) and Lisa Martin (University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law), provide a brief overview of the program. The pair spoke with AALS LENS after the scholars' report on projects at the 2025 AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education in Baltimore.
Alina Ball (UC Berkeley Law) and Lisa Martin (University of South Carolina Law), co-chairs of the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education Committee on Lawyering in the Public Interest, provide an overview of the Bellow Scholars Program.
AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education 2025-26 Bellow Scholars and Projects
More information about the 2025-26 Bellow Scholars Class is available on the program webpage.
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