Professor , co-director of Colorado Law’s Clinical Program, and ’06 each received awards at the 2022 (OCR) Annual Conference, held on September 12 and 13.

“Professor Robinson is so deserving of this award,” remarked fellow clinical law professor . “She has spent her entire career working to improve and strengthen the representation for abused and neglected children. Her work as a lawyer, then in policy and now as a professor has made concrete and lasting changes for our most vulnerable people in society.” 

Professor Robinson’s nomination extolls her contributions to the legal community describing how she “has been a cornerstone of attorney support and mentoring for more than 15 years in Colorado.”

Professor Robinson’s teaching and scholarship center on child welfare and juvenile delinquency. In addition to her work co-directing the law school’s Clinical Program, she directs the Juvenile and Family Law Clinic, through which students represent children and parents in child welfare cases and youth in delinquency and truancy matters. She also co-directs the Juvenile and Family Law Program (JFLP).

“Professor Robinson is tireless in her pursuit of justice,” said Professor England. “Colorado Law and its students are lucky to have such star.”

Josi McCauley, a 2006 graduate of the law school, was awarded the Covino Advocate of the Year Award. This award recognizes an attorney who demonstrates exceptional advocacy skills, integrity, and compassion in their representation of children.

McCauley’s nomination describes how she has “dedicated her legal career to advancing the rights of children at both the trial and appellate levels and has emerged as a true leader in this area of the law.” The nomination eloquently outlines how McCauley holds herself to the highest standards and “demonstrates the utmost diligence, professionalism, and compassion.”

A dedicated children’s rights advocate, McCauley has devoted her career to advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable members of society and to the moral obligations she sets for herself in the practice of juvenile law. McCauley was herself a student in the Juvenile and Family Law Clinic the first year it was offered at Colorado Law. She now practices in the 8th Judicial District of Colorado.

“I am thrilled to offer my heartiest congratulations to Professor Robinson and Josi McCauley. It is wonderful to see two members of our law school family receive such well-deserved acknowledgement,” said law school Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss. “Both of these star lawyers have made an enormous impact protecting the interests and lives of our state’s children and families. We couldn’t be prouder.”

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The Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law celebrated its eleventh annual Constitution Day Project this September. Each year, volunteers teach challenging constitutional questions in Colorado high schools to commemorate the 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. 

This year’s Constitution Day curriculum covered the right to privacy and offered students the opportunity to discuss same-sex and interracial marriage, the right to contraception, and the recent Dobbs decision. “We hope high school students will think about how the Constitution impacts their lives, often in ways they never realized. This year’s topic is particularly poignant not just for youth but for everyone – how and why should our private lives be subjected to government intervention?” commented the Project’s manager and co-director of Colorado Law's Clinical Programs, Professor . 

One teacher shared that, after Constitution Day, one of her students and the student’s father “had a conversation about the topic and, [despite coming] from very different perspectives,” they were able to “have a conversation that was based in facts” as a result of the lesson. 

Students “really enjoyed the topic and left feeling like they better understood the issue and the stakes of what could happen in the future,” reported another teacher. Volunteers were impressed by how much students already knew about the Constitution and by their thoughtful questions.

The Center has expressed gratitude to this year's volunteers, whose “dedication to bringing the Constitution alive in high school classrooms allows us to have these hard conversations,” added Professor Robinson. 

The Byron R. White Center's director, Professor remarked, “This kind of civic education and engagement is critical to our democracy.”

If you are interested in getting involved with next year’s Constitution Day Project, please fill out this form: .

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Professor Robinson currently teaches the Juvenile & Family Law Clinic and co-directs the Juvenile and Family Law Program (JFLP). She has been on the faculty of the law school since 2005 after nearly a decade of representing children and families throughout Colorado and in New York City.

Professor Chapin teaches the Criminal & Immigration Defense Clinic, having joined the faculty in 2009. Prior to joining Colorado Law, she served for seven years as a trial attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. She has represented both adult and juvenile indigent defendants with serious felony offenses at all stages of trial.

“We are both feeling very excited to lead the Clinical Program at a time when experiential education is in high demand from students, alums, and employers seeking to hire graduating law students with real client experience,” remarks Professor Robinson. “There is truly no replacement for this kind of hands-on participation in the legal system when it comes to connecting theory with practice.”

The Colorado Law Clinical Program, founded in 1948, has long played a crucial role in providing free legal services to a diverse array of community members. The Program spans a wide range of legal areas including wage theft, wrongful convictions, fair and just access to technology, affordable housing, new entrepreneurship, environmental justice and domestic and international indigenous rights.

“The Clinical Program is very grateful to Professor Deborah Cantrell, our previous director, who excelled at managing the myriad practice and logistical issues of running nine Clinics,” says Professor Chapin. “She wisely and consistently emphasized the importance of clinical teaching and education for our students, advocating for the program as zealously as she advocates for her clients.”

Professor Cantrell led the Clinical Program with great dedication for 16 years. During her tenure, the Clinical Program’s capacity to serve our Colorado communities markedly grew, including supporting the launch of the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic, and envisioning and creating the Sustainable Community Development Clinic. Under Cantrell's leadership, the Program organized and facilitated an ongoing learning community among faculty who teach clinical courses to explore issues related to pedagogy, social justice and diversity and inclusion. It also fostered collaborations among faculty—both those who teach clinical course and those who lead experiential offerings outside of the Clinical Program.

In 2013, Professor Cantrell received the Clifford J. Calhoun Public Service award—the Law School’s highest service-related honor. Then, in 2020, Professor Cantrell received the �鶹ӰԺ County Public Health’s Heathy Community Award in recognition of her work through the Sustainable Community Development Clinic.

“It has been an honor to lead the Clinical Program, and to be a part of Colorado Law’s ongoing and sustained commitment to public service,” reflects Professor Cantrell. “The Clinical Program is a true place of collaboration and innovation. I’m grateful to my faculty and staff colleagues for their steady engagement, and to the hundreds of student attorneys who participated in the Clinical Program during my tenure and provided thousands of hours of free legal services across our communities.”

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