Paulette J. Williams

Associate Professor of Law
J.D., 1971, New York University
B.A., 1966, Brown University

Advocacy Clinic, Family Law Seminar, Business Law Clinic

pwilliam@libra.law.utk.edu

Professor Williams has been an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law since 1999. She taught initially in the advocacy clinic, and beginning in the fall of 2002, she is teaching a new business law clinic where students are learning to practice business and transactional law. The new clinic represents start-up businesses, non-profit community groups, and individuals with transactional legal issues. She has also taught a family law seminar. Before coming to UT, Professor Williams taught for one year as a visitor at the Cornell University Law School in its Legal Aid Clinic, and for many years she was a legal aid lawyer in New York City. In addition to developing the new business law clinic, she pursues her interests in the subjects of wealth and poverty, clinical legal education, and domestic violence in the law school curriculum through her scholarship and her participation in a variety of professional development activities.

Publications

       Books:

Uncontested Divorce: An Advocate's Practice Manual.

       Articles:

The Divorce Case: Supervisory Teaching and Learning in Clinical Legal Education, 21 St. Louis Pub. L. Rev. 331 (2002).

The Continuing Crisis in Affordable Housing: Systemic Issues Requiring Systemic Solutions, 31 Fordham Urb. L.J. 413(2004).

Chapters and Book Reviews:

"Preservation of Affordable Housing," Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development (Tim Iglesias and Rochelle E. Lento, eds.) 2005.

"Making a Difference: A Role for Lawyers in Economic Development," 15 J. of Affordable Housing and Community Development L. 20 (Fall 2005), a book review of Susan R. Jones' Legal Guide to Microenterprise Development (2004).

Recent Presentations and Service

"The Challenges of Working with Social Workers and Other Professionals in the Clinic," Panelist, AALS Workshop on Clinical Legal Education, Vancouver, Can., 2003.

Presented a talk "Teaching about Domestic Violence in the UT Legal Clinic" at the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence Conference on "Educating to End Domestic Violence" in February 2002.

Conducted a Workshop for Community Organizations "Should I Form a Non-Profit Corporation?" on September 30, 2002.

Scheduled to present a talk on "Teaching About Domestic Violence Across the Law School Curriculum" at the University of Texas in Nov. 2002.

Selected Achievements and Affiliations

Member of the UT College of Law's Faculty Appointments Committee in 2000 and 2001, the Pro Bono and Public Interest Advising Network since 2001, and the Committee on Re-Admissions in 1999 and 2000.

Member of the Board of the Tennessee American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) since 2001.

Member of the Steering Committee of the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) Best Practices Committee.

Member of the Bar in New York and Tennessee.