Antioch School of Law

Antioch School of Law was a law school in Washington, D.C. which specialized in public advocacy. Established in 1972 by Edgar S. Cahn and Jean Camper Cahn, longtime champions of the legal rights of low-income and minority persons. The school now operates as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL).

The Cahns were also instrumental in establishing the federal Legal Services Corporation during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson. They served as the first deans of the school, and envisioned a law school focused on training highly skilled attorneys dedicated to public interest advocacy. The school was eventually fully accredited, and operated until 1988.

The school pioneered a comprehensive law clinic education model which has now been acknowledged by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools as being an essential part of a complete legal education, and has been incorporated to some degree into the curriculum of virtually every law school in the United States.

The school, in fact, was envisioned as more than a law school - it was to be a public interest law firm with teacher-lawyers and student-advocates providing pro bono legal services to the poor and others who were unable to obtain representation. The intent was to create an intense combination of learning and practice. New students also spent their first two weeks at the school living with families in Washington's slums to get a feel for the poor people whom the students would soon be representing. This was part of the school's effort to inculcate a passion to eradicate injustice in society in its students.

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