Law
school
clinics
offer
hands-on
experience
to
students
and
serve
communities
in
need.
Some
schools
are
known
for
their
clinic
offerings.
Drake
Law
had
a
respected
Wrongful
Convictions
Clinic,
but
an
abrupt
suspension
of
the
program
has
put
its
future
in
question.
KCCI
has
coverage:
The
abrupt
closure
followed
the
firing
of
Erica
Nichols
Cook,
the
professor
who
created
and
ran
the
Wrongful
Convictions
Clinic.
“I
received
a
notice
that
I
was
terminated
and
that
all
my
classes
were
canceled,”
Nichols
Cook
said.Nichols
Cook,
who
has
more
than
a
decade
of
experience
working
on
wrongful
convictions,
said
she
believes
her
termination
stemmed
from
a
misunderstanding
and
distrust
by
members
of
the
administration.
The
disagreement
involved
a
$154,000
check
from
the
estate
of
Bill
Amor,
a
former
client
of
Nichols
Cook.“He
wanted
to
take
care
of
the
remaining
family
he
had
and
support
my
work,”
Nichols
Cook
said.
Nichols
Cook
had
taken
on
Amor’s
case
in
2012
while
working
for
the
Illinois
Innocence
Project,
which
is
not
affiliated
with
Drake.
Amor’s
estate
left
$2.5M
to
Drake
Law’s
Wrongful
Convictions
Clinic.
A
separate
$154k
was
given
directly
to
Nichols
Cook
by
Amor’s
trustee
who
stated
that
she
wasn’t
happy
with
how
the
law
school
intended
to
use
Amor’s
gift.
He
definitely
wouldn’t
be
happy
with
the
school
showing
entitlement
toward
money
that
explicitly
wasn’t
earmarked
for
them.
That
said,
error
on
the
part
of
Amor’s
trustee
may
get
in
the
way
of
Amor’s
wishes
being
followed:
In
an
dated
Feb.
6,
Amor’s
trustee
apologized
to
Nichols
Cook
for
the
mistake,
writing,
“Bill
expressed
so
many
times
his
desire
to
have
the
funds
put
under
your
control.
He
loved
you,
and
I
overstepped
what
a
trustee
could
legally
do
through
ignorance.
You
paid
the
price,
and
I
am
at
fault.”
The
Wrongful
Convictions
Clinic
did
important
work
and
it
is
a
shame
that
it
was
closed
down
over
cash
squabbling.
The
students
who
were
working
on
cases
had
to
immediately
drop
the
projects
they’d
been
working
on.
The
way
the
school
handled
this
isn’t
just
a
disservice
to
the
students,
it
is
a
double
injury
to
the
people
behind
bars
who
were
hoping
for
a
second
shot
at
justice.
Drake
shared
that
it
wants
to
re-open
the
clinic
next
year,
but
is
being
in
limbo
really
preferable
to
getting
students
the
learning
experience
they
need
and
doing
the
right
thing?
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.