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IU McKinney's Civil Practice Clinic and Ivy Tech Community College teamed up to offer a pop-up expungement clinic on April 9 on the Ivy Tech campus. It's been one of many such clinics offered by Professor Carrie Hagan and her Civil Practice Clinic students. It is also part of a larger connection between the two schools.

Fran Watson, '80, another IU McKinney professor, offered Ivy Tech students the opportunity to take part in research projects related to the work in her Wrongful Conviction Clinic, and Ivy Tech students craved more of these kinds of opportunities, said Ivy Tech Professor Lara O'Dell, Program Chair of the Legal Studies and the Paralegal Studies departments.

Mary Jane Michalak, who is Vice President of Government Relations at Ivy Tech and a 3L at IU McKinney, facilitated Ivy Tech's involvement in IU McKinney's Re-Entry Fair in April 2018. Professor O'Dell thought she'd reach out to Professor Hagan to see if there was a way for Ivy Tech students to help IU McKinney students as part of the pop-up expungement clinics.

Professor Hagan ended up teaching a course at Ivy Tech on expungements, which allowed Ivy Tech students to help with the pop-up expungement clinic, and the 2019 Re-Entry Fair.

"I feel so lucky to have her," Professor O'Dell said of Professor Hagan. "Her energy, her passion for the law and for students is contagious."

Other pop-up expungement clinics have taken place in Indianapolis at SENSE Charter School in the Fountain Square neighborhood and at Coburn Place, and with the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Kokomo and in Washington, Indiana.

"Expungements have been a really great teaching and practice vehicle for us in the Civil Practice Clinic," Professor Hagan said. "Students first see and screen clients to see whether they are eligible, and for anyone whom is eligible, the students then get to work with the client throughout the representation process needed to successfully get the records expunged."

In the top photo, Professor Hagan is with Civil Practice Clinic students working at SENSE Charter School. From left are 2L Grace Dillow, Professor Hagan, and evening division 3L Brendan Haile.

On average, a successful expungement can take about three months, sometimes longer. Law students need to be part of the Civil Practice Clinic to take part in the expungement pop-ups, but students who volunteer in one of the three rooms the Clinic staffs at the Re-Entry Fair -- licensing, expungement screening, or expungement drafting -- are eligible to help, too.

"The pop-up clinics allow for the students to expand on their knowledge, as they get to travel around the state, and offer targeted brief advice and service to folks that otherwise wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to determine where their situations stand in relation to the law," Professor Hagan said. "By working on expungement over and over, in various settings, students also get really comfortable with this area of the law and the clients that we serve.”

Law students find the experience of working in the pop-up expungement clinics to be rewarding.

"To a person who knows very little about having a criminal record, expungement may seem like a trivial thing," said 3L Alexis Calabrese. "In reality, it changes people's lives. The stigma around having a criminal conviction can close many doors for an individual who is attempting to move forward and make changes in his or her life. Knowledge is power and the advice we provide at our expungement clinics enable people to have a feeling of hope and control over their future. It is an incredible feeling to be a part of this type of empowerment in someone's life."

Brendan Haile, Calabrese's Civil Practice Clinic classmate, agreed.

"The people we see usually have had a hard life, made mistakes in the past, and are looking to turn their life around," Haile said. "Being able to help them do that is great."

"Nothing is better than giving people the hope of a fresh start," said 3L Stephen Deeg. "Simply because they may have made mistakes in the past, it does not mean that it should affect their future."

In the photo at right, Professor Hagan is with Civil Practice Clinic students at the annual Re-Entry Fair. From left is Deeg, 3L Patrick Stone, and Professor Hagan. In light of the reinforcement she and her students have received from groups outside the law school in support of these efforts, Professor Hagan plans to continue the pop-up expungement clinics.

“Given the response we’ve gotten from our community partners on these efforts, and the students’ enthusiasm for these type of ventures and partnerships, pop-up clinics will become a regular part of the clinic work during the academic year, as they give us some great opportunities to get out of the classroom and into the community," Professor Hagan said. "Working at the Re-Entry Fair each spring really acts as the capstone for us for these experiences as well, as by the time the fair rolls around, the students are so well versed in the law and client interactions, that instead of just playing the part of a student, they instead have become the trainers and the room captains. It’s really gratifying as an instructor to see their confidence build throughout the year, and their commitment to the community grows, and they really then feel as though they have a concrete skill to give back to the community when they graduate and become licensed.”