Tenants’ Rights Advocacy Clinic

Tenants’ Rights Advocacy Clinic is a partnership between St. John’s Law School and The Legal Aid Society Queens Neighborhood Office (QNO), a non-profit organization, through which students will engage in the various stages of landlord-tenant litigation.

Students in this clinic represent income-eligible tenants residing in Queens who are facing eviction and asserting their rights to safe and habitable conditions, proper rents, and freedom from harassment.  They will interview clients and develop legal strategies to address the range of issues faced by tenants. They will learn to navigate the New York landlord-tenant laws by attending court, negotiating with opposing counsel, conducting legal research, and drafting motions and complaints.  In addition, students may have the opportunity to represent both individual clients and groups of tenants seeking redress for violations of their rights, all while becoming familiar with this ever-changing, complex, and important area of law and will learn how it impacts the lives of low-income New Yorkers.

In this one-semester clinic, students receive 4 credits each semester. They are required to work at least fourteen (14) hours a week at the Queens Neighborhood Office and must also attend a two-hour weekly seminar which will incorporate instruction on housing law and essential lawyering skills, (including client interviewing, negotiation, and oral argument) and roundtable discussions of challenges that may arise in their cases.  The clinic is open to up to six students and recommended requisite courses are Evidence and Trial Advocacy.

Contact Us 

Amee Master
Adjunct Professor of Law
Supervising Attorney
[email protected]

Our Clinic