Fair Housing Legal Support Center Events
The mission of the Fair Housing Legal Support Center is to educate the public on fair housing law and to provide legal assistance to those private and public organizations and persons that are seeking to eliminate discriminatory housing practices.
Since its inception, the Center has presented local and national conferences bringing together leading scholars and practitioners to analyze cutting-edge issues involving discrimination in rental and sales transactions, accessible housing for persons with disabilities, fair lending and predatory lending practices and efficacious enforcement techniques. In addition, the Center has developed training workshops in response to the needs of the fair housing community at large.
View upcoming Clinic events below and register to attend.
New Summer Course in the Czech Republic Heading link
A new course, Comparative Legal Systems: Individual Rights and Enforcement, will be offered in May 2025 in the Czech Republic. The course explores legal structures from a comparative perspective, analyzing how various legal systems conceptualize, organize, safeguard, and enforce civil and human rights.
- When: May 11 – 30, 2025
- Where: Palacky University Law School, Olomouc, Czech Republic. Side trips are planned, but not confirmed, to Prague, Brno, and Vienna, and other sites including Kromeriz, Terezin, Litovel, and Bouzov Castle
- Credit: Two to three credit hours
- Cost: Students will pay their own airfare, UIC tuition, some of their meals and entertainment expenses. A fee yet to be determined will be charged to cover housing, some group meals, group travel, and other expenses associated with the course.
more Heading link
View more detailed information below, then send your name, year in law school, and email address to Professor Seng at mseng@uic.edu by February 28, 2025.
about
The course explores legal structures from a comparative perspective, analyzing how various legal systems conceptualize, organize, safeguard, and enforce civil and human rights. Students will delve into the legal frameworks and key legal instruments that drive rights discourse across American and European jurisdictions, as well as the mechanisms these systems employ to uphold these protections. By investigating distinct models, including constitutional and supranational frameworks, students will gain insights into the foundational principles shaping each region’s approach to civil liberties and human rights.
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Students must have completed 29 credit hours to enroll in the course.
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Through case studies covering topics such as racial discrimination, privacy, free speech protections, prisoners’ rights, and restorative justice practices, the course encourages students to critically assess how these issues are addressed in contrasting legal systems. Students will examine how societal values, historical contexts, and political dynamics inform legal interpretations and applications, allowing them to appreciate the diversity and commonalities in rights protection.
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Students will have the opportunity to discuss these issues with local judges, prosecutors, ombudsmen, and attorneys. Czechia provides a laboratory to study the transition from a totalitarian/Soviet legal system to a more democratic/Western legal system. This comparative approach aims not only to broaden students’ understanding of global legal landscapes but also equips them with critical skills for analyzing and applying these principles in a transnational context. It will also provide students with a broader perspective to analyze their own legal system and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.
Visits may also be arranged to the Czech Parliament, the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, the Ombudsman Office, and private law firms.
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- Instructors: Professor Danielle Jefferis, University of Nebraska Law School
- Professor Michael Seng, UIC Law School
- Czech professors, judges, and attorneys
Previous Events Heading link
For over 30 years, the law school’s Fair Housing Clinic has been instrumental in educating the public about fair housing laws and working diligently to eliminate discriminatory housing practices.
The harm caused by housing discrimination is well established, and many of the problems that existed in 1968 are still with us, albeit in perhaps an altered form. This year’s conference theme, “The Fair Housing Act – Old Challenges; New Solutions?” will bring together practitioners and scholars who work in fair housing to focus on solutions.
The conference will also examine:
- Residential segregation and its effects
- Lending and appraisal practices
- Problems encountered by persons with disabilities
- Problems of the homeless and under-housed
- Problems of sexual harassment and domestic violence
- Challenges posed by our new immigrants
Other Fair Housing Center Events Heading link
Litigation Skills Effective Advocacy under Fair Housing Laws
This two and a half day workshop helps attorneys develop and hone the skills necessary to proceed in contested hearings or trials. Participants receive a case study and each is assigned to represent a client. Cases are prepared and presented during a mock fair housing trial by instructors that in the past have included judges, former HUD ALJ and practicing attorneys who are experience trying fair housing cases. Participants earn CLE credit including one hour of ethics credit.
Fall National Conference
This annual two day event held, late August/early October, features top fair housing professionals from the government, judicial and private sectors to analyze fair housing and fair lending laws and interrelated issues. Attendees may earn continuing legal education credits that may include ethics/professionalism hours.