For Immediate Release
June 13, 2011

Media Contact:
Kara Tershel, (202) 662-9037

Deborah Epstein

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Georgetown University Law Center Associate Dean Deborah Epstein has been named the 2011 Outstanding Advocate for Clinical Teachers by the Clinical Legal Education Association. The award, which recognizes an individual who has served as a voice for clinical teachers and who has contributed to the advancement of clinical legal education nationally, will be presented June 16 in Seattle.

"This is a great honor and most well-deserved," said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor. "Deborah's wonderful leadership of the Law Center's clinical programs, her work on reconceptualizing the externship program, her leadership in developing and expanding a series of innovative experiential learning courses, and her instrumental role in creating the Georgetown Summer Institute on Clinical Teaching are just some of the accomplishments that make her the ideal recipient of this award."

Epstein, who serves as associate dean of clinical education, public interest and community service programs at the Law Center and directs the Domestic Violence Clinic, was also recognized for her leadership in opposing proposed changes to American Bar Association accreditation standards that would have dramatically altered the terms and conditions of employment for law faculty. She serves on the board of directors of the Center for the Study of Applied Legal Education (CSALE) and was instrumental in creating the vision for a Summer Institute on Clinical Teaching that has brought clinical teachers from across the country to Washington.

Before joining the Georgetown Law faculty in 1993, Epstein practiced at the civil rights firm of Bernabei & Katz, representing plaintiffs in sex discrimination suits, and clerked for Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Marvin Katz. Until 2001, she co-directed the D.C. Superior Court's Domestic Violence Intake Center and directed the Emergency Domestic Relations Project, a public interest organization providing legal and educational services to indigent victims of intimate abuse. She also co-chaired a multi-disciplinary effort to create a new Domestic Violence Unit within the D.C. Superior Court that fundamentally restructured the way that the local justice system handles civil and criminal family abuse matters.

A graduate of Brown University and New York University School of Law, Epstein has authored several publications in the areas of domestic violence and sexual harassment law. She has chaired the D.C. Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team and has served on the Mayor's Commission on Violence Against Women, the D.C. Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, and the Board of Directors of the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

About Georgetown University Law Center 

Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law, and the faculty is among the largest in the nation. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body representing more than 60 countries.