Washington University Law School launches clinic on First Amendment

The First Amendment Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law has yet to convene, but already, the fall and spring semesters are full — with waitlists.

The clinic’s director will be newly minted Assistant Professor Lisa Hoppenjans, a former partner at Dowd Bennett and a former newspaper reporter.

Hoppenjans said the clinic is designed to let law students work on real-world cases under her supervision. The cases will center on freedom of speech, press and assembly, with an initial geographic focus on Missouri. One aim of the clinic is to serve as a resource for all kinds of organizations and individuals. Another is to support freedom of expression by educating students on the First Amendment and inspiring them to become its champions during their careers.

Wash U’s clinic appears to be the first in Missouri to have a First Amendment orientation. It is funded by a grant from the Stanton Foundation, which was set up in honor of the late CBS President Frank Stanton, considered one of the pillars of the early television industry. The grant will total more than $900,000 through a period of five years, Hoppenjans said. The foundation has funded other First Amendment clinics at law schools, including those at Arizona State University, Duke University, Cornell University and Vanderbilt University.

Hoppenjans joined Wash U’s faculty on July 1, she said. In private practice, she specialized in complex civil litigation, appellate litigation and internal investigations at Dowd Bennett. At that firm she represented two journalists, Ryan J. Reilly of The Huffington Post and Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post, who were arrested inside a McDonald’s restaurant near the Ferguson protests in 2014. She won the dismissal of all charges against them.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Hoppenjans was a reporter for The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina and the Winston-Salem Journal. She graduated from Duke University School of Law in 2010.

Hoppenjans said her clinic will have a seminar format with room for six students this fall and eight students in the spring. She said she recently asked her fall students why they signed up.

“A lot of them mentioned prior First Amendment coursework,” Hoppenjans said. Wash U’s faculty includes First Amendment scholars Greg Magarian, John Inazu and Neil Richards. “But at least one student did mention the importance of defending the First Amendment in this particular moment. I think certainly the work that the clinic is going to be doing is particularly important right now.”