Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic
- Professor, Technology Law & Policy Clinic: Brad Bernthal
- Course Number and Description
- Robert Glushko and Pam Samuelson
Mission and Scope
As the information age advances, policymakers play an important role affecting technological innovation and competition policy. On issues ranging from wireless unlicensed spectrum to net neutrality, thoughtful and impartial analysis is difficult to obtain amid stakeholders vying for self-serving outcomes. The combination of policy complexity and the scarcity of impartial resources, however, create an excellent opportunity for a law school clinic to make significant technology policy contributions.
The Samuelson-GlushkoTechnology Law & Policy Clinic (TLPC) helps fill this gap. Through this graded yearlong course, student practitioners provide assistance “in the public interest” on technology issues to regulatory entities, courts, legislatures, and standard-setting bodies. The Clinic has a two-fold mission:
- Train and produce students equipped to conduct thoughtful policy analysis.
- Provide unbiased assistance in the public interest concerning technology issues to regulatory entities, courts, legislatures, and standard setting bodies.
Student practitioners have:
- Completed an in-depth analysis on Colorado broadband access and penetration, culminating in reports and presentations provided to Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s Innovation Council on Broadband.
- Provided research and writing support for filings on behalf of a client concerning low-power FM radio policy to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
- Visited Washington, DC, during spring break to discuss policy matters at the FCC, meet with former FCC Chairman Dick Wiley, and engage in policy discussions with legislative aides on Capitol Hill.
Beneficiaries
The Clinic is made possible by a generous donation from Robert Glushko and Pam Samuelson of Berkeley, California. Bob Glushko enjoyed a successful career as an inventor and entrepreneur and is now a professor at Berkeley’s School of Information. Pam Samuelson, who is married to Glushko, is a leading scholar on information policy and is jointly appointed at Berkeley’s School of Information and Boalt Hall School of Law. Glushko and Samuelson’s donation enables Colorado Law to become the third school to host a technology policy clinic in their name, joining American University in Washington, DC, and UC-Berkeley’s Boalt Hall.
