Margo Lindauer Named Director of Clinical Programs

09.11.19 — Professor Margo Lindauer ’07, a nationally recognized expert in combatting domestic violence, has been named director of clinical programs at Northeastern University School of Law, effective January 1, 2020. Lindauer, who has served as director of the school’s Domestic Violence Clinic since 2014, takes the helm from Professor Jim Rowan, widely recognized as a pioneering luminary in the field of law school clinical training. Rowan led the school’s efforts in building a nationally recognized program — U.S. News & World Report ranks the school no. 26 nationwide for clinical training.

“We are fortunate that the baton is being passed from Jim Rowan, a renowned leader in clinical education, to Margo Lindauer, an exceptional teacher, lawyer and clinician,” said Dean James Hackney. “With Professor Lindauer as our new clinical director, our vibrant program will continue to expand, innovate and provide the best experiential opportunities for our students.”

Lindauer, who holds a joint appointment with the law school and Northeastern’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences, will continue to serve as director of both the Domestic Violence Clinic and the school’s Domestic Violence Institute. Prior to joining the Northeastern community, she worked at Project Place as the director of Partnerships to Opportunities for Women in Re-Entry (POWR), where she oversaw the implementation of an innovative US Department of Labor grant dedicated to working with female ex-offenders within six months of re-entry. This built upon her extensive background in domestic violence work at Casa Myrna Vazquez, Respond, Inc., and at Georgetown’s Domestic Violence Clinic. Lindauer also gained valuable clinical teaching experience at Georgetown, where she earned her LLM and at Suffolk University Law School, where she served as a teaching fellow in the Child Advocacy Clinic and the Juvenile Defender Clinic.

In 2019, Lindauer was named a Bellow Scholar at the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) in New Orleans. The Bellow Scholar Program, administered the by the AALS Clinical Section, recognizes and supports the research projects of clinical law professors that reflect the ideals of Professor Gary Bellow — a pioneering founder of modern clinical legal education. Every two years, the Bellow Scholar Program seeks innovative project proposals from clinical legal educators designed to improve the quality of justice in communities, enhance the delivery of legal services, and promote economic and social justice. Lindauer’s project goal is to assess correlations between civil restraining order procurement and outcomes in criminal prosecutions for domestic violence and sexual assault and then make recommendations for policy changes based on the empirical findings to reduce inequality in outcomes and to improve access to justice for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“For me, directing the law school’s clinical program is a dream I cannot quite believe is going to be my reality in a few short months,” said Lindauer, who is also a member of the board of governors of the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT). “I feel incredibly lucky to have Jim next door and I vow to move the clinics forward from the incredible foundation that Jim has created. I am thrilled to lead our existing team and welcome new clinicians to our faculty, to harness the power of our social justice mission to expand our reach in the community.”

“It has been my great honor to work with students and on behalf of clients for the past 40 years,” said Rowan, who will continue to lead the school’s Poverty Law and Practice Clinic. “I have had the benefit of great mentors both at Northeastern and beyond who have been unbelievably generous with their expertise. Mostly, I have learned resilience from our clients and vision from our students. I am proud of the engagement of our faculty with issues of our day and issues of our town and the clinical staff’s consistent dedication to our clients and our students. It is delightful to be able to pass the directorship to Margo, who has proven her ability with clients and students and will take the clinics to the next level.”