Published: Jan. 29, 2013

The University of Colorado Law School (Colorado Law) announced today that it has hired Blake Reid to lead the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law and Policy Clinic. 

This hire, Dean and Silicon Flatirons Center Executive Director Phil Weiser explained, is a core part of Colorado Law’s brand and leadership. “Bringing back Blake to head the clinic will build our strength in a core priority area for Colorado Law—being one of the nation’s leading law schools in technology law and policy.”

Reid graduated from Colorado Law in 2010, where he worked in the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law and Policy clinic and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law. He is currently a staff attorney and graduate clinical fellow in First Amendment and media law at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Public Representation Clinic. At Georgetown, Reid has focused on training students to be advocates for underrepresented groups in telecommunications and technology policy, including people with disabilities. Reid will continue this work when he begins his new position in July 2013.

“Students learn how to effectuate legal and social change through policy work in the clinic. I am thrilled that Blake will be joining us with his strong background in telecommunications and his particular work with the deaf community,” said Professor Deborah Cantrell, director of the clinical program.

The Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law and Policy Clinic provides a unique opportunity for students to learn about public interest policy advocacy. “The strength of Colorado Law's telecommunications policy program made it an ideal site for a clinical program,” said Pam Samuelson, founder and namesake of the clinic. “Students, under the guidance of a clinical professor, engage with cutting edge issues of the day and make a contribution to policy on behalf of people and organizations that would otherwise be unable to participate in the policymaking process.”

Up to this point, Professor Brad Bernthal had directed the work of the clinic. “It has been a privilege to lead the clinic from its startup stage to where it is today,” said Bernthal. “Hiring Blake Reid as a clinician will help the clinic climb to another level in training students familiar with administrative processes and, moreover, generate impact that serves the public interest.”

“I have admired Blake's intellect, tenacity, and ethically centered approach to advocacy for many years, and I am looking forward to watching him use those skills to train future policymakers,” Professor Paul Ohm said.

“We are so pleased that Blake Reid, one of the star graduates of the clinic program, will be returning to take over for Brad Bernthal and to lead the clinic to new achievements,” Samuelson added.