SHOP PROYECTO ACCESO REGIONAL OFFICES

If you would like more information, contact us at: [email protected]

Assistant Dean, Mission Development
California Western School of Law
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101-3090
T:(619) 525-1430
F:(619) 696-9981
Email:[email protected]

JAMES COOPER

Assistant Dean James Cooper emphasizes a point during ACCESO training in Chile.

Mr. Cooper is a legal designer with two degrees from the University of Toronto and a Master of Law from Cambridge University, U.K. A commentator and journalist, he has appeared on ABC News, Fox TV, Newsworld, and Univision and his work has been published in Marie Claire, O Globo, the Globe and Mail, the National Law Journal, and Behavioral Sciences and the Law. He is Assistant Dean, Mission Development at California Western School of Law in San Diego where he has taught International Trade Law, the Law of Armed Conflict and Peacekeeping, Globalization Law and Cross-Cultural Negotiation. He is a Canadian Barrister, a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and the San Diego County Bar Association. He is co-founder and director of Proyecto ACCESO.

California Western Law Students

Alor Calderon

What does Proyecto ACCESO mean to me?
For me Proyecto ACCESO is the culmination of the practical and theoretical goals I expected out of law school and I still wish to accomplish in law practice. Proyecto ACCESO supports the systematic creation and implementation of laws that strengthen the rule of law in the United States and abroad. Proyecto ACCESO also specializes in identifying the judicial skills required to practice the law successfully and to keep up with the changes and improvements in the law. Proyecto ACCESO accomplishes these twin goals by building curricula that teach the judicial skills that a lawyer of the twenty-first century requires to build a successful practice in a globalized world. I realize now, thanks to people like James Cooper, Lilia Velásquez, Michael Mandig, and Lydia Tiede, some of the leaders of the ACCESO team, that a lawyer today needs to be trained in oral and media advocacy to be an effective advocate for his or her clients. The ACCESO curriculum includes a course in all of these subjects. Moreover, I am very proud that these courses are taught all over the Americas, Chile, Costa Rica, to members of the judicial sector in those countries. In short, I am very proud and fortunate to work with a group people who are fighting to make the Americas a rule-of-law stronghold.

Chad E. Grunander

Proyecto ACCESO is at the forefront of judicial reform in Latin America. Working for ACCESO, as a student associate is an experience I'll never forget. Earlier this year I was privileged to travel to Costa Rica and help with ACCESO's signature Oral Advocacy Workshop. While there, I helped our distinguished team of instructors train the participants in advanced oral advocacy skills. The participants came from over fifteen countries. The skills they learned are helping to advance the cause of justice throughout Latin America.

Proyecto ACCESO has not only offered me an up-close view into judicial reform in Latin America, but also a platform from which to help. Helping the people of Latin America achieve greater access to justice is an opportunity I would never have dreamed of having while attending law school.

Angelica Rivera

Working for Proyecto ACCESO at California Western School of Law has enriched my law school experience. Proyecto ACCESO has given me the opportunity to learn about the judicial systems of Latin America while at the same time increasing my appreciation for the American system of law. As a Guatemalan immigrant who recently became a U.S. citizen, I am lucky to be receiving a dual education: one provided by the courses I take at Cal Western whereby I focus on U.S. law and the daily experience of learning about the different judicial systems of Latin America that comes from working for Proyecto ACCESO. Being a part of Proyecto ACCESO is not only exciting, but it continues to be a very rewarding experience.