Karen Tokarz, the Charles Nagel Professor of Public Interest Law & Policy at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, received the William Pincus Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) during the AALS conference on clinical legal education May 3. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to clinical legal education.
Tokarz is the co-founder and president of the St. Louis Mediation Project, a free program helping tenants, homeowners, landlords and lenders solve housing disputes in and outside of court.
An integral part of the law school Civil Rights, Community Justice & Mediation Clinic, the project has provided free mediation in St. Louis housing courts for almost 15 years. In 2022 and 2023, clinic students and lawyer mediators assisted 2,500 households with community and housing court mediation. The mediations are free, impartial, confidential and voluntary.
The project received a $1.4 million grant in 2021 from the Missouri Housing Development Commission to provide eviction court mediations and expand pre-filing eviction mediations in the community.
