The fifth annual "Rebellious Lawyering" Conference will be held Friday-Sunday, Feb. 19-21 at the Law School, 127 Wall St. The conference will bring together practitioners, law students, community activists/ advocates, and professors from around the country to discuss innovative ways to fight for progressive social change.

Panels will explore topics ranging from "Rebellious Lawyering in Rural Communities" to "Trying Times in Criminal Defense" to "Using the Internet for Advocacy Presentation." Each panel brings together speakers with different areas of expertise to explore subjects such as nontraditional methods of legal representation, alternative approaches to impact litigation, and the challenges of advocacy for traditionally underrepresented groups and individuals.

"This year's speakers include a federal district court judge, the director of a workfare rights organization, and a youth advocate working to reform the foster care system," says Law School student Tal Klement, who is the conference organizer. "We're especially excited that, for the first time in the history of the conference, several international speakers will be joining us."

The keynote address will be given by Sister Helen Jean Prejean, C.S.J., on Saturday at 6 p.m. Prejean is the author of "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States," which was made into an award-winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Prejean began ministering to death row inmates in the early 1980s and devotes her energies to educating the public about the death penalty. She served as a member of the board of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty 1985-95 and chaired the board 1993-95.

The registration fee for the conference is $10; the fee may be waived in some cases. Housing is available for student attendees.

This year's conference is sponsored by the following associations: Black Law Students; Disabled Law Students; Latino Law Students; Pacific Islander, Asian, and Native American Law Students; South Asian Law Students; the Orville H. Schell Jr. Center for International Human Rights, the Yale Environmental Law Association, the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, the Yale Law School Career Development Office, the Yale Law and Technology Society, and Yale Law Women.

Pre-registration is recommended. Online registration is available at the conference website: www.law.yale.edu/reb-law. For further information about the panels and sessions, call Klement at 432-4858. For information about registration and housing, e-mail amanda.moore@yale.edu.