Law Clinics: Making a Difference from the Outset

For over 30 years our clinical programs, in which students provide direct representation to clients under the supervision of experienced, full-time faculty, have been recognized as among the best in the country. Changing over time in response to student interest and faculty predilection, our eleven clinics currently include criminal and civil litigation, appellate, transactional, and mediation opportunities in such areas as child welfare, housing, domestic violence, environmental protection, poverty law, tax law, and more.  Indeed, in the General Clinic alone, students appear in courts and administrative agencies at the state and federal level, handling asylum and immigration cases; civil rights, employment discrimination, and prisoner rights litigation; clemency and post-convection petitions; and landlord-tenant, consumer, and public benefits disputes.

Even our clinical programs benefit from the Law School's interdisciplinary emphasis.  The Child Advocacy Law Clinic incorporates the work of psychologists and social worker; the Environmental Law Clinic coordinates its classes with the School of Natural Resources and Environment; business organizational theories enhance the work of the Urban Communities Clinic and the International Transactions Clinic; and the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic is the first law school-connected clinic of its kind in the nation where clinical law students partner with local health care centers to assist low-income families through legal advocacy and reform.

Our program is virtually unparalleled among top schools in allowing second-year students to appear in court, enabling the truly dedicated future litigator to acquire up to two full years of expertise in client counseling, negotiation and mediation, legal writing, and trial preparation and advocacy prior to graduation. Clinic students enhance their value to employers, their practical knowledge of the law, and their ability to have an impact on society.