Clinical Programs
At the UNC School of Law, clinical legal educational provides students the opportunity to learn legal theory and legal practice while providing much needed legal assistance to under-represented individuals and organizations. Students represent clients with a wide range of legal problems and handle litigation, transactional, and policy matters from beginning to end. The clinical offerings are sufficiently broad to allow students to work in a variety of legal areas and enhance a number of skills: civil rights, consumer, criminal defense, community development, domestic violence, housing, human rights, family, immigration, and policy work with legislators and NGOs [more about clinical programs...].
Recent Research & Reports
*UNC Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic Releases New Study That Finds Dramatic Problems with the 287(g) Immigration Program.
A federal law granting local police and sheriffs the power to act as immigration officials when faced with dangerous criminals or terrorists has instead created a climate of racial profiling and community insecurity, according to researchers at the UNC School of Law. A team of law students, led by Deborah Weissman, Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Programs at UNC School of Law, and Katherine Parker and Rebecca Headen, lawyers with the ACLU in North Carolina Legal Foundation, released a report on the 287(g) Program in North Carolina titled, "The Policies and Politics of Local Immigration Enforcement Law". The report found that the agencies most closely reviewed have failed to comply with contracts governing the program, and proposes solutions, including greater transparency and a functional system for complaints or appeals. To review this report, please click on the corresponding links below:
To find out how we get our cases, please select a clinic above.
For more information about the School of Law's clinical programs, contact Deborah Weissman, professor of law and director of clinical programs.
Registration For Externship and Clincal Programs for the 2009-2010 academic year has ended.
Testimonial for Civil Legal Assistance Clinic
"I cannot imagine practicing law without having participated in the UNC Civil Legal Assistance Clinic. The civil clinic gave me an opportunity to work on a case from beginning to end, from interviewing the client to developing a theory of the case to strategizing to drafting a complaint to representing a client before a judge in district court. Not only did I learn more about substantive immigration law, family law, and landlord-tenant law, but I also learned countless practical tips about lawyering that traditional law school classes do not address. Most important, the clinic was an empowering experience, as I was able to help real people with real legal needs."
- Katherine M. Lewis, Carolina Law Student