Clinical Legal Education

Clinical legal education is a method of teaching in which students learn substantive law and practice in the context of real or simulated problems or cases. The purpose of live client clinics like the Immigration, Mediation, and Poverty Law and Policy Clinics is to enable students to develop the skills necessary to become legal professionals of the highest order: critical thinking, a commitment to excellent practice and service, an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of legal systems and professional rules, and a balance between confidence and humility. Visit our Clinical Legal Education page for more information.

Our Clinics

In the Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic, law students gain practical legal experience representing clients. By design, the Clinic functions as a laboratory for justice. Through training, advocacy, scholarship, and community partnerships, we strive to serve the community and improve the law and law practice.

In the clinic, law students take the lead in handling all aspects of client representation.  These responsibilities include developing and maintaining the attorney-client relationship, strategic planning, fact investigation, legal research, drafting and filing documents, and appearing in court.

The Clinic offers several clinics in regular rotation:

Economic Justice and Small Business Clinic

The Economic Justice and Small Business Clinic (EJSBC) provides free transactional (non-litigation) services to small business owners and under-resourced community organizations.

Survivor Representation and Advocacy Clinic

Students will engage in extensive direct representation of clients in civil protection order hearings, and possibly other civil and post-conviction matters .

Poverty Law & Policy Clinic

The Poverty Law & Policy Clinic helps public and private decision-makers contribute to mitigating legal and human rights problems for people who are impoverished.

Immigration Clinic

The UNLV Immigration Clinic marries the Boyd School of Law's commitment to community service with our students' desire to learn by doing.

Mediation Clinic

Students in the Mediation Clinic receive intensive mediation training and then mediate real legal disputes.

Misdemeanor Clinic

With the guidance and supervision of Misdemeanor Clinic professors, students will “first chair” criminal cases from the initial charging through sentencing, in the Justice and/or Municipal Courts of Clark County.
Together with recent UNLV Law graduate Mayra Salinas-Menjivar (left) and attorney Laura Barrera (right), Immigration Clinic Director Michael Kagan oversees the more than 100 cases currently on the clinic’s docket.

Clinic Faculty

Learn more about clinic faculty

- Clinic Faculty