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 seven clinics in regular rotation:
-
Immigration Clinic Students in the Immigration Clinic engage with immigrant communities through direct client representation and policy advocacy for vulnerable populations that are otherwise unable to obtain legal representation. Students may represent clients in administrative proceedings, Immigration Court, and federal and state courts. Some students may work in appellate and amici capacities, while others may engage in regulatory and legislative reform efforts. The clinic is purposefully diverse, exposing students to the broad reach of immigration law into a vast array of legal systems and social institutions. Immigration law presents unparalleled complexities and rich client interactions. In problem solving with their clients, students are challenged to integrate demanding legal analysis with sophisticated community advocacy.
Credits: 6. Graded. -
Mediation Clinic Students in the Mediation Clinic receive intensive mediation training and then mediate real legal disputes. This clinical experience will introduce you to the process of mediation, the neutral facilitation of negotiation between disputing or transacting parties. You will study theories of conflict, mediation, and negotiation, learn the skills used in the mediation process, from the perspective of mediators, parties, and their representatives, and also learn about legal regimes that regulate mediation and mediators. You will be mediating family disputes at Clark County’s Family Division and small claims cases at the Neighborhood Justice Center. In these real-world settings you will hone your skills as a mediator and have opportunities to reflect on the experience and receive feedback. The theory part of this course includes seminar readings, short exercises, role-plays, and simulations. You will be evaluated on your proficiency as a mediator during live mediations and in a video-taped mediation simulation as well as weekly writing assignments. In addition, you and your colleagues in the Clinic will work on a variety of community-based projects in partnership with institutional mediation providers in Las Vegas and around the state. Students earn six credits for this course and, after completing a 40-hour, mandatory pre-semester mediation training, are expected to commit an average of 15 hours per week on seminar and Clinic-related activity. Students in the Mediation Clinic will be certified to practice law in Nevada under limited practice Rule 49.5. There is no final exam.
Credits: 6. Graded.For members of the Public: Click here.
-
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. Student attorneys will take the lead in client interviewing and counseling, fact investigation, case theory development, pretrial motion practice, discovery planning, oral advocacy, negotiation, trial, and sentencing. Clinic students may also engage in one criminal justice project that complements their litigation casework, such as policy papers, legislative and rule-making advocacy, strategic litigation, or community engagement.
Credits: 6. Graded. -
Public Policy Clinic The Public Policy Clinic works with nonprofits and other clients to help advance their public policy objectives. Through client representation, a classroom curriculum focused on policy analysis, and personal supervision from faculty, students in this clinic become lawyers who promote social justice as problem solvers, creative researchers, and strategic planners who can employ an expansive range of lawyering strategies beyond litigation.
Students selected for the Policy Clinic will learn about state and federal regulatory processes. Although the projects will vary each semester, students may draft comment letters on proposed rules and regulations, research and draft amicus briefs, or pursue other research projects to assist clients with their objectives. Clinic seminars will focus on substantive law, policy analysis tools, lawyering issues, and will generally involve discussion of assigned reading or in class exercises to highlight particular issues. Admission to the Public Policy Clinic is by application only.
Credits: 6. Graded.