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 six clinics in regular rotation:
The Economic Justice and Small Business Clinic (EJSBC) provides free transactional (non-litigation) services to low-wealth and under-resourced entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofit corporations and other types of community-based organizations in the Las Vegas Valley. In addition, the EJSBC works with community partners to explore the connections between transactional practice and economic justice strategies that mitigate systemic economic inequities. The clinic provides both challenging client work and a rigorous classroom component to expose students to substantive legal concepts related to transactional law practice and its connections to economic justice strategies.
The EJSBC is a year-long, 12-credit, graded course. The EJSBC is an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in a year-long clinical course in alignment with the nature and pacing of the clinic’s transactional work.
The overarching goal of the Clinic is to train students to become ethical, capable, and confident practicing attorneys. The Clinic will do this by combining direct representation of survivors and those at risk of gender-based violence with intentional reflections on justice and the practice of law. We will make fast-paced progress toward achieving this goal through both clinic seminar and fieldwork.
Students will engage in extensive direct representation of clients in civil protection order hearings, and possibly other civil and post-conviction matters depending on our docket. Students may also take on a non-litigation advocacy project on behalf of a community organization depending on our docket. Representation will include interviewing clients, filing pleadings, engaging in extensive fact investigation, client counseling, safety planning, and trial preparation, negotiating with any adverse parties, taking cases to contested trials if they do not settle, and closing cases once they are concluded.
Credits: 6. Graded.
The Poverty Law & Policy Clinic (“PLPC”) introduces students to non-litigation public interest lawyering and making their specialized knowledge and skills available to community organizations (for example, in government, nonprofit organizations, and tribal and public interest firms) and how private sector lawyers contribute to the public interest (for example, through ESG, pro bono work, and board membership). PLPC students also have an opportunity to initiate think tank projects, participate in the development of clients and collaboration partners, and engage in aspects of law practice management such as contract negotiations and drafting.
The PLPC works in the interest of those Nevadans who have the greatest economic and social needs and is not limited to those who fall below federal or state poverty guidelines. We define poverty as not having what you need when you need it. Students are introduced to and work on a range of substantive issues and areas of law that intersect with poverty, for example, criminalization, disabilities, education, environment, food security and nutrition, health and mental health, income and wealth, housing insecurity, telecommunications and internet access, transportation, voting, and more.
Credits: 6. Graded.
Credits: 6. Graded.
Credits: 6. Graded.
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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.