Practice. Reflect. Grow.

Building on five decades of clinical education, WashULaw’s Clinical Education Program is considered among the best in the country. It is continuously innovating to meet both the professional practice needs of today’s students and the community’s needs for legal services. Launched in 1973, the program now offers 19 distinct professional practice opportunities across the country and internationally.

 

Click here to view the 2023 Clinic Newsletter

Clinical Education Program At A Glance

50

Years of clinical education leadership

19

clinics and externships

100,000

Hours of free legal assistance each year

New

Pop-up Estate Planning Clinic

90%

Percentage of students that take a clinic or externship

48.3%

Percentage of students participating in two or more clinics or externships

Law Clinics

Students enrolled in law clinics develop important professional skills as members of professional legal teams. Under the direction of clinical program faculty, clinic students provide legal advice and litigation or transactional assistance to clients on a wide range of legal matters from individual disputes or transactions, to complex litigation and policy advocacy, to creating property rights in intellectual property, to advising the development of new legal entities and organizational policies. Washington University students from disciplines such as social work, engineering, environmental studies, and medicine also enroll in some of the clinics.

Law Externships

Externships place students in the community as members of law offices and non-profit organizations throughout the state, the country, and the world. Under the guidance of a field placement site supervisor and WashULaw faculty, students gain first-hand experience assisting lawyers and judges in a range of practice areas.

Clinical Experience Guarantee

Washington University School of Law guarantees every interested JD student at least one law clinic or externship experience during their second or third year of law school.

Summer Clinical Opportunities

During the summer, WashULaw offers a variety of intensive local, national, and international externships through the Lawyering Practice Externship.