preLaw - Back To School 2008 - (Page 21) SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY ranks No. 40 on our list of most clinical opportunities available. Students participating in the Katherine & George Alexander Community Law Center advise clients in the areas of immigration, workers’ comp, consumer and workers rights. positions offered into the number of fulltime students. Surprisingly, or not, the top 10 law schools offering the most clinical opportunities spanned the United States — from Wisconsin to Florida and even Puerto Rico. And only one is listed in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report’s top 10 law school ranking, if you’re keeping tabs. Yale Law School took the top spot with the most clinical opportunities available per student. With 520 clinical positions offered, and a full-time student body of 576, it’s no surprise that Yale law students will most likely get to participate in more than one clinical program during their law school career. It’s a guarantee that most other law schools can’t promise. Our data shows that 90 percent of Yale law’s student body has the opportunity to participate in a clinical program. Yale far exceeded all other ABA-accredited law schools. Other schools in the Top 10 ranged between 35 and 45 percent of students with clinical opportunities available. Drake University Law School came in second with 45.7 percent. Robert Rigg, professor and clinical director at Drake University, said the culture at Drake is that they value clinics. “There is a real effort to allow students to immerse themselves in not just Hofstra Law School Clinics that Make an Impact Hofstra Law School was a pioneer in fully integrating clinical education into a law school, and by the late 1970's had one of the largest clinical programs in the nation. Over the years, the clinic has become a well-known, at times notorious, presence in the legal community. The clinic program's mission is to teach students lawyering skills and analytic methods through the provision of legal representation to clients in need. Hofstra Law School's clinics include: Asylum representing political asylum applicants in immigration proceedings Community & Economic Development providing legal assistance to nonprofit, communitybased organizations Law Reform Advocacy seeking legal reform for low-income individuals and immigrants Child Advocacy advocating for children in abuse and neglect cases Securities Arbitration representing clients before a securities arbitration panel Criminal Justice defending indigent clients charged with misdemeanor crimes Mediation mediating cases in small claims and family court Participation in a clinic is truly a unique educational opportunity. It may well be the only occasion during a student's law school career to literally “practice” law. In a clinic, students represent real people and work on actual cases. They advocate in court, counsel clients, conduct fact investigations and mediate disputes. Learn more about Hofstra Law at School of Law Hempstead, New York 11549 law.hofstra.edu Back to School 2008 21 http://law.hofstra.edu http://law.hofstra.edu
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