CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION FAST FACTS
Clinical Legal Education
Clinics that Teach Substantive Skills
Vanderbilt’s clinics enable students to gain realworld legal experience under the expert guidance of members of the law faculty. Working under close supervision, students in Vanderbilt’s clinics represent clients in state and federal courts, administrative proceedings, transactions and other matters. They also complete substantive legal research in support of government agencies, international institutions and international tribunals. Students in Vanderbilt’s clinics have won cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and in federal district courts, obtained post-conviction relief on behalf of clients convicted of murder and other crimes, obtained relief for clients facing deportation, prosecuted trademark applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, assisted in major international human rights prosecutions and defenses, helped parents obtain educational accommodations, and appeared in every level of state, federal and administrative tribunal in the state of Tennessee.
Build Substantive Experience Clinics rank among the school’s most popular courses because students learn to apply the knowledge of the law they gain in other courses to actual legal cases. Individual clinics afford an opportunity to delve into a particular area of law, and students in all clinics learn lawyering skills they can then apply to all aspects of legal practice. They also gain an in-depth understanding of the legal system and its participants. Equally valuable, students gain a working understanding of their role as lawyers and the expectations, professional responsibilities and challenges presented by that role. Gain Practical Lawyering Skills Students in Vanderbilt’s clinics advance their skills in interviewing and counseling, factual development, legal research, negotiation, advocacy, and the development of legal documents ranging from pleadings and amicus briefs to treaties. Students can choose clinical courses from an array of practice areas that include litigation and trial advocacy, business and transactional law, civil actions, protection of intellectual property rights, immigration law, housing law, youth law and international legal practice.
“Clinics bridge the gap between the actual practice of law and the doctrine and theory students study in other classes. They’re integral to the learning experience, and both are essential.” SUSAN KAY ’79
| Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs
Dean Kay teaches Vanderbilt’s Criminal Practice Clinic. She recently served on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Indigent Representation Task Force—a hot and complex issue in Tennessee, where, Kay said, “There is concern from all quarters that indigent defendants are not always provided with competent and appropriately compensated counsel.”
Vanderbilt’s eight clinics allow students to learn the theory and practice of law in context. Clinic students assume the role of lawyer and work with actual clients and on real cases under the supervision of clinical law faculty. n
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Students in the Criminal Practice Clinic represent adults charged with criminal offenses and children and youth charged with criminal offenses and delinquency. Students in the Housing Law Clinic represent lowincome tenants in a variety of matters that directly impact their housing, including defending clients in eviction and foreclosure actions, representing them in Fair Housing claims, working with local housing authorities to protect clients’ federally subsidized housing benefits, and negotiating settlements with private landlords. Students also work with governmental and nonprofit agencies to create educational materials for tenants and homeowners and to effect state-level policy changes to protect this vulnerable population. Through the Immigration Practice Clinic, students provide direct representation to vulnerable low-income migrants from countries around the globe, dealing with humanitarian immigration issues such as unaccompanied minor children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected, or individuals seeking refugee status.
CLINICAL FACULTY SUSAN L. KAY, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs (J.D. Vanderbilt), teaches the Criminal Practice Clinic as well as courses on criminal law and evidence. She also supervises the Trial Advocacy courses and student externships. Within the clinic, she has conducted major public law litigation concerning jail overcrowding, inmates’ rights and juvenile justice. She is a past president of the Clinical Legal Education Association.
MICHAEL BRESSMAN, Professor of the Practice of Law (J.D. Harvard), teaches the Intellectual Property and the Arts Clinic and directs Vanderbilt’s Clerkship Program. He has extensive experience in private practice, where he focused on intellectual property, internet and technology law.
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Students in the Intellectual Property and the Arts Clinic represent individuals, businesses and organizations in matters involving trademark law, copyright law, cyberlaw, trade secrets and publicity rights. Students have represented clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in federal courts. Students in the International Law Practice Lab draft treaties, legal and policy briefs, and legal guidelines for international courts. They also develop legal and policy positions for governments and NGOs addressing human rights, criminal justice and other transnational issues. The Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic introduces students to civil litigation through cases implicating First Amendment rights of individuals and organizations that would otherwise be unable to afford counsel. Students gain experience on civil litigation at the state and federal levels. The Turner Family Community Enterprise Clinic allows students to represent small businesses, startups and nonprofit organizations in a wide range of transaction matters, including entity formation, governance, tax organization, contracts employment, intellectual property and risk management.
G.S. HANS, Associate Clinical Professor of Law (J.D. Michigan), teaches the Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic. His work and scholarship examine how individuals and organizations grapple with the complex legal and policy issues involved with technology and civil liberties.
KARLA MCKANDERS, Clinical Professor of Law (J.D. Duke), teaches the Immigration Practice Clinic and refugee and immigration law. Her scholarship focuses on immigration federalism and international systems for processing refugees.
SPRING MILLER, Assistant Dean for Public Interest (J.D. Harvard), was an attorney with Southern Migrant Legal Services, where she began her legal career as a Skadden Fellow. Dean Miller supervises the Externship Program and also helps students identify and pursue public interest career and pro bono opportunities.
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Students in the Youth Opportunity Clinic represent youth and young adults at risk for criminal legal involvement and help them secure housing and employment and stay in school. Students represent clients in school disciplinary hearings, housing evictions and record expungement.
“Students in our Criminal Practice Clinic are closely supervised, and I believe our clients—even those facing serious charges—get equal or better representation from us than they would elsewhere given the significant amount of work our students do.” JOSHUA STANTON
| Criminal Practice Clinic Fellow
Stanton is working with Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Sue Kay to teach the Criminal Practice Clinic. His teaching fellowship at Vanderbilt Law offered him an opportunity to connect his passion for defending indigent clients with his interest in teaching and mentoring.
Learn more about Vanderbilt Law School’s legal clinics.
MICHAEL A. NEWTON, Professor of the Practice of Law (J.D., LL.M. University of Virginia), an expert on accountability and conduct of hostilities issues, developed and teaches the International Law Practice Lab. In addition to garnering substantive projects for Practice Lab students, Professor Newton helps students find international externship placements to further their career goals.
JENNIFER PRUSAK, Associate Clinical Professor of Law (J.D. Michigan), teaches the Housing Law Clinic. She has worked in private practice and in public advocacy positions with nonprofit agencies, advocating for low-income and disabled tenants in eviction proceedings and supporting initiatives aimed at preventing homelessness, and she has also taught Disability Law.
“The Community Enterprise Clinic was the most challenging and rewarding experience of my law school career. Clinical experience prepares you for actual legal practice—you feel the weight of how your analysis will impact the lives of real people.” SCOTT DAVIDSON | Founder’s Medalist, Class of 2021 Associate, Bass, Berry & Sims Scott earned the Law and Business Certificate and plans to focus on corporate law. He took the Turner Family Community Enterprise Clinic, taught by Professor Lauren Rogal, pictured here with members of a student legal team. Students in the clinic represent small businesses and nonprofit organizations in ransactional matters, such as business formation and contracts.
LAUREN ROGAL, Associate Clinical Professor of Law (LL.M. Georgetown; J.D. Michigan), teaches the Turner Family Community Enterprise Clinic, a transactional clinic through which students learn an array of lawyering skills by serving disadvantaged startup entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations. Professor Rogal practiced at Klamp & Associates, a D.C.-based firm that represents nonprofits and social enterprises, before earning her LL.M. in advocacy.
CARA SUVALL, Associate Clinical Professor of Law (J.D. Harvard), teaches the Youth Opportunity Clinic. Professor Suvall co-founded the Bronx Defenders’ Adolescent Defense Project, which provides holistic, individualized representation to clients age 14 to 17 charged in adult criminal proceedings, after having created a pilot program representing young clients in school discipline and other education matters as a Yale Public Interest Law Fellow.
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