Tuesday December 04, 2007

Readers of this blog know that I consider clinics to provide a stupendous opportunity for law students to hone their practice skills while also serving those in need. So you can imagine how pleased I am to be able to announce two expansions to our clinical program.

First, starting in January, we at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law will begin offering an Environmental Law Clinic. But this is a clinic with a real difference. While most environmental clinics at law schools focus on citizen suits, our students will be receiving a distinct set of experiences. The professor for the clinic, Prof. Lynn Dodge, has been named by the US Attorney’s Office as a Special Assistant US Attorney. The students will handle environmental enforcement matters referred from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or the U.S. Coast Guard. The matters are brought in Federal District Court under such federal environmental statutes as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Under this relationship with the U.S. Attorney's office, the students will gain an in-depth understanding of how to litigate complex environmental statutes while obtaining insight into the workings of the Justice Department and various federal agencies. This should provide a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about environmental law while enforcing some of the major environmental statutory frameworks such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and others.

Second, we recently announced a significant expansion in our veterans clinical program. Students in this clinic represent veterans seeking disability benefits as well as handling other legal issues related to veterans. The response from both veterans and students has been truly overwhelming. In addition, we just secured a $200,000 grant from the State of Michigan which will enable us to establish the clinical program as a freestanding Veterans Clinic. This money will also provide the resources for our students to travel around the state in our Mobile Law Office assisting veterans throughout Michigan. The issues that some of these veterans are dealing with are truly heart-rending.

With these recent announcements, we now offer students at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law seven different clinics. In fact, we just heard that a student in our Immigration Clinic has been invited to argue a case before the Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals. A different student argued before the Sixth Circuit about six months ago, so we are certainly on a roll in this respect. If you want additional information about our clinical programs, be sure to contact us (313-596-0264) or visit http://www.law.udmercy.edu/academics/clinics.php.