Pro Bono & Public Interest Law
in the Curriculum

The College of Law curriculum offers numerous opportunities for students to learn about public interest law and social justice. Many courses raise public interest and accessibility to justice issues within the context of the subject matter of the course through the use of relevant readings, classroom discussion and debate or projects. International Human Rights, Constitutional Law, Discrimination and the Law, Children and the Law, Family Law, and Women and the Law, are just some of the courses which explore legal issues that are particularly salient for under-served populations or discuss social and legal justice concerns. The Professional Responsibility course examines lawyers' responsibilities to help assure equal access to justice. Students enrolled in Administrative Law are required to comment on the public interest in an actual federal rule-making procedure. Business Associations often includes discussion of the non-profit sector, and its needs and rewards. A more complete description of course offerings, course pre-requisites and requirements are available here.

Other courses focus more exclusively on issues and problems related to public interest law and law practice. Some courses offer stuents the opportunity to provide direct services to under served groups and individuals. Some courses stress serving the public interest through government service.

Public Interest Law & Lawyering. In this class students explore the wide range of practice settings and lawyering roles for public interest lawyers and are introduced to some of the rationales for how and why lawyers might become involved in public interest law.

Advanced Environmental Law. Here students undertake concrete projects for local environmental groups under faculty supervision. In the past, students have worked on issues ranging from strip-mining in the Appalachian coal fields to chip mills in Southern forests, and disputes related to hazardous waste siting and its impact on communities of color.

Business Law Clinic. A recent addition to the College of Law clinical offerings, the Business Law Clinic requires students to assume substantial responsibility for representing clients in various business and transactional matters. Students have an opportunity to gain experience interviewing and counseling clients, negotiating with other attorneys and parties, planning, negotiating and documenting transactions and dispute resolutions, conducting factual investigations and legal audits of businesses, and monitoring and ensuring compliance with federal, state and local statutes, rules and regulations.

Community Legal Education. This course offers students a chance to work with local community groups who want to learn – and sometimes to teach – about law and the legal system. Under faculty supervision, students work with local groups to design educational materials and events that help under-served members of the community better understand their rights and responsibilities under the law. Past projects have included workshops for high school youth on peer mediation; law-related curriculum units for classes in English as a Second Language; and a presentation for senior citizens in public housing about their rights as victims of crime.

Community Development. Field projects in this course place students with local community organizations or agencies on public interest related issues. The class is organized around a different theme each year and in the past has included an examination of the implications of welfare reform, new immigration trends and their impact in East Tennessee and lawyering for social justice.

Nonprofit Corporations. This seminar examines federal and state laws that govern nonprofit corporations and offers practical clinical experience representing local corporations. Under the supervision of an experienced practioner, teams of students conduct "legal audits" of local nonprofit corporations, make presentations to administrators and directors, draft corporate documents and help clients resolve special legal problems.

UT Legal Clinic. A national leader in clinical education for more than fifty years, the clinic successfully combines teaching good lawyering skills and professional judgment with advancing the cause of justice by serving clients unable to afford legal representation. The Legal Clinic is a functioning law firm in which third-year law students represent real clients under faculty supervision. In the process, students are exposed to all facets of managing a case – interviewing, counseling, negotiation, and advocacy in court. Case subject areas include adult criminal matters, juvenile delinquency, eviction, and unemployment hearings, among others.

Other courses stress serving the public interest through government service. The Prosecutorial Externship affords a small number of third-year law students the unique opportunity to prosecute felony cases in the local county courts under the close supervision of a full-time, experienced Prosecutor as well as other professional prosecutors in the office. Students may interview witnesses and victims, attend classes about the prosecution function and participate directly in all phases of the resolution of serious criminal cases.

The College of Law also offers students the opportunity to work independently under the direct supervision of a faculty member by completing a Directed Research or engaging in an Independent Study project.