Legal Clinic - Immigration Litigation Clinic

The Immigration Litigation Clinic, offered in partnership with Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), is a year-long clinic (fall and spring semesters) that allows students to gain translatable skills and valuable perspectives on immigration law, specifically the deportation process and federal habeas corpus litigation. Through the Clinic, students provide direct representation to individual clients by litigating asylum cases before the Arlington immigration court and on appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Fourth Circuit, while also gaining experience in complex federal litigation focused primarily on habeas corpus petitions for immigrants challenging their detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Students acquire concrete litigation skills (trial skills in immigration court, discovery and motions practice in federal district court, and appellate practice) that will be valuable to a wide range of future employers, from private firms with federal litigation practices to civil rights and legal services firms.  Each Clinic student will have the opportunity to handle individual clients’ asylum matters as well as be part of a team working on high impact litigation cases.

Students participating in the Clinic earn four letter-graded credits each semester (for eight credits total).  Two credits each semester are in-class credits, and two credits are out-of-class. The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first year of law school (2L, 3L, 4E students).  There are no course prerequisites (the immigration law necessary for clinic matters will be taught during the classroom component of the course).