Clinics Share Year-End Highlights

During the past year, students in clinics at the University of Virginia School of Law won asylum for a transgender immigrant, negotiated reduced charges for juveniles and helped localities reform their government operations, among other accomplishments.

Virginia’s 24 legal clinics, many of which involve working directly with clients, offer students experience in handling real-world problems. Seven of the clinics are run in partnership with the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center.

The following is a sampling of some of this year’s successes and advocacy on behalf of clients:

Whitney Carter

Clinic student Whitney Carter ’23 received the Clinical Legal Education Association’s Outstanding Clinical Student Award, which recognizes one such student at each U.S. law school.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit sided with an Appellate Litigation Clinic client by ruling that he was entitled to full District Court review of his objections to the magistrate’s recommendation in a habeas case.

Among other projects, Civil Rights Clinic students successfully filed for six clients to have their criminal records expunged, giving them better access to housing and employment.

Student teams in the Community Solutions Clinic identified root causes and potential avenues for a parents group to address the school bus driver shortage in Charlottesville, and they researched the need for training and certification programs to increase the local availability of American Sign Language interpreters.

The Decarceration and Community Reentry Clinic garnered international media attention after New Orleans client Patrick Brown, represented by clinic director and professor Kelly Orians, was released when his conviction for rape was vacated after he served 26 years in prison. The clinic also co-hosted an expungement clinic to help exonerated Virginians clear their records.

Patrick Brown emerged from the front doors of Court, dressed for the first time in 3 decades not in an orange jumpsuit, but in a starched pair of blue jeans. “This is it,” he said, clutching a one-page court order. “This is the freedom paper I have been waiting for all my life.” https://t.co/seylLYqBDY

— Kelly Orians (@yoyokellyo) May 9, 2023

The Economic and Consumer Justice Clinic helped nearly two dozen clients in a number of debt collection and consumer matters. Through the students’ work, clients had about $28,000 in debt canceled and recovered an additional $13,000.

Among other projects, the Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic partnered with Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action to defend Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and to support Our Children’s Trust in a state constitutional lawsuit.

Students in the Health and Disability Law Clinic represented clients in Medicaid eligibility and service denials, while also working on administrative policy to improve the implementation of Medicaid in Virginia.

The Holistic Youth Defense Clinic successfully negotiated reduced or dismissed charges for several youth clients. Clinic students also negotiated to keep kids out of the criminal legal system, including diversions to a restorative justice program, and they negotiated to keep court-involved clients at home and in the community.

Housing Litigation Clinic students preserved housing for dozens of low-income residents in Central Virginia, including by preserving a housing voucher that had been terminated and negotiating several settlement agreements just days before trial.

After years of preparation, the Immigration Law Clinic won an asylum case in immigration court for a transgender Central American woman. The trial started with a successful motion to refer to the client by her chosen name and pronouns, and ended with an order granting asylum in the client’s chosen name. The clinic team consisted of instructors Alina Kilpatrick and Ivan Yacub, and Sabrina Mato ’24 and Kathleen Sands ’23.

Students in the State and Local Government Policy Clinic have assisted local governments statewide, including by proposing a reorganization of Charlottesville’s boards and commissions, supporting Richmond’s City Charter Review Commission, contributing to the reform of election systems in Virginia Beach and preparing legal memos for Arlington County evaluating recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Workplace Rights Clinic student Sujata Bajracharya ’23 represented a former bus driver who had his final paycheck withheld by a local school district over a dispute involving a bonus he had earned. She sent a demand letter to the school district after doing her research, and the employee obtained his paycheck.

Students in the Youth Advocacy Clinic worked on behalf of children and their families in the context of special education rights, discrimination in education and school discipline. In one case, the students filed suit and secured a favorable settlement providing two years of tuition for a costly private school.

More Clinic News

• 4.13.23 Clinic Helps Pass Mental Health Reforms in Virginia
• 3.28.23 Professor, Student Author New Paper Calling for Cabinet-Level Attention to Rural Inequities
• 3.21.23 Decarceration Clinic’s Busy Year Rebuilding Lives
• 3.15.23 Checking In on Clinics
• 2.14.23 Clinic Joins Health Care Consortium
• 11.17.22 Postcard From Peru: Clinic Students Witness Tense Dialogue at OAS General Assembly
• 10.26.22 Clinic To Argue Habeas Case at Supreme Court on Tuesday
• 10.25.22 Clinic Joins FOIA Effort
• 9.21.22 ‘Serial’ Subject Adnan Syed, Who Was Aided by Innocence Project at UVA Law, Released From Prison
• 9.13.22 Clinic Wins Decision in Novel Workplace Discrimination Case