Clinics and Experiential Learning
The Law School, a pioneer in clinical legal education, is home to an array of highly-regarded transactional and litigation-based legal clinics that ensure the growth of community service and that ensure practical education for students of the Law School. These clinical programs are located in the Law School's Arthur O. Kane Center for Clinical Legal Education, and together, they offer Chicago second- and third-year students opportunities to learn litigation, legislative advocacy and transactional skills through classroom instruction, simulation and representation of clients under the close supervision of the clinical teachers.
In addition to working in the clinics, UChicago students also learn by meeting in groups to explore particular areas of the law, attending faculty Works-in-Progress lunches, meeting with faculty, organizing symposia, and attending one of the many talks that take place at the Law School. Recent speakers have included President Barack Obama, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, and FBI Director James Comey. Students are also encouraged to attend lectures, workshops, and symposia at other divisions of the University of Chicago.
Students seeking to help advance legal scholarship work as research assistants to premier legal scholars on the UChicago faculty, either during the school year or over the summer. Such work provides a strong credential when seeking clerkships and academic positions.
About one-third of the upperclass students produce publications that feature articles by the world's leading legal minds. The University of Chicago Law Review publishes articles quarterly on every conceivable legal subject. The University of Chicago Legal Forum concentrates each year on a single topic around which it organizes a scholarly symposium. The Chicago Journal of International Law brings a new perspective to international and comparative law.
The Moot Court competition is open to all second- and third-year students who want to hone their appellate advocacy skills. Both students and faculty avidly follow the competition. In the first round, participants argue a case before panels of local attorneys. In the second round, 10 students brief and argue a different case before a faculty panel. The four finalists work in teams to brief and argue yet another case before a panel that includes distinguished sitting federal appellate and Supreme Court judges.