According to the report, the UNM School of Law has a high law school ranking in clinical training as it offers programs for law students such as the Business and Tax Clinic, the Community Lawyering Clinics and the Southwest Indian Law Clinic.
“We are extremely proud of our clinical programs at the law school. Our law school was among the first in the nation to have a clinical law program and one of the few that makes it mandatory for all students,” said April Land, associate dean for clinical affairs at the law school.
The national recognition is even more meaningful now that almost every law school offers some type of clinical course or program, she said.
U.S. News ranks professional school programs in business, education, engineering, law and medicine every year, according to their website.
“Clinical Law students have the privilege of serving clients and our community. Students get the opportunity to experience the challenges and joys of practicing law while still in law school, under the close supervision of experienced law faculty,” Land said.
One of the law school’s many unique features is that all of the courses in the clinical programs are regularly taught by full time-tenure or tenure track faculty who also teach in “more traditional law classes,” she said.
“This not only brings great teachers to our programs, but also brings the reality of the practice of law throughout our curriculum,” Land said.
Law school offers four different sections of the clinical program, according to the officials. The business and tax section focuses on helping aspiring entrepreneurs and low income taxpayers with their legal issues. The Community lawyering section responds to the on the unmet legal needs of children and families in poverty. Southwest Indian law helps solve legal issues for individual clients and/or tribal groups or Indian communities. Law practice is an experiential learning rotation typical of a general law practice, where students represent clients in a variety of both civil and criminal cases.
The program is designed to be flexible and responsive to community and student needs as well as faculty expertise, she said.
“We are excited to be welcoming new faculty currently focusing on helping improve the lives of New Mexico’s children and families at risk and in need,” she said. “They are also addressing income disparity in our communities, and helping to provide a greater focus and point of real connectivity and service to the greater mission of the law school and the University through our collaborative and cross-program work and initiatives.”
The law school looks forward to continuing to combine the great strengths of the clinical program with the strengths and priorities of the core law school curriculum and teaching, Land said.
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Victor Sanchez, a third year law school student, participated in the Community Lawyering Clinic in fall 2014. It taught him about lawyering, he said.
“It’s not a neat and cut-and-dried process. You have to get in there and unravel it so you can be the best advocate you can be for the client. It makes you a well-rounded lawyer,” he said.
The law school’s commitment to fostering practice-ready graduates who can positively contribute to the community remains a focus, Land said.
“This work directly supports thousands of clients with their familial, individual, community, business and entrepreneurial needs, to name just a few, across our local community and our state,” she said.
Sayyed Shah is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at assistant-news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @mianfawadshah
