The Clinical Law Center

Mission Statement

The primary goals of the Clinical Law Center are to (1) provide a high quality course of training for law students, allowing students to develop the skills necessary for career-long commitments to public service; (2) provide excellent civil-rights oriented legal services to underserved and indigent individuals; (3) serve as a nerve center in Howard’s social justice operations; and (4) help develop the next generation of civil rights attorneys.

The Clinical Law Center offers ten (10) live-client clinical experiences: the Criminal Justice Clinic (CJC), the Estate Planning and Heirs Property Clinic (EPHPC), the Fair Housing Clinic (FHC), the Civil Rights Clinic (CRC), the Investor Justice and Education Clinic (IJEC), the Intellectual Property Patent Clinic (IPPC), the Intellectual Property Trademark Clinic (IPTC), Movement Lawyering Clinic (MLC), Reentry Clinic (RC) and the Child Welfare Clinic (CWC).

The CLC also offers the following externship opportunities: Public Interest (for students in diverse public interest or public service placement settings); Advanced Public Interest (for students who have already participated in the externship program);  Judicial;  Summer and yearlong ADR Consortium Program;  Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC); Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Environmental Law; Corporate Counsel; Racial Equity and Strategy; Capital Habeas Corpus and the Howard Law World Bank Group ADR Program.

All Clinical Law Center Programs count toward the 6 credits of experiential coursework required of students.

Intake

During the academic school year, the Clinical Law Center Intake Office is staffed by our student attorneys. We welcome calls or walk-ins from the community and our student attorneys will try their best to assist you. Please note that the Clinical Law Center may not be able to take your case, but we will work with you to find helpful resources and referrals. 

To contact the Intake Office, please call 202-806-8082 or email at clinics.husl@gmail.com.

Faculty and Staff

ADR Program

Homer C. La Rue
Co-Director and Professor

John L. Woods Jr.
Co-Director and Supervising Attorney

CLINICS

Child Welfare Clinic

Sabine Browne
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Civil Rights Clinic

Raymond P. Tolentino
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Criminal Justice Clinic

Lucius Outlaw III
Associate Professor and Supervising Attorney

Quo Judkins
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Estate Planning and Heirs’ Property Clinic

Megan Wernke
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Molefi McIntosh
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Fair Housing Clinic

Valerie J. Schneider
Professor of Law and Supervising Attorney 
Director of the Clinical Law Center

Celina Aldape
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Movement Lawyering Clinic

Justin Hansford
​Associate Professor of Law and Supervising Attorney
Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Center for Civil Rights
(on sabbatical for 2023-2024 academic year)

Britta Redwood
Visiting Professor and Supervising Attorney

Intellectual Property Patent Clinic

Darrell Mottley
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Intellectual Property Trademark Clinic

Erik Pelton
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Nicole Gaither
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Investor Justice and Education Clinic

Bruce Sanders
Adjunct Professor and Supervising Attorney

Reentry Clinic

Josephine Ross
Professor of Law and Supervising Attorney

Externship Programs

Adrianne D. Clarke
Director of Externships and Public Interest Programming

Cheryl C. Nichols
Professor and Supervising Attorney

Bruce Sanders
Adjunct Professor, SEC Externship

Alice M. Thomas
Associate Professor and IRS Externship Coordinator

Gwen Washington
Adjunct Professor, Public Interest Externship

Adrienne Packard
Adjunct Professor, Public Interest Externship

Michael Panfil
Adjunct Professor, Environmental Law Externship

Christina Mathieson
Adjunct Professor, Capital Habeas Corpus Externship

Michele Cober
Adjunct Professor, Corporate Counsel Externship

Yiyang Wu
Adjunct Professor, Judicial Externship

Michaele Turnage Young
Adjunct Professor, Racial Equity Strategy Externship

Student Application Process

To be eligible for enrollment in any CLC program, interested students must first complete an application package, which may include a resume and a personal statement of interest. Students may apply to multiple programs. There is a global application for the following Fall and yearlong programs:  

• Child Welfare Clinic
• Criminal Justice Clinic
• Civil Rights Clinic
• Estate Planning and Heirs’ Property Clinic
• Fair Housing Clinic
• Investor Justice and Education Clinic
• Intellectual Property Patent Clinic
• Intellectual Property Trademark Clinic
• Movement Lawyering Clinic
• Reentry Clinic
• Howard Law WBG ADR Program
• ADR Consortium Externship

There is only one application process for seats in the upcoming academic year. Students must apply in the Spring for a seat in a yearlong, Fall-only and Spring-only semester programs.

For more information about the Clinic Selection process, see here. 

There is a separate application for our Externship programs. Externship applications are accepted on a rolling basis. For Public Interest and and Advanced Public Interest externships, you must secure your placement and apply to the program no later than the first Wednesday of add/drop of the semester in which you intend to complete the externship.

Student Orientation

Participation in each Fall and yearlong clinical program requires that students attend and participate in a mandatory orientation program prior to the first week of classes. Students should take into account the orientation requirement and schedule their summer break activities accordingly.

For Spring clinic programs, students must attend a mandatory orientation program upon returning from Winter break. 

Other Requirements

Students accepted into and who enroll in a clinic are expected to work three (3) hours per academic credit, per week, on average. For example, if a student is enrolled in a one semester three (3) credit course, the student will be expected to work about nine (9) hours a week. If a student is enrolled in a twelve (12) credit, yearlong course, the student is expected to work eighteen (18) hours a week. This breaks down the twelve (12) course credits for the year to six (6) credits a semester.

Students accepted into and who enroll in the Clinical Law Center may be required to obtain student bar licenses or certifications issued by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals or other government agencies. Certification or temporary student bar license applications must be completed, fully typewritten, by accepted students and submitted to the Assistant Director of the Clinical Law Center. Handwritten applications will not be processed. The CLC will then obtain the Dean’s certification and submit the applications to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals or other government agencies as applicable.

Students accepted into and who enroll in the IP Trademark Clinic and IP Patent Clinic will be required to apply separately to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for their temporary practice number. Students must complete their USPTO applications in dark ink and submit the originals to the Supervising Attorney for that program.