Veterans Law Clinic

6-8 units

Open to 2L and 3L J.D. students. The Veterans Law Clinic assists veterans who cannot otherwise afford the services of an attorney in requesting upgrades of veterans’ discharge characterization, requesting correction of veterans’ military records, petitioning for a favorable character of discharge determination with the Department of Veterans Affairs, filing claims for federal veteran benefits, and appealing denial of such claims. Representation may include written and oral advocacy before discharge review boards, boards for correction of military records, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Students can expect to conduct legal research, analyze administrative regulations, interview clients and witnesses, collect evidence, build a client's case file, engage in oral and written advocacy, and draft pleadings. There are no prerequisites or corequisites. In addition to individual supervision meetings, students must attend a weekly seminar, There will be a clinic orientation the weekend prior to the start of classes (to be announced). [Note: Students are prohibited from taking more than one clinic/externship/supervised practicum in the same semester. Students who are not in good standing (for either academic or disciplinary reasons) are not eligible to participate in a clinic/externship.] Students will earn 6 credits for the clinic, although a student may earn up to 8 credits with permission of the professor depending on workload. For 6 credits, students must work a minimum of 255 hours over the course of the semester. The course is graded on a modified pass/fail basis: HP (3.90), P, LP (3.00) and F (2.50). To participate in this clinic, you must either have completed or be currently enrolled in courses containing at least 5 cumulative hours of education on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism (BCCCR content). This clinic includes 2 hours of BCCCR content, so in total, you will need 3 hours from your other courses to meet the requirement. Courses that include BCCCR content are tagged in Workday to help you track your progress.