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A Cornerstone of the Curriculum

The heart of the UC Irvine Law experiential learning program is the 6-unit core clinical course required of every student. Students may choose one of the different core clinics in which they act as the primary legal representative for their clients.

Core clinics are taught by one or more members of our full-time faculty, all of whom have come to UC Irvine Law after teaching in top-tier clinical programs around the country. The clinical faculty collaborate to ensure that the program offers a vibrant and diverse set of learning opportunities that will train our students to practice law in a wide array of subject matter and work environments.

In addition to a guaranteed placement in one of UC Irvine Law’s 10 core clinics, second- and third-year students have the opportunity to enroll in an elective clinic. Second- and third-year students may also enroll in their core clinic for additional semesters.

Students in our core clinics work to solve problems facing individual clients and problems that affect a larger community, whether within a neighborhood, city, state, country or the world. Although the types of legal issues vary, the essential features of every core clinic at  UC Irvine Law include:

• Students are the primary legal representatives for their clients;
• Students engage in work on complex matters encompassing a wide range of advocacy methods, including litigation, transactional facilitation, policy advocacy and community education;
• Students confront professional and ethical challenges in the course of their practice and learn how to exercise judgment;
• Students work closely with clinic partners to protect and advance client and community interests; and
• Students provide pro bono legal services to clients who otherwise would not receive them.

For students whose career ambitions will be better served by completing the core clinic requirement in an alternative field placement, we offer opportunities to work under the supervision of an attorney with an outside non-profit or governmental organization such as a district attorney’s office or the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Students in these alternative field placements, like students in our faculty-supervised core clinics, act as the primary legal representative of the organization or its clients. These students must also attend a weekly class taught by a full-time faculty member, in which students discuss professional, ethical and substantive legal issues that arise in their placement.

 Our current clinical offerings are described on the following pages. We anticipate that the number and types of clinical courses will continue to increase as  UC Irvine Law continues to grow.

Learn more about UC Irvine Law Experiential Education in our 2024 Newsletter >

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