Wayne Law recognized for practical training

Wayne State University Law School has been recognized by preLaw magazine as one of the best law schools in the nation for practical training.

PreLaw’s spring 2018 issue featured 64 schools on the list. Wayne Law was the only one in Michigan to be named. According to the publication, rankings are based on experiential learning opportunities, with data from the American Bar Association and individual law schools. Five categories were analyzed: clinics, externships, simulation courses, interschool competitions and “other.” The greatest weight was placed on clinical experience.

Wayne Law strongly emphasizes practical training by offering robust and diverse clinic and externship programs. The commitment to experiential education is solidified in the academic standards which, as of 2013, require all students to take a minimum of six credits that offer substantial instruction in professional skills beyond the traditional legal classroom work of research, writing and analysis. At least three of these required credits must be earned through a clinic or externship.

Wayne Law is home to seven live-client clinics – including the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic, Business and Community Law Clinic, Civil Rights Clinic, Criminal Appellate Practice Clinic, Legal Advocacy for People with Cancer Clinic, Patent Procurement Clinic, and Transnational Environmental Law Clinic. Each offers students a chance to practice law as advocates under the supervision of experienced attorneys working for real clients. The clinics also provide students the opportunity to serve the metro Detroit community.

Five externship programs – corporate counsel, criminal justice, judicial, public interest, and the Free Legal Aid Clinic – stregthen Wayne Law students’ professional skills, values and judgment as they develop their professional identity and work to become reflective practitioners while externing at legal placements throughout metro Detroit. Students learn about professionalism, the practice of law and the legal system, and work on their capacity for self-directed professional growth. The externship courses as part of these programs are split by specialty and taught by expert practitioners in the field.