Clinic: Employment Rights

• Semester: Spring 2026
• Course ID: 697C
• Credit Hours: 6
• Unique: 30020

Special Instructions

Description

The EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS CLINIC IS A 6-CREDIT HR. CLINIC. Students in this clinic will represent low-income workers, who labor in Texas, in legal actions to recover unpaid wages for work they have performed, to combat workplace discrimination, and to enforce other basic employment rights. The clinic gives students hands-on experience with civil litigation, basic employment law, public interest practice, and the evolving fields of immigrant employment rights and transnational migrant worker rights.

Clinic students will serve as primary legal counsel representing immigrant and low-wage working people in federal and state employment litigation and administrative actions. Students will get the experience of working inside an independent public interest law firm and will be supervised and mentored by several expert low-wage employment lawyers. Depending on the requirements and the current litigation stage of each case, students will variously: interview and advise clients; investigate cases and develop legal action strategies; initiate and manage active litigation; negotiate with opposing employers and their lawyers; prepare litigation documents in the student's cases including pleadings, motions, and briefs; conduct discovery in the student's cases including written discovery and the taking of depositions; research legal issues; develop damages calculations; represent clients in hearings, court proceedings, and mediation; and negotiate and manage the final legal settlement or recovery of damages in the case.

The Employment Rights Clinic is conducted in partnership with the Equal Justice Center (EJC), a nonprofit public-interest law firm, based in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. The EJC is the leading law firm in Texas specializing in advocating for the rights of low-wage workers.

In this clinic, students devote the bulk of their clinic hours each week to handling active cases for real clients. This case work includes regularly scheduled office hours at the nearby Equal Justice Center office; regularly scheduled remote office hours in the EJC's remote law practice; regular case reviews with supervising attorneys; and essential conferences with clients. During the first week of the course, before starting their casework assignments, students will receive an intensive classroom orientation on low-wage employment litigation practice. Throughout the semester, the students' principal casework will be complemented with a regular classroom session that meets once a week for approximately two hours. The classroom sessions will explore various deeper aspects of employment law, rights of immigrant workers, effective litigation practice, and special topics in employment law practice for immigrant and low-wage workers. Classroom instruction will address the challenges of adapting U.S. law and legal practice to our increasingly transnational labor market. Subtopics include: U.S. labor and immigration policy; wage laws, employment laws, and contract law as they affect transnational workers; the tension between immigration laws and labor rights; rights of transnational "guest workers"; civil litigation and representation skills specific to immigrant worker cases; employment law practice as viewed from the perspective of practicing lawyers; ethical issues in employment rights representation; and evolving mechanisms for the enforcement of worker rights.

The clinic is open to students who have completed the first year of law school. While Clinic clients include U.S. citizens and immigrants from a wide array of continents and countries, a majority of clients are Spanish-speakers from a variety of Latin American countries. Spanish proficiency accordingly is very useful but is not in any way required. Questions about the clinic may be directed to Christopher Willett at christopher.willett@austin.utexas.edu. Please put "Employment Rights Clinic" in the subject line of any communication.

An application is required.