Category: Student Life

Only a few months into the academic year and already more than 100 University of Texas School of Law students have volunteered for 21 pro bono projects (and counting). From preparing asylum cases to interviewing clients at walk-in legal clinics, the range of UT Law’s pro bono projects is as diverse as the hundreds of […]

More than 93 percent of the entering 1L class signed the Pro Bono Pledge, a record level of participation for The University of Texas School of Law’s Pro Bono Program. Students who sign the pledge commit to perform at least 50 hours of pro bono service before graduation. “The class of 2013 – the first […]

The University of Texas School of Law has awarded the ninth Equal Justice Scholarship to Kelsey Chapple, an incoming first-year law student. The scholarship covers tuition and fees for three years of legal study. Chapple has committed to work for three years on a full-time basis after law school to provide direct legal services to low-income individuals or groups at a nonprofit organization in the U.S.

The Law School’s chapter of the American Constitution Society (ACS) won “Chapter of the Year” at a June 13, 2013, ACS awards banquet, held during their national convention in Washington, D.C.

Five students at the University of Texas School of Law have been selected to receive Baron & Budd Public Interest Summer Fellowships for the coming summer. The program will provide each fellow with a $4,250 stipend to work fulltime for at least ten weeks providing legal services to underrepresented individuals or communities.

The Law School’s Career Services Office (CSO) has announced second-year students Tim Emmons and Jorge Ramirez as recipients of the 2013 CSO Study Break Public Service Stipend. Another second-year student, who will be interning with a federal agency this summer, after passing final security clearance, also received a stipend.

On April 17, 2013, the Law School hosted the sixth annual Color of Justice program to inspire Austin-area minority high school students to pursue careers in law. The annual event was organized by the National Association of Women Judges, the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association, and the Law School’s William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, with support from sponsoring law firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, and Winstead. Audience members included approximately seventy-five students from Garza, Akins, and East Austin College Prep high schools.

Six graduating students at the University of Texas School of Law have been honored by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law for their extraordinary commitment during law school to using the law to serve others. This annual award honors graduating students for work in the nonprofit, government, and legislative sectors, as well as participation in clinical courses, pro bono projects, and student groups. The award winners were recognized by Dean Ward Farnsworth at a reception at the Law School, and will each receive $500. In addition, BARBRI has generously provided the award winners with $500 discounts for bar review courses.

The University of Texas School of Law has awarded the 2013 Julius Glickman Fellowship in Public Interest Law to third-year student Abby Anna Batko-Taylor and the 2013 UT Law Faculty/Julius Glickman Fellowship in Public Interest Law to third-year student Megan Sheffield.

Two graduating students at the University of Texas School of Law have been selected to receive one-year postgraduate fellowships to help pilot the Texas Title Project, an innovative title-clearing project designed to provide low-income disaster survivors with the chance to move to higher opportunity neighborhoods.

Eleven Law School students have been selected by the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice as Rapoport Center Fellows for summer and fall 2013. They will work with nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations in the United States and abroad. Their projects include aiding human rights victims and political refugees, researching civil rights and civil liberties, assisting international courts and tribunals in prosecuting human rights and humanitarian violations, advocating for individuals with disabilities, and pursuing impact litigation on behalf of farmworkers.

Six students at the University of Texas School of Law have been selected as the 2013 Whitehurst Public Interest Summer Fellows. The fellowships are made possible by a gift from Bill, ’70, and Stephanie Whitehurst, and are administered by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law at the Law School. The fellowships are awarded annually to outstanding students between their second and third years of law school to support their summer public interest work.