Susan Ferriss of the Center For Public Integrity has been awarded the 2015 Regional American Gavel Award for Distinguished Reporting for her May 2014 story, “Juvenile Injustice.” Ferriss’s story discusses the efforts of the College of Law’s Education Law Practicum to reform truancy prosecutions of students.

The Federal Clemency Mini-Clinic, a short-term, reduced-credit clinical program, was designed to engage a broader range of students in clinical work and respond to emergent needs. The mini-clinic was created in fall 2014 to represent individuals sentenced by federal courts in the Eastern District of Tennessee for crimes that now carry lighter sentences.

UT Law clinics are directed by more than just our faculty. Barbara Johnson, who served as field and regional supervisor for the Tennessee Department of Child Services for more than thirty years, co-supervises the Homer A. Jones Jr. Wills Clinic with Professor Amy Hess.

Students in Professor Paula Williams’s Non-Profit Clinic have served a number of Knoxville-area community partners during their semester in the clinic—including two sports and education leagues for inner-city youth and an association of technical professionals—but their service has also extended beyond Knoxville, the state, and the country.

Representing diverse individuals from around the world has enabled Immigration Clinic students to embrace how they can make a difference in the lives of others and has informed their worldview. UT’s Immigration Clinic, directed by Professor Karla McKanders, focuses on representing unaccompanied minor children and asylum seekers in East Tennessee in their applications for humanitarian immigration relief.

While serving as a medic in the military, Daniel Martinez became passionate about saving others and that passion stayed with him when he was discharged from the military and came to UT Law.

Law students may envision arguing a case in their state’s highest court that impacts the lives of thousands at some time during their careers, but few imagine doing that before they have even graduated from law school.

During the first days of the fall semester, Advocacy Clinic students plunge right into legal work through a new, five-day Advocacy Clinic Boot Camp designed to engage the students in interviewing, counseling, and negotiation skills.