Pre-Approved Pro Bono Projects
The Pro Bono Department works diligently to offer pro bono opportunities each semester, and during school breaks. To view a list of the projects with additional details, log in at PB Track.
Students wishing to request projects must submit preferences via PB Track.
Spring 2023 Abridged List
- ACLU of Southern California – First Amendment and Democracy (“FAD”) Project: Students will work to protect public access and meaningful participation in democracy, transparency in local governance, and free expression, including assessing Establishment Clause and Free Exercise claims, and voting rights and accessibility issues.
- ACLU of Southern California – LGBTQ, Gender & Reproductive Justice Research: Students will assist the LGBTQ, Gender & Reproductive Justice Project by researching areas including: family regulation system; employment rights of pregnant and lactating workers; sex work decriminalization; or other research on issues related to gender, reproductive justice, and LGBTQ rights.
- ACLU of Southern California – Police Decertification, and Use of Force Policies: Students will research and analyze local law enforcement use of force policies and review and analyze documents related to officer-involved shootings that may support ACLU litigation.
- ACLU of Southern California – Policies Harming the Unhoused: Students will research and develop a proposed plan to address the increased attack on the houseless community, including anti-camping ordinances, park ranger programs, and other efforts addressing “public safety” concerns.
- ACLU of Southern California – Unhoused Civil Rights Issues in Inland Empire: Students will review records related to houselessness in the Inland Empire region to identify potential civil rights violations.
- Afghan Welcome Legal Alliance:Students will work on asylum applications for people who were evacuated from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover in 2021.
- Alliance for Children’s Rights – Foster Care Benefits: Students will help advocate for the rights of vulnerable children, young adults, and families impacted by foster care by organizing, assessing, and closing fair hearing cases.
- American Constitution Society – Federal Register Watchdog Project: Volunteers will take responsibility for a policy area and regularly review federal/state regulations in that area for comment opportunities. Volunteers are also welcome to draft comments on issues they are interested in.
- Animal Rights Advocacy: Students will help challenge unlawful conduct in animal agriculture and research by researching areas such as animal research laboratories; animal cruelty; false advertising for chicken, eggs, and pork products; and legislation regarding slaughterhouses and animal transport.
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Orange County: Students will help clients with citizenship and immigration matters by conducting research, offering counseling, and performing other immigration case work which could include adjustment of status, family-based petitions, DACA, and other related work.
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Orange County – Naturalization Clinic: Students will help staff in-person weekly naturalization clinics and assist attendees to applying for citizenship.
- Bankruptcy Courthouse Volunteer: Students will volunteer virtually at the Bankruptcy clinic for clients at the Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana. Volunteers will meet with pro se litigants and provide advice on filing bankruptcy forms.
- Bet Tzedek Law Clerk: Students may work in areas such as Holocaust survivors, small business development, low-income tax advocacy, housing, real estate fraud, employment rights, family caregivers, conservatorship, elder abuse restraining orders, public benefits, guardianships, immigration, advance planning, trans/LGBT rights, and more.
- Black Alliance for Just Immigration:Students will assist with conducting virtual legal workshops regarding immigration interviews, including critical fear interview (CFI) and reasonable fear interview (RFI) preparation, and updates to US immigration laws.
- California Free Legal Answers Helpline: Under the supervision of two UCI Law alums, one of Reich Adell & Cvitan and one of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, students will research and draft memos in response to helpline questions. Questions are varied from family law to property rights to intellectual property.
- Camp Pendleton Legal Assistance Office (LAO):Under the supervision of legal assistance attorneys, students will provide legal assistance to military officers, enlisted service members, and their families in the areas of family law, consumer law, estate planning, and various other issues.
- Center for Biological Diversity #1 – Ensuring a Just and Clean Energy Transition to Combat the Climate Emergency: Students will support advocacy efforts concerning the modernization of the energy grid by conducting extensive research into federal energy laws and policy developments.
- Center for Biological Diversity #2 – Request for Federal Transition to Climate-Friendly Food Purchases: Students will research the Federal procurement of industrially-produced meat and dairy products and a transition to procurement of more climate-friendly food purchases to reduce some of the significant climate impacts of food production.
- Center for Biological Diversity #3 – Reducing Air Pollution from the Oil and Gas Industry: Students will help with research-based investigation of oil and gas production facilities to identify enforcement opportunities. The project focuses on areas with intense oil and gas production and impaired air quality.
- Central California Legal Services – Virtual Eviction Clinic: Students will meet with tenants one-on-one to provide information, advice & counsel, and brief services such as preparing an answer to an unlawful detainer.
- Children of Incarcerated Caregivers: Students will conduct state-by-state research into legislation on alternatives to incarceration for parents of young children, interview current stakeholders, and create a report summarizing alternatives to incarceration and the perspectives of different stakeholders.
- Christian Legal Aid – Clinics & Calls: Students will support Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles to assist the poor and vulnerable in LA County by providing support for attorneys with legal research, drafting documents and client memos regarding poverty law issues.
- City Council, Brown Act & Public Comments – Housing, & Civil Rights:Students will work with a UCI alum of the Elder Law and Disability Rights Center (ELDR) to research and prepare public comments for local city council meetings and investigate Brown Act violations.
- Civil Litigation Law & Motion Practice:This project will focus on motions and other documents in civil law, primarily consumer defense. Students will assist clients, drafting motions, preparing discovery, and assisting with filing instructions and preparation for their hearings.
- Civil Rights Litigation—Disability Rights Legal Center: Students will support impact litigation to enforce the rights of adults and children with disabilities by gathering facts, developing legal theories, working on pleadings, discovery, motion practice, and mediation.
- Coastal Policy Research: Students will work with a UCI alum to support pro bono work for Surfrider by researching policy issues that may include California Coastal Commission policies, beach erosion and emergency permitting to promote healthy coasts.
- Coastkeeper/Waterkeeper Remote Volunteer - Water Quality Advocacy and Litigation: Students will support Orange County Coastkeeper fighting for stringent environmental regulations to protect water quality, enforcement of existing federal laws, and the preservation of public access to environmental resources.
- Common Cause—Fair Redistricting for Fair Elections: Students will research gerrymandering or fair districts and evaluate legislative efforts that impact voting maps to support litigation and advocacy efforts to ensure fair and transparent redistributing processes.
- Consumer Law and Elder Justice at PLC: Students will assist with intakes, drafting responsive pleadings, discovery and motions, and may spend some or all of their time working with older adults at risk of or recovering from elder financial abuse.
- Consumer Rights Clinic—Inland Counties Legal Services: Students will attend a consumer debt rights clinic twice a week to assist with answering/responding to lawsuits, reviewing pertinent documents, demanding records from those suing ICLS clients, or negotiating settlements or dismissals of cases.
- Crime Victims Legal Assistance—Civil & Family Law: Students will directly assist victims of domestic violence and other special crimes on civil cases, including helping with restraining orders, divorce, paternity, custody and visitation cases for survivors of abuse or violent crime.
- Criminal Appellate Defense Research for the Office of the Ohio Public Defender: Student volunteers will assist appellate attorneys, including a UCI Law alum, by researching and drafting memoranda regarding legal questions related to active cases and/or recurring criminal defense issues.
- Criminal Defense Research for Louisiana PD: Students will assist Public Defenders, including a UCI Law alum, for the 22nd Judicial District in Covington, LA with research across all levels of criminal cases, from pre-trial to appeal. Work may include criminal procedure/evidence research and drafting motions.
- Criminal Law Projects in OC:
- District Attorney’s Office: Students may get significant exposure to issues of evidence and criminal procedure while observing in court, researching and writing, and possibly assisting with preparation for in-court appearances by a Deputy District Attorney.
- Federal Public Defender’s Office Research: Volunteers will assist attorneys with the Federal Public Defender's Office-Santa Ana branch by researching and drafting memorandums regarding legal questions related to active cases and/or recurring issues.
- Public Defender’s Office: Volunteers will help interview clients, assist with arraignments, help in the preparation of misdemeanor trials and expungement petitions, as well as assist trial attorneys and the Alternate Public Defenders Office.
- Criminal Law Research—Puerto Rico Federal Public Defender: Students will work with a UCI Law alum to research and analyze federal criminal law, which may include the impact of the Bruen decision on certain firearm statutes, issues related to January 6 prosecutions, Maritime Law, or federal sentencing guidelines.
- DACA Renewal Clinic – Monthly: Students will volunteer at the Public Law Center’s monthly remote clinic that provides consultations to DACA recipients and assist them in preparing their DACA renewal applications if eligible.
- Defending Parents’ Rights in Dependency Proceedings—Writs & Appeals: Volunteers may review reports and case plans with clients, communicate with social workers, draft motions, and perform legal research. Supervision by an attorney from the Writs & Appeals unit.
- Disabled and Elderly Social Security Benefits (SSI) Clinic: Students will help secure social security benefits for low-income children, elderly and disabled clients, which ensure that a recipient's most basic needs are met through a living stipend and medical benefits.
- Domestic Violence Declarations: Students will interview and assist self-represented litigants to prepare the forms and declarations for their Temporary Restraining Orders. Students will conduct an interview and immediately prepare a declaration.
- Drug Policy Alliance—Drug Decriminalization Research: DPA is the nation’s leading organization working to end the war on drugs. Volunteers assist with legal and policy research to support their efforts, including successful implementation of drug decriminalization and expansion of health services.
- Education Advocacy for Youth (IEP’s): Disability Rights California supervises students supporting youth with disabilities and their families. Work includes legal research and writing, intakes, record reviews, demand letters, attending Individual Education Program meetings, and drafting complaints.
- EEOC Research & Development for Systemic Litigation: Students will assist with research and development of class action litigation involving systemic hiring discrimination under the supervision of a UCI Law alum.
- Employment Rights Virtual Clinic—Los Angeles: Volunteers will conduct intakes for Bet Tzedek, which provides a range of legal services to workers employed in Los Angeles’ low-wage, underground economies, including garment, restaurant and agricultural workers, day laborers, janitors, and more.
- Environment and Energy Research—NRDC: Under the supervision of a UCI Law alum, students will provide short term research responses on topics related to: litigation in Federal Court of Appeals related to regional electricity markets and renewal energy penetration; advocacy for cleanup of radioactive and chemically contaminated sites; federal legislation relating to nuclear energy and climate change.
- Environmental Law Institute (ELI) – Empowering Native American Tribal governmental sovereignty to impact state- and local level environmental decision-making: Students will research the laws, regulations, policies, case law, and guidance governing Tribal consultation, and will provide a concise report, focusing on Tribal sovereignty and the health and wellness of Tribal communities.
- Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project #1 – Remote Asylum Research & Merits Filings for Released and Detained Clients: Students will assist immigrants facing deportation from the U.S., including released adults and children from the Los Angeles Immigration Court and detained adults at the Adelanto Detention Center, with submitting asylum, withholding of removal, or convention against torture applications.
- Eviction Defense Clinic—Orange County & Los Angeles: Students will assist low-income tenants facing eviction by helping to prepare answers to Unlawful Detainer complaints. Students will interview clients, draft pleadings and provide advice under the supervision of an attorney.
- Expungement Virtual Clinics—Orange County, Fresno County, & San Bernardino County: Expungements allow individuals to dismiss or reduce certain criminal convictions, allowing them to move on with their lives. Volunteers will fill out petitions and fee waivers, interview clients, draft declarations, and assist in sealing arrest records.
- Family Law Access Project (FLAP): Students will assist Inland County Legal Services, in collaboration with the Riverside County Superior Court and the California Desert Trial Academy College of Law, in providing assistance with preparation of legal documents in the areas of divorce, child custody and visitation, child and spousal support, paternity actions and domestic violence restraining orders.
- Family Law at Public Law Center: A volunteer will work with attorneys at PLC on a variety of issues, including researching and writing pleadings for family law proceedings, domestic violence restraining orders, guardianships, custody and visitation and other family law matters.
- Farmworker Know-Your-Rights: Students will work under an alum at Martínez Aguilasocho Law, Inc. (MAL Inc.) to provide legal assistance to the United Farm Workers (UFW) and draft know-your-rights materials about wage theft, sexual harassment, employer visa fraud, forced labor, and other prevalent issues affecting farmworkers, which will be shared with farmworker communities in the US, Mexico, and Central America.
- Federal Law at Public Law Center – Pro Se Clinic: Students will assist the Public Law Center’s Consumer Law Unit in running the Federal Pro Se Clinic, where community members can make an appointment to speak to an attorney about federal lawsuits when they are representing themselves in the Central District.
- Federal Tax Law at Public Law Center: Students will work with Public Law Center’s tax attorney to interview clients, conduct fact investigation and legal research, and draft pleadings and other documents and educational materials for low-income taxpayers in Orange County.
- Guardianship Clinic for Self-Represented Litigants: Students will conduct client intake interviews, complete the required legal forms to apply for probate guardianship, petition for visitation, and object to guardianship petitions, and explain the guardianship law and procedures to litigants.
- Gun Safety—Gifford’s Law Center Litigation & Legislation Research: Students will assist Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence with historical legal research stemming from the Supreme Court's recent opinion in Bruen. Students will research topics related to the American history of regulating guns.
- Haiti Human Rights Initiative: Students will assist the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) in promoting and enforcing human rights in Haiti, which includes pursuing redress for human rights violations, protecting activists and human rights defenders in Haiti, combating gender-based violence, and holding international actors - including the United Nations - accountable.
- Haitian Bridge Alliance—International Human Rights Research: Students will work on international human rights legal research related to the protection of migrants and asylum seekers, particularly of African descent.
- Health Care Access and Advocacy: Students will interview clients and strategize about the best outcomes on a case-by-case basis for a specialized unit of Community Legal Aid SoCal focused on access to health care and solving serious issues clients may have with their medical insurance.
- Health Data Privacy for People Living with HIV:Students will assist the Positive Women’s Network (PWN), a national organization led by and for women, trans, and gender non-binary people living with HIV, by researching and drafting a memo about State health data privacy and sharing policies and the safeguarding of patient data from use in criminal, civil, and immigration proceedings.
- Health Law Project with PLC: Public Law Center's Health Law unit assists low-income individuals living with AIDS or HIV through a medical-legal partnership with healthcare providers throughout Orange County. Students will have the opportunity to draft briefs for hearings and appeals.
- Homeboy Industries Legal Advocacy for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals: Homeboy Industries is the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. Students will assist in various levels of advocacy, from intake and client interview to court accompaniment and motion drafting.
- Housing Element Investigation and Litigation Preparation: In an effort to ensure cities fulfill affordable and fair housing obligations, students will review housing plans and investigate compliance through Public Records Act requests and researching remedies for low-income residents.
- Housing Law at Public Law Center: Students will interview clients, conduct fact investigation and legal research, assist with clinics, and draft pleadings for landlord-tenant cases and fair housing complaints before the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and HUD.
- Housing Litigation Research & Discovery—San Clemente Eminent Domain: Volunteers will assist the Emergency Shelter Coalition with an Eminent Domain case brought regarding land intended as affordable housing or a shelter for the unhoused. Students will research potential defenses and options for discovery.
- Human Trafficking Research—Thai Community Development Center:A law student volunteer will assist with researching and conducting legal referrals and also assist with the anti-trafficking program on T visa and T Visa adjustment packages.
- Human Trafficking Rap Sheet Review: Students will assist Free to Thrive in empowering survivors of human trafficking by providing legal services such as vacatur of criminal records related to their experience as a victim of human trafficking, which is an important step for many survivors to move forward, secure employment, housing, and other benefits.
- Immigration Removal Defense—Catholic Charities of OC: Students will provide legal assistance to clients in removal proceedings, which may include research for removal defenses, research and drafting motions, drafting declarations, researching country conditions, and preparing legal briefs.
- Immigration Research and Presentation: Students will work with Catholic Charities to research and present on topics such as U and T Visa, VAWA, Asylum, Family Petitions Consular Processing, Naturalization, DACA, Humanitarian Parole.
- Innocence Project Collaboration: Students will assist the California Innocence Project in reviewing requests for representation and writing recommendation memos under the supervision of attorneys from K&L Gates LLP.
- Innocence Project of OC: Law Offices of Annee Della Donna and student volunteers successfully helped two clients that were unjustly convicted under the kill zone theory to be released from prison. Students will help find new cases and work to appeal or reverse excessive convictions.
- International Child Imprisonment Research: Students will research the global issue of children being arrested for crimes such as begging, minor theft, immigration, or even sexual orientation and contribute to a policy paper on the subject.
- International Criminal Justice Research for DefenseWiki: Students will help International Bridges to Justice in furthering its mission of providing access to justice and protecting due process rights by updating the DefenseWiki, a database of current laws and approaches to criminal defense.
- International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network: Students will choose topic areas and conduct research that helps member attorneys around the globe to support workers and their organizations by challenging repressive laws, regulations, and practices by governments or global corporations.
- IRAP—Central American Minors Assistance: Students will work with minors and refugees from Central America to assist with refugee and parole processing and pathways for this region’s displaced communities. Work will include policy, potential litigation, research, and client work.
- IRAP – U.S.-Mexico Border Program: Volunteers will screen clients at the U.S.-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez/El Paso, Texas for eligibility for a Title 42 exception, which allows individuals in especially vulnerable circumstances to be exempted from a broad border policy that blocks entry on supposed public health grounds.
- IRAP—Violence Against Women Act: Volunteers will assist a Mexican national woman by preparing and submitting a FOIA request and VAWA application, which includes completing forms, gathering evidence, police reports, and statements from family members and friends.
- Jail Research, Document Review, & Case Management – Disability & Medical Access: Students will research legal issues related to people’s experiences in jail, including access to medical care and other disability related claims, review related documents, and corresponding with clients.
- Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives – Intersection of Race, Sexuality & Gender Identity: Students will work on a novel case being brought by families of victims of black, gay men that were murdered. Students may research the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender identity in a high-profile murder.
- Kids In Need of Defense: KIND seeks students interested in assisting unaccompanied children in deportation proceedings and in applying for affirmative immigration relief.
- Know Your Rights Web Series (YouTube): Bilingual students will help Central California Legal Services translate and present aKnow Your Rights web series. The web series is a 40-topic YouTube series on topics like immigration relief, public benefits access, tenant’s rights, guardianship, domestic violence restraining orders, and bankruptcy.
- Last Prisoner Project—Cannabis Restorative Justice: LPP seeks to bring restorative justice to those serving prison sentences for cannabis related crimes, which are no longer illegal. Volunteers will work on legislation and ballot initiatives, a clemency initiative, and expungement and/or clemency petitions.
- Law For Black Lives – Reparations Project: Students will assist L4BL, a Black femme-led national network of 6,000 radical lawyers and legal workers, by working on a reparations project and practicing movement lawyering.
- LawHelpCA LiveChat Volunteer Program: The Legal Aid Association of California hosts a public website with information about legal services. Law students will help “chat” online with those in need of legal services providing appropriate referrals using plain language and trauma informed methods.
- Legal Services for Prisoners with Children #1 – Answering Letters from Incarcerated People: Students will provide legal information to correspondents in the following areas: criminal law and sentencing (including resentencing); prison conditions; or family-related matters.
- Legal Services for Prisoners with Children #2 – Visitation Rights (Legislation & Casework): Work on issues related to visiting rights for family members of incarcerated people, including legislative advocacy, individual advocacy for family members denied visiting access, and possible litigation.
- Limited Conservatorships Project: Students will work with Community Legal Aid SoCal to assist clients to file for an obtain conservatorships of adults with developmental disabilities who cannot fully care for themselves.
- Litigation Assistance: Attorneys from Irell & Manella LLP are working on several pro bono litigation matters. One student will work on any of the following: Legal research and memo writing, discovery, drafting pleadings, or even observing a hearing.
- Low Income Taxpayer Project—Inland Counties Legal Services: Volunteers may assist with the negotiations and Tax Debt Settlement, audits, Earned Income Tax credit appeals, litigation, fraudulent tax preparation, identify theft, liens and levies, innocent spouse relief, and collection matters through conducting legal research and participating in outreach and legal education events.
- Mandarin Speaking Bankruptcy Self-Help Program: Mandarin-speaking students will assist Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles’ Self Help Bankruptcy program with translation and interpretation, as well as assisting Chapter 7 debtors with their bankruptcy cases.
- Mexican Indigenous Community Outreach: Students will assist the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in outreach and relationship building efforts between the EEOC and community groups that serve Mexican indigenous workers, including building up the EEOC’s infrastructure to serve this community.
- Mississippi Center for Justice – Research on Expungements:Volunteers will research current policies and laws surrounding expungements in Mississippi related to filing/processing fees and the lack of uniformity amongst courts. Students will also contact clients to generate impact statements on these issues.
- Mobile Homeowner Advocacy: Mobile home ownership is one of the few ways for low-income individuals to acquire assets. Student volunteers will work with the Public Law Center to assist low-income mobile home owners with issues regarding park management/ownership and or other tenants.
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund Case Monitoring: Student volunteers will work with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP to prepare regular reports about newly filed cases in the areas of voting rights, education, economic and environmental justice, disparate impact, and qualified immunity.
- NLSLA – Worker’s Rights Clinic: Students will help Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles with its Workers’ Rights Clinic to deal with matters such as: wage and hour, unemployment benefits, health and safety issues at the workplace, state disability, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful termination.
- NLSLA – Worker’s Rights– Creating Know Your Rights Community Education: Students will help Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles draft know your rights community education materials to assist clients with navigating their options to recover from wage theft.
- OC Human Trafficking Project: Rutan & Tucker LLP, in collaboration with UCI Law, launched this project to help survivors of human trafficking with their civil legal needs. Students will assist human trafficking survivors with legal issues such as filing civil litigation, immigration, and vacatur.
- Pandemic Mitigation Project – Non-Proliferation Approach: In a novel approach to public health, students will help advocate for and draft a proposal for an agreement or legislation that would require countries to share information and resources in the event of a pandemic outbreak.
- Peace and Justice Law Center: Volunteers will help create PJLC’s police accountability program, assist with intakes and community outreach, collect and organize data, investigate complaints, and assist with administrative complaints and potential litigation.
- Project Corazon Border Rights: Students will assist Lawyers 4 Good Government host Project Corazon to provides remote legal assistance to asylum seekers in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas (including Reynosa, Matamoros, and other parts of Mexico).
- Public Benefits—Life Saving Help: Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles assists those having difficulty accessing or maintaining public benefits that they rely on to eat, maintain their housing, pay for medicine, and generally survive. Students will help with research and drafting appeal letters and briefs.
- Remote Housing Clinic with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles: Students will conduct informational interviews with tenants with pre-identified issues and may review documents, prepare or provide pro per materials and other resources, and advise the clients under the direction of a senior attorney.
- Reproductive Rights Media Research: Students will supplement the pro bono work being done by Lawyers 4 Good Government attorneys by tracking local media sources in states across the country to provide important context to the legal research by highlighting the real-world effects of various state laws.
- Root & Rebound—Incarcerated Callers Hotline: Students will staff Root & Rebound’s hotline for currently incarcerated people to help prepare clients for reentry to the community by providing basic legal information and legal updates.
- San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program—Researching and Motion or Memo Drafting: Students will research and draft memos or sample motions on a variety of topics related to restraining orders, child custody, personal jurisdiction, half-siblings and step-siblings, and service requirements for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status findings in guardianship cases.
- San Francisco Unconditional Legal Clinic:Students will help serve clients that walk-in to The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco’s Unconditional Legal Clinic with a legal question or issue by offering basic legal assistance.
- Saturday Academy of Law (SAL): Law students work alongside certified teachers in this pipeline program for ninth graders. Volunteers teach lessons on the First Amendment, briefing a case, the U.S. court system, and recent constitutional challenges that have made impacts on society.
- Small Business Legal Clinic—Inland Counties Legal Services: Students will help ICLS with one-on-one consultations for small business owners to address issues related to opening their business, such as business formation and choice of a corporate entity, business start-up matters, SBA loan denial documents, operating agreements, and regulatory matters.
- Special Education Casework with Elder Law & Disability Rights Legal Center: A UCI Law alum supervises students on special education casework, which may include contacting clients, legal research, securing and reviewing school records, assessing claims, and drafting due process complaints.
- Tijuana Border Rights Project for Deported Individuals: The Border Rights Project of Al Otro Lado needs law Students will travel to Tijuana to assist deported clients and their families review information the government has collected about them through the use of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests.
- Transactional Law Project: Students will work in the Public Law Center’s Community Organizations Legal Assistance Project to provide legal assistance to youth nonprofits and small businesses. Cases tend to be transactional in nature, and include business formation, licenses and permits, and contract drafting.
- Transforming Justice Orange County – Incarcerated Individual Letter Writing for Conditions Monitoring: Students will write letters to incarcerated individuals in Orange County to discover conditions in local jails, advocate on behalf of people in custody, analyze administrative policies, and collect narratives that may support Transforming Justice Orange County advocacy.
- Transgender Law Center Legal Information Helpdesk: Volunteers will provide written responses to questions received by TLC’s Information Helpline in areas including employment, health care, housing, civil rights, immigration, and identity document changes.
- Transgender Legal Assistance Clinic: This student-created project serves the legal needs of transgender and gender non-binary people in Southern California. Volunteers help self-represented litigants prepare a petition to change their legal name and/or gender marker.
- Union Grievance Assistance Project: Students will assist with grievance investigation, processing, resolution, and handling on behalf of non-Law School employees at UCI.
- Veterans Legal Institute #1—Upgrade Discharge Briefs: Volunteers will work with veterans in preparing their discharge upgrade applications, including drafting client affidavits, developing evidence, requesting and reviewing military and medical records, and writing an advocacy brief.
- Veterans Legal Institute #2—Comprehensive Housing Law Assistance: This project aims to prevent evictions and secure fair housing for military veterans and their families. Students will research, draft memos, interview clients, draft demand letters, and prepare motions and documents for court.
- Veterans Legal Institute #3—Family Law Assistance: Volunteers will be assisting veterans in navigating family law court cases. Students will assist with client interviews, form preparation, and the preparation of motions and documents for court.
- Veterans Legal Institute #4—Veterans Benefits Assistance: Volunteers will assist homeless, at risk, disabled and low income current and former service members in preparing and filing claims to access veterans benefits through the VA, such as compensation, healthcare, pension, etc.
- Veterans Legal Institute #5—Client Interviews: Providing justice to former service members who received a less than honorable discharge due to sexually assault, discrimination, injury or illness like PTSD that caused them to be wrongfully characterized upon separating from the military.
- Veterans Work with Public Law Center: A student will work with the Public Law Center to provide civil legal services to low-income veterans and their families. Students will investigate veterans’ benefits and discharge upgrade cases, as well as disability rights and discrimination claims.
- Women and Girls’ Rights Research Project: Public Counsel’s Women and Girls’ Rights Project focuses on workplace justice and gender equity in education. A law student will support attorneys in research, litigation, materials development, and other important aspects of the Project’s work.
- Workers’ Rights Clinic Orange County: Volunteers will participate in employment clinics for low-income workers in a wide range of areas, including discrimination/harassment, wage and hour, unemployment benefits, and wrongful termination. Legal Aid at Work provides training and supervision.