The deadline for applications for in-house clinics for Fall 2025 is Sunday March 16, at 11:59 p.m. See below for detailed descriptions of our in-house clinic opportunities.
Appellate Litigation Clinic
Students who participate in this Clinic will work on appeals pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Pennsylvania Superior Court. This clinic provides outstanding, pro bono representation to appellants/petitioners in immigration appeals, habeas corpus proceedings, prisoner civil rights litigation, mortgage foreclosures, landlord/tenant disputes, and termination of parental rights cases by court appointment. The Appellate Litigation Clinic has partnered with a Philadelphia-based law firm, The Tucker Law Group, which will supervise the appeals. Students will also work under the supervision of the Clinic professor. A team of three to four students will be assigned to each appeal. Only 3L and 4LE students are eligible to participate in the Clinic. The Appellate Litigation Clinic is offered in the fall semester and is a 4-credit clinic, consisting of a 2-credit pass/fail clinic and a 2-credit graded seminar. Because these appeals typically remain pending for the entire academic year, students who participate in the fall clinic will be encouraged to take the Advanced Clinic Intensive in the Spring, which is a graded, three-credit clinic without a classroom component. The Appellate Litigation Clinic is supervised by Prof. Mary E. Levy.
Access to Justice Clinic
(Not offered Fall 2025)
While upper-income Americans have no difficulty getting high-quality legal help, much of the rest of America confronts a “justice gap” – that is, inadequate access to legal information, assistance, and representation. As a result, vast numbers of Americans “go it alone” in such areas of basic need as housing, debt, access to benefits, family law, and immigration. The Access to Justice Clinic explores what we can do to narrow this gap.
In the seminar, we examine not only such established approaches as rights to counsel, legal aid and pro bono services, but also more recent innovations, such as court-based help centers and “navigators,” improvements in the provision of legal information, technological solutions (such as remote hearings and legal apps), alternative licensing of legal professionals, simplification of legal procedures, and more. In the project portion, students work in teams on a semester-long project, typically in partnership with a legal non-profit, community organization or court. Projects may focus on changes to existing legal services or procedures to make them more accessible to unrepresented people; creating alternative routes for legal problem-solving, thus enabling people to avoid existing procedures altogether; or addressing some other current social-justice issue that has legal aspects.
Besides becoming more familiar with the justice gap and ways of addressing it, students gain skills and experience in collaborating with fellow students and with lawyers and community leaders, and in researching an issue and developing and supporting a proposal for change. (The clinic does not directly represent individual clients.)
The Clinic is a 4-credit graded course taught by Prof. Len Rieser.
Community Lawyering Clinic
In the Community Lawyering Clinic and related Advanced Clinical Intensive, students are placed in the primary lawyer role for individuals in litigation and transactional matters. Our present client base includes people with severe illnesses, like cancer and HIV, and people with severe disabilities. Our most common representation is in administrative hearings in public benefits cases and with simple estate planning, like wills and living wills. Students work with clients both in the Temple Legal Aid Office and at community medical and social service centers throughout the city. In the fall semester, the class is paired with a serial writing class, Poverty Law (Law 1041), which allows students to learn about poverty law issues from a theoretical context while practicing poverty law in the clinic. Registration for Poverty Law is handled separately. The Community Lawyering Clinic is a 4-credit clinic taught by Prof. Spencer Rand. Students can add the advanced clinic for 3 graded credits, either in the same semester or in a later semester.
Family Justice Clinic
Students will engage in advocacy in partnership and solidarity with families whose family stability or integrity has been impacted by state intervention. Students will provide individual legal advice and representation, and work on related advocacy projects that address systemic issues led by community partners. Students will be expected to participate in a weekly team meeting with their faculty supervisor as well as learn about the substantive and procedural law that is applicable to their cases and projects. This course will focus on multiple family justice issues each semester, with priorities guided by families most impacted by state intervention. To be selected, Policing Families Seminar (formerly known as Parents, Child & the State) must be taken either before or while enrolled in Family Justice Clinic (this requirement can be waived at the discretion of Prof. Katz if the student has prior relevant experience). Preference to students eligible to be certified (2nd semester 2L or above) and priority to students who have successfully completed trial advocacy and evidence in advance of enrolling in Clinic. The Family Justice Clinic is a 5-credit clinic, consisting of a 3-credit pass/fail clinic and a 2-credit graded seminar, and is taught by Prof. Sarah Katz.
Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) provides free legal representation to qualifying taxpayers who have federal tax controversies. Students and attorney volunteers, working under the supervision of the Prof. Omeed Firouzi, represent low income taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court in audits, appeals, collections and federal tax litigation.
Students enrolled in the clinic (4 credits, graded) learn substantive and procedural tax law, case management, and lawyering skills. Students also give presentations to community groups and nonprofit organizations to help taxpayers know their rights and responsibilities. Additionally, students may have an opportunity to participate in special projects such as filing amicus briefs or submitting comments on proposed regulation or other administrative guidance.
During the clinic portion of the course, students serve as the primary advocates for their clients and have direct responsibility for their cases. Case work includes extensive client contact. Students will conduct factual investigations and research legal issues to develop, present, and argue cases on behalf of vulnerable taxpayers who would otherwise not have access to justice. The clinic experience teaches lawyering skills applicable across numerous practice areas. Students are encouraged to enroll whether they have an existing interest in tax or simply seek an immersive law practice experience. LITC students play a crucial role in ensuring a fair tax system for low income individuals and those with limited English proficiency who speak English as a second language. Students’ work is impactful and sometimes life changing.
Social Justice Lawyering Clinic
(Not offered in Fall 2025)
In the Social Justice Lawyering Clinic, students engage in: (1) representing a low-income client in a civil legal case affecting the client’s economic security (e.g., employment, housing, consumer debt); and (2) collaborating with a community-based organization, legal nonprofit, or coalition on a systemic advocacy project. Such systemic advocacy projects might involve engaging in community education, authoring policy briefs and white papers, or participating in legislative advocacy. Most systemic advocacy projects have focused on immigrant and worker rights, although they can involve other economic justice and civil rights issues confronting underserved communities in Philadelphia. The Social Justice Lawyering Clinic provides students with the opportunity to engage in multifaceted lawyering required for today’s social justice lawyers. The Clinic is a 2-credit graded seminar plus a 4-credit pass/fail clinic, and is taught by Prof. Jennifer Lee and Prof. Len Rieser.
Systemic Justice Clinic
In the Systemic Justice Clinic, students will work with community groups and public interest legal organizations on one of the most pressing concerns in civil rights today – that almost any interaction with the mechanisms of the criminal legal system can result in a lifelong deprivation of a person’s rights, and that these interactions and resultant deprivations fall disproportionately upon racial minorities and the poor. Projects will include policy campaigns and legislative advocacy around collateral consequences such as barriers to employment, education, housing, and public benefits; civil disabilities; and fines and fees associated with private contractors. Students may also have the opportunity to work on criminal justice reform, policing, and inmates’ rights issues, and to engage in community education projects. The Systemic Justice Clinic is a 2-credit graded seminar plus a 3 credit pass/fail clinic, and is taught by Prof. Shanda Sibley.
Tech Justice Clinic
(Not offered Fall 2025)
Tech justice is an emerging critical legal agenda that addresses the intersection of data-fueled innovation, the rapid integration of new data-driven tools without adequate safeguards, and social justice movements. This clinic aims to serve in the pursuit of redress for harms experienced by individuals and communities who often bear the brunt of technological advancements without having a say in their development and implementation. The clinic prepares students as legal practitioners equipped to navigate the emerging field of tech justice and related law and technology, public interest, and social justice practice areas.
Legal practitioners in the tech justice field require a diverse set of skills that go beyond traditional project-based advocacy and client representation. They must navigate spaces with minimal accountability, such as public procurement processes and jurisdictions lacking the rule of law, and work with victims and survivors who have no established legal aid or public health platforms. Practitioners must engage in various legal activities, from local and federal rulemaking to constitutional litigation and direct work with victims of online harms. They need to apply a critical approach to understanding power structures and their implications for achieving project goals, conduct transnational analysis, and creatively use law in its development and effects. The clinic emphasizes a transnational perspective, addressing majority-minority world inequities and their influence on regulatory environments.
The course combines seminar and clinic components. The seminar provides a comprehensive exploration of current research, advocacy, litigation, and organizing efforts to reshape the information society. Topics include the ethical, philosophical, and practical implications of technologies such as artificial intelligence, biometrics, and digital finance. Students participate in collaborative projects with external organizations, addressing systemic issues related to tech justice. These projects involve a wide range of activities, from legal research and drafting litigation materials to engaging directly with victims and survivors of tech-related harms, to working with advocates and developing innovative legal claims in active litigation in foreign and domestic jurisdictions.
Through project work and seminar sessions, students will learn to apply critical perspectives on datafication and marginalization, understand the limitations of existing ethical frameworks, and analyze regulatory proposals using critical theory. This holistic approach aims to prepare students for movement lawyering, where legal skills support broader social justice movements.
The iLIT Tech Justice Clinic is a 4-credit graded course taught by Prof. Laura Bingham.