Students at Nebraska Law work with faculty and staff to develop a program of study that is unique and specialized to their passions and interests. Students may choose to hone their advocacy skills in one of our nine clinics. Regardless of the path they choose, students will develop as well-rounded leaders and legal professionals.
Clinics
Our clinic programs give third-year law students an opportunity to represent actual clients. Faculty members provide a valuable and unique learning experience as they supervise students working on real cases. The nine clinical programs offer experiences comparable to what a new attorney might face in the first few years of practice. Nebraska Law Clinic students have argued cases in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Court in Nebraska, the Nebraska Supreme Court, the Nebraska Court of Appeals, as well as county and city courts.
Students interested in taking a clinic during their third year (summer, fall or spring semesters) must apply and register during the clinical selection process held in the spring.
Children's Justice Clinic
Students participating in the Children’s Justice Clinic serve as guardians ad litem in the Lancaster County Juvenile Court under the supervision of the faculty instructor. Foundational training in the Children’s Justice Clinic focuses on courtroom skills, federal and state child welfare laws, the child welfare process, child development, and trauma in young children.
Learn About the Children's Justice ClinicCivil Clinic
Students in the Civil Clinic represent low-income clients in a wide variety of civil and administrative cases selected by the faculty instructor. In addition to litigation-based experiences, Civil Clinic students also have opportunities to engage in projects that help them develop their drafting and planning skills, such as estate planning.
Learn About the Civil ClinicCriminal Clinic
The Nebraska Law Criminal Clinic is one of the few prosecution clinics in the country. Students spend the semester working at the local prosecutor’s office where they prosecute misdemeanor and low-grade felony cases – from initial charging decisions to ultimate case resolution – under the direct supervision of the faculty instructor.
Learn About the Criminal ClinicDebtor Defense Clinic
Students in the Debtor Defense Clinic (DDC) work with unrepresented individuals who have had judgments entered against them in collection cases. Students provide counsel and legal advice to clients about debt collection issues, and, when necessary, litigating cases involving legal issues that have been identified to benefit from a full and robust presentation to the court.
Learn About the Debtor Defense ClinicWeibling Entrepreneurship Clinic
Under the supervision of the faculty instructor, students in the Weibling Entrepreneurship Clinic handle a variety of early-stage legal matters for start-up businesses throughout the state, including entity formation, contract drafting and review, intellectual property protection, regulatory, compliance and other transactional legal matters.
Learn About the Entrepreneurship ClinicEstate Planning Clinic
Students, under faculty supervision, represent clients in estate planning and estate planning document drafting. They may also participate in a Rural Estate Planning Clinic, an off-site program where students work with senior citizens in out-state Nebraska in drafting their estate planning documents.
Learn About the Estate Planning ClinicFirst Amendment Clinic
The First Amendment Clinic at the University of Nebraska College of Law supports First Amendment rights by focusing on local and regional cases concerning freedoms of speech, the press, assembly, and petition. It also enhances law students' understanding of the First Amendment and serves as a resource for organizations, students, journalists, and citizens defending First Amendment rights.
Learn About the First Amendment ClinicHousing Justice Clinic
As part of the Housing Justice Program, students in the Housing Justice Clinic will gain experience resolving landlord-tenant issues. Students will regularly appear in court representing individuals and families facing eviction.
Learn About the Housing Justice ClinicImmigration Clinic
The Immigration Clinic provides students with an intensive, year-long experience working in-depth on immigration cases on behalf of low-income clients. Under the supervision of the faculty instructor, students may work on family-based immigrant cases, deportation defense, asylum cases, Special Immigrant Juvenile visa cases, and other like matters.
Learn About the Immigration ClinicPro Bono Initiative
Along with the privleges of being a lawyer come responsibilities, one of which includes a lawyer's pro bono obligation to provide legal services and access to justice to those in need. Nebraska Law's Pro Bono Initiative seeks to encourage and recognize students who complete qualifying pro bono work while in law school.
Academic Programs
The flexibility of Nebraska Law’s curriculum allows students to customize their education and focus on areas that matter most to them. Our academic programs in Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law, Law + Business and Law-Psychology provide students with opportunities beyond their coursework, offering a more immersive course of study. Students in these programs use the knowledge and skills they are developing to present at academic and industry conferences, to publish their research, and to compete in academic competitions.
Space, Cyber, and National Security Law Program
Nebraska Law offers an LL.M. degree in space, cyber, and national security law and offers the full curriculum to Juris Doctor students as a concentrated program of study. Students explore laws and regulations that impact every satellite, every phone call, every online interaction, and develop the skills they will need to solve problems now and into the future. This is a niche area of law, and Nebraska is proud to be one of few law schools to offered it.
Explore the Space, Cyber, and National Security Law ProgramLaw-Psychology Program
The Law-Psychology Program is one of the leading programs to offer interdisciplinary training in psychology and law. The program specializes in training scholars who will be able to apply psychology and other social and behavioral sciences to analyses of empirical questions in law and policy. Students in the program study and apply theory and research from social, cognitive, clinical, and developmental psychology to problems in law and public policy.
Learn About the Law-Psychology ProgramLaw + Business Program
The Law + Business Program prepares students for a variety of careers using their legal and business knowledge. In addition to the traditional range of business law classes, Nebraska Law offers business-related programs of concentrated study, business programming and volunteer opportunities, and fellowships and capstone opportunities that allow students to apply and improve their Law + Business knowledge before graduation.
Explore the Law + Business ProgramLearn the law and develop advocacy skills
Mauricio Murga Rios, '21, worked to hone his knowledge of immigration practices and develop his advocacy skills. Learn more about Murga Rios.
Learn to lead on campus and in the community
Melissa Araiza, '21, stretched her law school experience with a summer externship with the consumer protection division of the Nebraska Attorney General's Office. Learn more about Araiza.
Externships
Externships provide students with an opportunity to earn academic credit while putting their legal knowledge into practice and apply their coursework to a real-life setting. Externs work closely with attorneys who provide supervision and mentorship throughout the externship experience. Nebraska Law has many established externship opportunities, or students may work with a faculty supervisor to find something to suit their interests.
