University of Wisconsin Law School students don't just learn the basics of legal rules. They learn why those rules evolved to address social concerns and how those rules operate in the real world.

Catch up with what's been going on in our 16 in-house clinics, run by 22 full-time clinical faculty:

EJI runs seven civil law clinics. One of them, the Immigrant Justice Clinic (IJC), sent a team of students and Director Erin Barbato to the Border Patrol Facility in McAllen, Texas, this summer. While temperatures soared to record heights, the Wisconsin volunteer team was documenting very different records – violations of detained minors’ rights under the Flores v. Meese class action settlement. The IJC volunteers interviewed unaccompanied minors as young as 7 years old as well as families with young children to determine whether they had received basic necessities to which they are legally entitled, such as food, water, clothing or a medical assessment, after crossing the Rio Grande. Their statements were used to support litigation brought by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law to improve detention conditions for children at the border.

CPP is a health advocacy powerhouse. Together with EJI, CPP is a driving force behind the community-academic partnership LIFT Wisconsin. LIFT Wisconsin is undertaking a yearlong public service campaign to encourage people to use the free LegalTuneUp.org tool. Available in English and Spanish, it encourages self-help for removing criminal and eviction records, reinstating suspended driver's licenses and modifying child support. Clever billboards advertising this tool can be seen throughout Wisconsin.

The L&E Clinic, an integral service for Wisconsin's small business community, has been recognized as a leader in rural economic development. Run by Jeff Glazer, the L&E's Rural Entrepreneurship Program connects law students, business development organizations and local law firms in rural Wisconsin to support startups and small businesses in those communities. Ruby Coffee Roasters, "in a small town called Nelsonville (population 200)," is proud to be a success story. See how the L&E Clinic helped Ruby Coffee along the way.

FJRC is home to our seven criminal law clinics. The Wisconsin Innocence Project is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Over the past 25 years, teams of students and attorneys have worked to secure the release of more than 30 people who were wrongfully convicted. The Project has also worked to enact changes to the criminal legal system in Wisconsin, including reforms to interrogations, eyewitness identification and DNA testing. This fall, to highlight the change that still needs to happen, the Project has organized a speaker series including Jarrett Adams, attorney and author of "Redeeming Justice"; Thomas Dybdahl, former PDS attorney and author of "When Innocence Is Not Enough"; and Professor Valena Beety, Robert H. McKinney professor of law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law and author of "Manifesting Justice."

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