Clinic Highlights - Winter 2025

Greetings from UCLA Law’s Clinical Program! I am delighted to share our winter newsletter. As you will see, in 2025, UCLA Law students fanned out across the city, country, and globe, taking on a wide array of cases and projects. Through our clinics, students immersed themselves in real-world advocacy on the most cutting-edge legal issues, from protecting California’s beaches to enforcing prisoners’ civil rights. We advocated on behalf of documentary filmmakers, indigenous communities in Honduras, immigrant detainees, survivors of the L.A. wildfires, and students and administrators in LAUSD public schools, to name just a few of our recent clients. Looking ahead, we are excited to announce the launch of our Housing Justice Clinic, directed by the newest member of our clinical faculty, Matt Nickell. Please enjoy the highlights below, and keep your eye out for more exciting news and updates in the year to come!

Best wishes,

Nina

Nina Rabin, Clinical Professor of Law
Director, Immigrant Family Legal Clinic
Director of Clinical Education

Documentary Film Legal Clinic

The Documentary Film Legal Clinic had an eventful 2025, culminating with our hosting the successful Los Angeles premiere of the SXSW Grand Jury Award-winning film Shuffle, at the Landmark Westwood theater. Shuffle explores the unintended consequences of profit-driven care in the addiction treatment industry. The response to the event was overwhelming with an over-capacity guest list and a packed house. The event was a testament to the talent and dedication of our student-clinicians, who provided ongoing and, at times, urgent legal support for the film as it geared up for its world premiere and who continue to make the clinic’s support of important stories and diverse filmmakers possible.

In June, the clinic traveled to Washington, D.C., where it hosted a series of legal education panels at the 2025 DC/DOX Reality Check Forum. Sessions featured leading experts in the media and entertainment fields, covering key topics like fair use, libel, production risk, insurance, and distribution. The panels sought to offer practical, real-world guidance to filmmakers, editors, archival producers, and educators, all who were keenly aware of the greater urgency to understand and address heightened legal risks in the current climate. Being in the nation’s capital at such a critical time also reminded us of the growing need to draw awareness to important issues that creators face and help them navigate the complex legal landscape of documentary filmmaking. The clinic continues to seek opportunities for outreach and, in that regard, will be hosting educational panels at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February. We also hope to plan a social impact media event in the coming months.

More information about the Documentary Film Legal Clinic

Domestic Violence Prevention Practicum

In the Domestic Violence Prevention Practicum (DVPP), UCLA Law students volunteer with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles's (LAFLA) walk-in clinic at the Long Beach and DTLA courthouses, where they help pro per litigants complete Domestic Violence Restraining Order (DVRO) petitions. At the semester's midway point, students represent clients in DVRO hearings in Los Angeles Superior Court. Each student pair represents two clients before the end of the semester if circumstances allow.

During the Spring 2025 semester, UCLA Law students successfully secured four DVROs for survivors of domestic violence. In one case, the students negotiated a comprehensive settlement that provided vital safety protections and addressed child custody, child support, spousal support, bill payments, and rehabilitative treatment for the respondent. In another matter, the students skillfully and delicately managed unexpected allegations of child abuse, ultimately obtaining a restraining order and a protective custody order after a contested hearing. For one client, the most effective course of action was to remove her from the vexatious litigant list — a designation that had barred her from seeking protection and filing for custody — after her abuser had submitted court pleadings in her name without her knowledge.

Next semester, six new students will continue advocating for survivors by taking on new DVRO cases and volunteering in the LAFLA pro per clinic.

More information about the Domestic Violence Prevention Practicum

From left: Tabitha Leonards '24, Anne Sidwell, Director of Extern & Field Placement Programs, and Emma Bell '24 at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles's Space at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse

California Environmental Legislation Clinic and

Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic

Maeve Anderson ’26 (left) and Mackay Peltzer ’26 at the California Coastal Commission.

Many top law schools have an environmental law clinic, but UCLA Law has two, which students in the environmental law specialization often cite as the highlight of their time at UCLA Law.

In the California Environmental Legislation and Policy Clinic, students work with Sacramento lawmakers to research problems, draft policy memos, and help write real legislation. This spring, Maya Hernandez ’26 and Ian Bertrando ’26 testified as expert witnesses before the California Senate Environmental Quality Committee on SB 526, which they helped draft. It targeted air pollution from businesses that process construction debris like concrete and asphalt, grinding them into fine sand and gravel for reuse as construction materials. When lawmakers put questions to the bill’s author, they praised the students’ work. “I appreciate the UCLA Law students you’ve involved in this,” says Sen. Catherine Blakespear, the committee chair. “It’s a great community inclusion of our next generation’s brightest minds.” The bill cleared the committee and passed the state senate.

UCLA Law students also helped draft a successful bill designed to ensure that carbon dioxide is transported safely by pipeline. Jennifer Imm ’25, Stella Gianoukakis ’25, and Anirudh Krishna ’25 researched the impacts of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration and engaged with pipeline safety advocates and community stakeholders. Imm and Krishna continued the work throughout multiple legislative sessions, culminating in SB 614, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this fall.

In the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, students represent clients on pressing matters at the local, national, and international levels. As part of that clinic, Maeve Anderson ’26 and Mackay Peltzer ’26 testified at a May hearing in Half Moon Bay on a precedent-setting matter before the California Coastal Commission. The City of Pacifica’s land use proposal included seawalls, which deplete California’s beaches. Peltzer and Anderson were testifying on behalf of a real client, the Surfrider Foundation. Julia Stein, who serves as the deputy director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and is the clinic’s supervising attorney, accompanied the students to the commission hearing and said afterward that it was heartwarming “to see so many community members come up and thank Maeve and Mackay for their testimony and for bringing a well-reasoned legal analysis to the proceedings."

The Wells Clinic also contributed significant briefs in important cases. This fall, Emmett Institute Executive Director Cara Horowitz, who directs the clinic, oversaw the filing of an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, defending the right of air pollution regulators to set important standards under the Clean Air Act to protect public health. The case involves a challenge to South Coast AQMD's recent efforts to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution by accelerating the transition to zero-NOx-emissions models for certain water heaters and boilers.

The Wells Clinic also took action on the issue of wasted water from the Colorado River. NRDC and coalition of Waterkeepers petitioned the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to utilize its legal authority to stop the waste of Colorado River water in Lower Basin states. Students in the clinic helped research federal law and draft the petition on behalf of their clients.

More information about the California Environmental Legislation Clinic

More information about the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic

Human Rights in Action Clinic

The Human Rights in Action Clinic (HRAC) conducted field work in Honduras with our collaborative partner, the Consejo de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH). COPINH asked the HRAC to accompany the struggles of 11 Lenca communities to obtain recognition of and legal title to their land and territories.

Our first task was to gather and organize the documentation of their claims. Students Vanessa Vanegas LLM ’25, Gabriel Henríquez ’25, Miksa Karcheski ’25, and Madison Simons ’25 created a digital archive of the files that we systemized and reviewed for relevant information with the COPINH team. We then conducted field work with respect to three community struggles: La Nueva Esperanza, El Achiotal, and Rio Blanco. We obtained from the national archives documentation of titles with regard to the respective land claims going back to the 18th century. We met with the communities of La Nueva Esperanza and El Achiotal to gather direct testimony of their struggles. Each community has been criminalized for their attempts to occupy and gain title to ancestral territory. La Nueva Esperanza was forcibly evicted from their land, and the community is now living on the side of the road under the surveillance of the national military police.

Back in the United States, we drafted for COPINH several legal memos and other documents. In the Rio Blanco matter, we analyzed the regulatory requirements and process for titling indigenous lands and territories and the strategy going forward. We offered analysis and drafted an executive order to transfer state-owned property to the National Agrarian Institute for subsequent titling in favor of the La Nueva Esperanza community. And we analyzed the legal justification for titling the community of El Achiotal under the international framework for the rights of indigenous peoples.

More information about the Human Rights in Action Clinic

Human Rights Litigation Clinic

The Human Rights Litigation Clinic, together with two small civil rights firms in Los Angeles, was appointed class counsel for a class of immigration detainees at the ICE processing center in Adelanto. The civil detainees there engaged in a peaceful protest about repeated lockdowns that were happening in response to outside protests. The corporation that runs the facility used force against the detainees, saturating their units with pepper spray and failing to adequately clean it afterward or allow them to decontaminate properly. The detainees suffered from the pepper spray for days. Over the summer, the class was certified and the defendants’ motion for summary judgment was denied. The corporation had argued that civil detainees do not have First Amendment rights to protest, but the court agreed with us that immigrants have First Amendment rights and a jury could find that the force used against them was retaliatory. The opinion states, “Civil detainees do not give up their First Amendment rights under the California or federal constitutions when they are detained.”

More information about the Human Rights Litigation Clinic

Immigrant Family Legal Clinic

From left: Gina Le ’26 presents to RFK teachers on the difference between administrative and judicial warrants, and Eleonora Penagos Dordevic LLM ’25 presents to parents about what to do if they are in an encounter with ICE.

Last spring, the Immigrant Family Legal Clinic (ImmFam) continued to provide its clients at the RFK Community Schools with holistic legal services. An expanded team included 11 advanced and six new law students, three undergraduate interns, our new in-house social worker, two staff attorneys, and an office manager. ImmFam represented 33 students and family members – 15 family units – and stepped up our outreach to respond to the increased need for legal information and resources. Law students provided “know your rights” presentations and family preparedness workshops that reached more than 100 families and 600 upper school students in a school-wide assembly, and they trained over 70 staff and faculty members.

This fall, we had a rare and long-awaited asylum victory for an indigenous Central American asylum-seeker whom the clinic has been representing for more than two years. In 2023, law student Leah Bishop ’24 successfully represented our client on an appeal of her initial asylum decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals and won a rare reversal and remand based on ineffective assistance of her prior counsel. She also obtained Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for our adult client’s young daughter. Last spring, law students Royal Valencia Ricardez ’25 and Jo Zhou ’25 filed extensive evidence and briefing and prepared the client for testimony. The hearing was unexpectedly postponed until this fall, when all their hours of labor finally paid off. The judge was so impressed by the record that he granted asylum from the bench. Meanwhile, a mighty team of 16 law students, five undergraduate interns, and one new UCLA social work intern provided tenacious outreach and advocacy for the school community, responding to the high levels of stress and risk that the families at RFK are currently experiencing.

More information about the Immigrant Family Legal Clinic

Immigrant Rights Policy Clinic

From left: Alex Rodriguez ’26, Soraya Morales Nuñez ’26, and Victoria Calderon ’26 in Sacramento

Last spring, the Immigrants’ Rights Policy Clinic worked with local and state stakeholders to advance immigrants’ rights in a challenging political climate.

Niki Nguyen ’25, Mariam Elmalh ’25, and Stella Linardi ’26 worked with a coalition of Los Angeles-based organizations to advance sanctuary policies in local jurisdictions, culminating in the passage of a resolution in San Fernando, protecting against the use of city resources and data for immigration enforcement.

Soraya Morales-Nunez ’26, Alex Rodriguez ’26, and Victoria Calderon ’26 supported statewide legislative efforts to expand immigrant protections and defeat several bills that would strip away existing protections. They also developed a toolkit for how individuals, organizations and the attorney general’s office can uphold the California Values Act (SB 54) in the face of challenges from the federal government and local jurisdictions, seeking to undermine the law. The students presented their recommendations in an April meeting at the attorney general’s office in Sacramento and the toolkit they developed was released.

Pelin Ensari ’26, Jesus Carreon ’25, and Sara Aringoli LLM ’25 worked with the RFK Community Schools to respond to urgent concerns about the potential for immigration enforcement on school campuses in light of the rescission of the ICE’s “sensitive locations” policy. Their work culminated in a presentation to school administrators and proposals for strengthening the schools’ existing policies to ensure a safe learning environment for all students. The entire clinic also contributed to the launch of a community-based court watch program and traveled to Sacramento as part of the California Immigrant Policy Center’s Immigrant Day of Action.

More information about the Immigrant Rights Policy Clinic

Mediation Clinic

From left: Calvin Thrift '26, Ellie Livni '26, Riley McCoy '26, and clinic instructor Deirdre Lanning.

Over the past three semesters, students in the Mediation Clinic have helped eight former couples divide property, craft parenting plans, and determine spousal or child support, contributing more than 100 hours of pro bono mediation services. Students say the benefits of participating in the clinic go beyond the legal skills they’ve acquired.

"My time in the medication clinic has been incredibly rewarding,” says Riley McCoy ’26. I've learned valuable skills about managing interpersonal conflicts both in my personal and professional life that I will take far into my practice.” Fellow clinic member Calvin Thrift ’26 says he’s gained “valuable skills for his life and career” and adds, “Getting the chance to help families effectively plan for their future is a bonus.”

More information about the Mediation Clinic

Patent Clinic

When Beeline Wheelchairs needed a patent for the design of the product that they invented – a low-cost, customizable wheelchair constructed from old stop-sign posts – the Patent Clinic took them on as a client. The result, “System for Construction of an Adjustable Wheelchair and Method of Using the Same” (U.S. Patent No. 9,974,703), is just one of the 26 issued patents that students have obtained for nonprofit pro bono clients. Students screen and select clients and draft and file their applications. “We receive hundreds of emails requesting representation and select clients who are traditionally excluded from access,” says Eugene Chong, director of the clinic.

More information about the Patent Clinic

Photo Credit: Beeline Wheelchairs

Prisoners’ Rights Clinic

Arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, students in the Prisoners’ Rights Clinic helped advance civil rights claims brought by a client who was blinded in one eye after cataract surgery and another who was severely beaten by other prisoners after officers failed to protect him. “Students come to understand that prisoner plaintiffs deserve first-rate lawyering and that, with very hard work, they are capable of providing it,” says Professor Aaron Littman, who founded the clinic and serves as its faculty director. Indeed, the clinic secured victories in all five of its cases that were decided in 2024. The success continued in 2025, with wins in three more matters, in the First, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits, and an oral argument before the Ninth Circuit in Las Vegas. After writing briefs for two cases as a student, Joe Gaylin ’24 — who went on to serve as a federal district court clerk — says, “This class is everything that law school should be. It embodies the ideal that the best way to learn is to do.”

More information about the Prisoners’ Rights Clinic

Allie Zenwirth ’26 (left), with Aaron Littman, delivers oral argument before the Ninth Circuit in Las Vegas in October.

Street Law

The Street Law Clinic collaborated with nine high schools and 13 host teachers across greater L.A. Collectively, 18 Street Law students taught thought-provoking, engaging, and empowering lessons to nearly 400 high school students each week. Their lessons spanned a broad range of substantive areas, including know-your-rights, immigration, environmental, civil liberties, contracts, entertainment, and intellectual property. The cohort provided roughly 10,000 minutes of instruction over the course of the semester.

“The Street Law Clinic was my favorite class in law school,” says Alondra Ulloa ’25. “Having my students ask critical questions, challenge ideas, and even express interest in pursuing legal careers was incredibly rewarding for them and educational and empowering for me. It reminded me why I chose this path in the first place: to make the law more accessible and to help others see it as a tool for empowerment rather than just a source of harm."

More information about the Street Law Clinic

Supreme Court Clinic

All law students study U.S. Supreme Court cases, but those in UCLA Law’s Supreme Court Clinic actually help represent clients. This year, their efforts led to a unanimous victory in Thompson v. United States, in which the Court held that a defendant cannot be convicted under a statute prohibiting false statements if his statements were merely misleading but not false. In November, the clinic scored another unanimous win in Pitts v. Mississippi, in which the Court held that the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause does not allow a trial court to place a screen between the defendant and a child witness without finding that the screen is necessary to prevent trauma to the child.

The students also persuaded the Court to hear an appeal in Villarreal v. Texas, which Professor Stuart Banner, who directs the clinic, argued earlier this fall. The issue in Villarreal is whether the Sixth Amendment right to counsel guarantees defendants the ability to discuss their testimony with counsel during overnight recesses. For these cases and many others since 2011, students have researched and written briefs. “It’s the kind of experience that few lawyers encounter, and I learned so much from the process,” says clinic student Albert Tian ’25.

More information about the Supreme Court Clinic

Tribal Legal Development Clinic

From left: Merri Lopez-Kiefer, former director of the Office of Native American Affairs at the California Department of Justice; Lindsey Segal ’26; Aine Lawlor ’25; Carole E. Goldberg, Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita; Dorothy Alther, legal director at California Indian Legal Services; and Mica Llerandi, Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation Director of the Tribal Legal Development Clinic.

Over the past year, students in the Tribal Legal Development Clinic (TLDC) worked on a variety of tribal code drafting projects, including marriage and divorce, child welfare, probate, guardianship, adoption, and energy codes. Students also assisted tribal courts by drafting rules of court and informational handbooks for tribal court pro se litigants. Students also researched and provided an analysis with recommendations on how to implement a data disaggregation bill, SB 1016: Latino and Indigenous Disparities Reduction Act, for a county public health office.

Students continue work in the international arena and attended the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folklore (IGC) convening Geneva, Switzerland. In connection with the IGC work, students created a resource for tribes on the important work of IGC and its impact on tribal communities in the United States. Students continue to research and draft memos for indigenous communities about the importance of creating international treaties to protect traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expression.

The TLDC summer fellows assisted and supported the Uniform Law Commission in researching and drafting comments for the model Indian Child Welfare Act. The summer fellows were able to travel to Sante Fe, New Mexico, and observe and learn more about the Uniform Law Commission’s process for creating model state laws.

More information about the Tribal Legal Development Clinic

Veterans Legal Clinic

Appealing benefits claims, resolving landlord-tenant disputes, and clearing criminal records are just some of the ways Veterans Legal Clinic students have supported veterans. “Working on behalf of clients who truly needed dedicated representation helped me bridge the gap between legal theory and real-world advocacy and was the most meaningful part of my time at UCLA Law,” said Army veteran Gabriel Henriquez ’25.

The clinic expanded its impact through two recent projects. It collaborated with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California to create a manual to help attorneys and students navigate low-level infraction cases affecting unhoused clients. The publication, Citation Defense for Unhoused Clients: An Introduction to California Traffic Court, outlines traffic-court procedures, common citation issues, and strategies for advocating effectively for clients who face significant barriers in the legal system.

The clinic also collaborated on a comprehensive report assessing the risks of post-wildfire displacement for residents affected by the Eaton Fire. Students contributed research, interviews, and field work that informed a policy brief focused on protecting long-term Altadena residents as they rebuild.

“Seeing the impact the Palisades and Eaton Fires had on our UCLA and broader L.A. communities was a call to action for our clinic,” says Caitlin Ciardelli ’26. “I’m grateful to our professors for giving us the opportunity to learn how to advocate effectively as law students in the wake of disasters and to contribute to the rebuilding of communities that are so important to all of us. This experience emphasized the importance of community-based lawyering, and I will take the lessons of compassion, resilience, and social responsibility with me as a future attorney."

Learn more about the clinic in this Daily Journal article by Professors Sunita Patel and Jeanne Nishimoto.

More information about the Veterans Legal Clinic

Voting Rights Practicum

The Voting Rights Practicum (VRP) celebrated a major victory this fall when a federal three-judge court in El Paso, Texas, ruled in favor of Hispanic and Black voters in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Abbott, one of the consolidated challenges to Texas’s redistricting plans. The court found that the state’s 2025 congressional map racially gerrymandered multiple districts, weakening the political influence of underrepresented communities. The Brooks Plaintiffs' legal and expert teams were lead under VRP Legal Director Chad Dunn and many students assisted. The judge’s opinion cited Dunn’s work 129 times.  The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the injunction ordered by the trial court for the 2026 elections and now will take up the state's appeal of that decision next term. UCLA Law alumna Sonni Waknin ’20, who is the VRP’s senior voting rights counsel, served as the lead author of the post-trial briefing, with substantial support from UCLA students.

The ruling caps more than a year of intensive student involvement in the Texas litigation. VRP fellows and students contributed to witness preparation, exhibit development, trial briefing, and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, gaining firsthand experience with complex federal litigation.

Beyond Texas, students assisted with a notice letter to the Port of Pasco, Washington, citing violations of the Washington Voting Rights Act and challenging its at-large voting system for diluting Latino voter opportunity. A settlement has now been approved by the court, thanks to collaboration with community partners and student advocates.

Through this work, the VRP continues advancing its dual mission: protecting the right to vote nationwide and providing UCLA students with meaningful, real-world training in the fight for fair representation.

More information about the Voting Rights Practicum