Preparation for the practice of law requires context and application.
It requires firsthand involvement in what lawyers do and is how expertise is built. It requires challenging your understanding of justice and its fundamental role in society. The clinics and externships at Vermont Law School engage you in that preparation.
Every student at VLS has the opportunity to enroll in a clinic or externship.
The Environmental Advocacy Clinic, in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, is an in-house clinic that operates as a public interest law office, teaching students how to be lawyers by representing clients in need. Clinical experience helps students become well-rounded, skilled professionals who can develop arguments and claims from the ground up, explore strategies and options, and communicate effectively with clients, courts, agency officials, scientific experts, and opposing parties.
The Environmental Justice (EJ) Clinic at VLS is one of just a few law school clinics in the United States specifically devoted to environmental justice, an interdisciplinary practice at the intersection of civil rights and the environment. Students are involved in real-life cases.
The Energy Clinic provides opportunities for our JD, LLM, and Master of Energy Regulation and Law (MERL) students to progressively develop the knowledge, skills, and values integral to the field of energy law and policy, while helping our clients meet local energy needs with reliable, clean, and affordable resources.
Students in the Food and Agriculture Clinic work on practical projects with real-world implications. We collaborate with local, regional, national, and international partners, and engage in law and policy work that addresses challenges related to food and land justice, public health, the economy, food security, and animal welfare.
South Royalton Legal Clinic (SRLC)
The South Royalton Legal Clinic (SRLC) serves Vermont residents who are unable to afford counsel and who need assistance with issues such as bankruptcy, children’s rights, disability, domestic violence, family law, housing, immigration, veterans' issues, and wills. Working under state and federal student practice rules, approximately 40 Vermont Law School student clinicians and work-study students help to represent clients in over 150 court, administrative, and other appearances per year. The clinic has trained many leading legal service providers in Vermont.
To learn more, watch our clinic webinars.