Read their stories:
Environmental Justice Clinic Involves Ft Myers Community in Mediation Prep
Over 300 plaintiffs have signed on to a class action lawsuit suing the City of Fort Myers and its mayor and city manager. When the city indicated that it was open to mediating the claims contained in the suit, clinic students from Miami Law's Environmental Justice Clinic faced the challenge of determining how to incorporate meaningful community input into the mediation process. As part of the clinic’s seminar class, the students covered how to advocate for a client who extends beyond the individual into an entire community and how to incorporate community empowerment through the litigation process. For the clients in Fort Myers, EJC students were not merely discussing community lawyering as a theory but were applying its principles first-hand.
Human Rights Clinic Students Travel to CO for Answers to Client's Case
Ryan Rizzo and Roman Rodriguez-Tejera, second-year students from the Human Rights Clinic, traveled to Colorado over Fall break with Professor Carrie Bettinger-Lopez, and forensic science expert Peter Diaczuk, to get to the bottom of a burning question: How, when, and where did their client’s children die?
The Human Rights Clinic represents Jessica Lenahan, a Colorado mother whose three daughters were killed in 1999 after police failed to enforce her restraining order against her estranged husband. Lenahan fought this injustice by taking her case all the way to the United States Supreme Court and, after losing there, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, where, in 2011, she prevailed against the U.S.
Immigration Clinic Helps Somali Obtain Legal Residence in the U.S.
Less than one year after obtaining a classwide stay of removal for 92 Somalis who faced torture in their home country, the Immigration Clinic and co-counsel are seeing the fruits of their labor. With the help of the clinic and pro bono counsel across the country, dozens of Somalis have had their immigration cases reopened, permitting them to apply for the right to remain lawfully in the United States.
Faulty Evidence, Mistaken Identity – Innocence Clinic Fights Wrongful Conviction
In the early morning hours of September 26, 2018, Dustin Duty was shackled and transported to the Jacksonville courthouse to attend a new hearing he had waited years to attend. After years of desperation, isolation, and many days where he felt there was no hope, Duty, now thirty-four years old, and a client of the University of Miami Innocence Clinic, would have one final chance at seeking justice and overturning his wrongful conviction.
Tenants' Rights Clinic Saves Homes and Prevents Homelessness
The Miami Herald recently reported that Miami is the worst metropolitan area in the United States for renters. Almost 63% of tenants in South Florida are cost-burdened and pay more than 30% of their income towards rent. With few affordable housing options, families facing eviction from subsidized housing can quickly become homeless if they lose their rental assistance. Students in the Tenants’ Rights Clinic work to keep these families in their homes and, at the same time, learn valuable skills about litigation, negotiation, and advocacy.
Clinic Partnership Has Helped Homeless Veterans Gain Benefits Over $3 Million
University of Miami Law graduates have helped South Florida's homeless and at-risk Veterans collectively receive more than $3 million in benefits. An agreement between Miami Law's Health Rights Clinic and the nonprofit Purpose Built Families Foundation will provide funding for two law school Fellows to serve hundreds of South Florida Veterans over the next year.
