Clinics
Detroit Mercy Law is proud of its clinical program, one of a small number of required clinical programs in the country.
History of Detroit Mercy Law Clinics
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History
Founded initially as the Urban Law Clinic in 1965, it was among the earliest clinics in the nation. Since that time, the program has flourished receiving numerous awards including the ABA Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access with Meritorious Recognition in 2012, and the ABA Law Student Division’s Judy M. Weightman Memorial Public Interest Award in 2006. Most recently, the Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Clinic was awarded The Ilene and Michael Shaw Public Service Award, an award chosen by Federal Bar Association chapters nationwide.
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Location
The Detroit Mercy Law clinical program resides in the George J. Asher Law Clinic Center, a converted firehouse built in 1910. The firehouse was renovated and converted for our clinical program due to a gift from Detroit Mercy Law alumnus Anthony Asher, the heirs of Walter Buhl Ford III and the McGregor Fund, and many other generous donors.
For further information or questions about our Clinical Program, call 313-596-0262.
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View Photos of Clinic Building
Clinics for Upper-Level Students
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Appellate Advocacy Clinic, State Appellate Defenders Office (SADO)
Students gain exposure to appellate practice and postconviction and sentencing advocacy while working alongside attorneys within the Juvenile Lifer Unit of the State Appellate Defender Office.
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Arts & Entertainment Law Clinic
Students provide pro bono legal services to artists, including musicians, filmmakers, and photographers, to protect intellectual property and creative rights.
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Conviction Integrity Clinic
Students engage in criminal justice reform and review wrongful conviction claims in collaboration with the Wayne County and Oakland County Prosecutors' Offices.
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Criminal Trial Clinic
Students gain exposure to criminal defense and represent misdemeanor defendants in district courts.
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Environmental Law Clinic
Students engage in environmental justice advocacy by working on cases and policy issues alongside attorneys from the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center.
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Family Law Clinic
Students represent clients with domestic relations matters before the Wayne County Circuit Court.
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Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Clinic
Students provide guidance on procedural matters and case strategy to individuals representing themselves in federal court.
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Immigration Law Clinic
Students represent immigrants before the United States Immigration Court and the United States Department of Homeland Security.
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International Patent Law Clinic
Students represent inventors seeking patents and assist with patent applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
International Intellectual Property Law Clinic Client Application
The annual National Patent Drafting Competition, organized by the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and held at the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional USTPO, takes place at the beginning of each year and offers student teams the opportunity to present their patent applications in front of a panel of judges comprised of patent examiners, practitioners and several high profile guest judges. Stay tuned for our next competition. Registration information will be made available in early September.
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Juvenile Appellate Clinic
Students represent children in cases appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals from trial court proceedings in Wayne County Juvenile Court involving child protective proceedings, with some exposure to juvenile delinquency.
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Trademark and Entrepreneur Clinic
Students assist entrepreneurs with filing trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and advise on legal issues involved in business startups.
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Unemployment and Workers' Rights Clinic
Students represent clients who have been denied unemployment benefits. -
Veterans Law Clinic
Students represent military veterans, their families, and survivors seeking benefits for service-connected disabilities and discharge upgrades before the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
As part of our commitment to providing service learning experiences for students from day one, we offer mini-clinics for first-year students. Our mini-clinics, rooted in the Jesuit and Mercy traditions of caring for those with the least resources and greatest need, help our students develop legal, leadership, and community service skills. In mini-clinics, first-year students are trained and supervised by attorneys in the legal community and help clients with a variety of matters.
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Crime Stoppers Clinic
First-year students have had the opportunity to work with Crime Stoppers, a non-profit agency that assists the public in solving crimes through various tools and seeks to empower people to anonymously report crime. Students supported the Crime Stoppers team by reviewing cold case files and strategizing further steps in criminal investigations.
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Driver's License Restoration Clinic
Students assist veterans with finding outstanding warrants or tickets that are infringing on their ability to hold a license and help the veterans take the necessary steps to reinstate their license.
“The clinic was a great opportunity to learn by helping real people with real problems. The clinic gave me hands-on experience that I would have never read about in books or learned by sitting in a classroom. Working in this clinic helped me remember why I wanted to go to law school in the first place, which is to help others.”
Nour Alaouie ‘22
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Expungement Clinic
Students have the opportunity to participate in expungement eligibility mini-clinics. In doing this, students learn how to read a criminal record, learn about the law that governs setting aside a conviction, and get the opportunity to work directly with clients needing assistance.
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Greening of Detroit Clinic
First-year students have also worked with Greening of Detroit, a non-profit that serves Detroit through planting trees and other beatification projects, that also offers a job training program that creates job opportunities, some of which require a commercial driver’s license (CDL). Students in the clinic provided information to trainees with civil issues or misdemeanors on how to resolve the matters so that they could pursue their CDL and improve their employment opportunities.
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Pope Francis Center Legal Clinic
In the past, students had the opportunity to volunteer at the Pope Francis Center and work alongside law firms, etc. to assist guests of the Center with a variety of legal issues.
“Helping people is really what practicing law is all about, and the mini-clinics helped me understand how important pro bono work is for the community.”
Sydney Fontanilla ‘22
“This experience helps future lawyers gain an appreciation and understanding of the barriers to access across populations, and could motivate students to consider public need and social policy in their various interests in the law.”
Brandon Alford ‘23
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Unemployment Clinic
Prior to Sugar Law establishing a full clinic, students had the opportunity to assist Sugar Law in doing intakes and assisting clients with identifying evidence to support their unemployment compensation claims.
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Wayne County Tax Foreclosure Hearing
Students assist attorneys and non-attorney foreclosure experts from the United Community Housing Coalition and Michigan Legal Services. In January, the Wayne County Treasurer’s office has Show Cause Hearings for thousands of Wayne County residents who are facing tax foreclosure on their residential property. Students observe and support attorneys; students review documents to make sure they are complete and do other administrative tasks to allow attorneys to work with more clients.
“This clinic developed my interest in real estate, property and business in the context of legal rights and community development. When I look back to this experience I realize how important it is to use my privilege to support those who are most vulnerable to systemic forms of racial, social, and economic injustice.”
Sarah Elsayed ‘22
Traveling Expungement Clinic
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Traveling Expungement Clinic
The Traveling Expungement Clinics provide individuals with no cost, legal services to determine if their criminal record was eligible for expungement and to assist them in navigating the complicated process. These clinics offer expungement services in mid-northern Michigan and to date, 50 students have travelled to sixteen counties providing assistance to more than 500 people to determine their eligibility for expungement. Students work with volunteer attorneys, court officials, judges, sheriffs, and Detroit Mercy Law faculty and staff.
In 2020, Detroit Mercy Law Clinical Program, (now Dean) Associate Dean of Experiential Learning, Nicholas Schroeck, Adjunct Professor Judge Michelle Rick and (now Assistant Dean) Clinic Director of Operations and Outreach, Rebecca Nowak, received the State Bar of Michigan Kimberly M. Cahill Leadership Award for the 2019 travelling expungement clinic. This award is presented to a recognized local or affinity bar association, program, or leader for excellence in promoting the ideal of professionalism or equal justice for all, or in responding to a compelling legal need within the community during the past year or on an ongoing basis.
“The Expungement Clinic was a legal innovation designed to restore dignity, pride, and, in some instances, life necessities to persons among us who have paid their debt to society and otherwise atoned for their past wrongdoings. Expungements are restorative. They have the power of opening doors that would remain closed - doors to employment, to student loans, to public benefits and other opportunities, and to a better life.”
Hon. Michelle Rick '91, Court of Appeals, Clinton & Gratiot County, Adjunct Professor
Drafting Competitions
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Midwest Regional Patent Drafting Competition
The International Patent Law Clinical Program is part of the International Intellectual Property Law Clinic and run by the USPTO and has become a national competition. Each year six schools have a Patent Drafting Competition and teams from Canada and the United States compete.
Past Competitions:
2024: 9TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION
Team: Sydney Blanchard, Andrew Majchrzak, Briyhan Martin, Rachel Schulte, Coach: Shannon Smith2023: 8TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION (placed 3rd in National and 1st in Regional):
Team: Yasmeen Moradshahi, Megz Kubis, Caley McCarthy, Michelle Hudson, Coach: Shannon Smith, and Patent Application drafter: Mark Adamaszek2022: 7TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION
The team was comprised of Mark Adamaszek, Matthew Chess, Megz Kubis, and Tony Cimini. They were coached by alum Shannon Smith '13 (shareholder at Reising Ethington), and Melissa Eckhause was their faculty advisor.2021: 6TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION
On March 6-7, 2021, the 6th Annual International Patent Drafting Competition took place. The winner from the region is University of Minnesota Law School. In the past, there was 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, but now, the regional winners who will go to the national competition at the USPTO main office in Arlington, VA.Detroit Mercy Law Team: Jeremiah Foley, Fadi Abuzir, and Austin Miller. Alumni Coaches: Shannon Smith and Deanna Kossaras
2020: 5TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION
On March 13-14, 2020, Deanne Kossaras '13, intellectual property counsel at Harman International, and Shannon Smith ’13, shareholder at Reising Ethington, coached the 2020 Detroit Mercy Law competition team: Chandler Dorris ’20, Jeremiah Foley ’21, Fadi Abuzir ’22, and Catherine Mitchell ’21. This year the competition took place virtually due to the global pandemic. Teams competed via WebEx while judges and USPTO staff were at the USPTO offices.Fifteen teams are competing in the 2020 competition. University of St. Thomas School of Law, University of Michigan Law School, Michigan State University College of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, University of Akron School of Law, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, University of Windsor Faculty of Law, University of Dayton School of Law, St. Louis University School of Law, Windsor Law, IU Maurer School of Law, University of Cincinnati , University of Detroit Mercy, Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School
2019: 4TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION
On February 23, 2019, the International Intellectual Property Clinic hosted its 4th International Patent Drafting Competition at the Detroit office of the USPTO.Fifteen teams from the United States and Canada competed. The winning teams were 1st Place - Indiana Mauer School of Law; 2nd Place - University of Windsor Faculty of Law; 3rd Place University of Michigan Law School.
2018: 3RD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION
On February 24, 2018, the International Intellectual Property Clinic hosted its 3rd Annual International Patent Drafting Competition at the Detroit office of the USPTO.List of 2018 competing teams: Saint Louis University Law School, Indiana University School of Law, Michigan State University College of Law, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, (2nd Place) University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Thomas R. Kline School of Law - Drexel University, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, University of Michigan Law School, (1st Place) Georgia State University College of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, The John Marshall Law School, Duquesne University School of Law, Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, and (3rd Place) Osgood Law School - York University.
2017: 2ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PATENT DRAFTING COMPETITION
In 2017, nine teams competed from Canada and the United States in the competition held at the Detroit USPTO.List of 2017 competing teams: University of Windsor Faculty of Law/Detroit Mercy Law, Ohio State University, (1st Place) St. Louis University, (3rd Place) Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, Indiana University, Michigan State University College of Law, (2nd Place) Osgood University, Boston University School of Law and the University of Michigan Law School.
News from the Clinic Program
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Celebrating 60 Years of Clinical Legal Education