Clinics are a fantastic way to develop your talents as a lawyer. In classes, in the classroom in law school, you spend a lot of time learning the law itself. So we have to provide, and we do provide, great opportunities for students to put that knowledge into practice. And that's where they perfect it, that's where they really grow, and develop, and refine.
I think the practical experience is everything. Being able to go to class a couple days a week, but also get out in the field, see attorneys in action, it's critical for our education, and I think it's awesome that we have so many opportunities to do that. This semester, I was able to participate in the judicial placement clinic so I was working downtown at the federal courthouse for Judge Novak and then next semester in the Fall I'll be completing a criminal placement with the Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney's office.
So this semester, I'm in a clinical placement at the Solicitor General of Virginia's office, and they do appeals to the Virginia Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit, and the US Supreme Court. And it's just been, honestly, the best experience I could have had. I've gotten to work on US Supreme Court cases, which is not something law students get to do. And it's just been a wonderful opportunity to engage and learn about what it is I want to do.
We have some fantastic clinics here. The Intellectual Property Transaction Clinic, the Family Law Clinic, the Wrongful Conviction Clinic, and the Children's Defense Clinics. What's good about these clinics is it gives students a fantastic place to develop what they've learned, but it's also a situation in where public need is significant. So we're able to help students learn, but also able to help the community as well.
