Community Development Clinic Information for Law Students
The Community Development Clinic is a teaching law practice to serve nonprofits, community organizations, and rural governments throughout Alabama, the nation, and the world. The Clinic aims to empower its clients through advice, counsel, and advocacy to advance their missions for justice, human rights, economic development, culture, and flourishing communities.
Under faculty supervision, senior law students gain formative experience counseling organizations to ensure their compliance, sustainability, and success. From small towns and start-up programs to international NGOs, the Clinic offers world-class, client-centered legal services in three broad areas:
Corporate
The Clinic serves clients with incorporation, tax exemption, compliance, and governance matters. This may include assistance and preparation of articles of incorporation, bylaws, applications for tax exemption, and related matters to promote strong starts, build sustainable structures, and ensure best practices.
Operations and Transactions
The Clinic serves clients on legal matters related to their operations and transactions. This may include drafting policies and forms, protecting intellectual property, handling personnel, assessing risk, negotiating deals, drafting and reviewing contracts, resolving conflicts, solving problems, and designing new projects.
Policy and Advocacy
The Clinic serves clients with research and analysis on legal and policy questions related to clients’ work in the world. This may include memos, whitepapers, opinion letters, and other reports. The Clinic may also advise and counsel clients on strategies to advocate for their causes and, although the Clinic does not litigate in court, it may represent clients to advance their missions in other contexts.
Prof. Jeff Baker directs the Community Development Clinic.
To inquire about the Community Development Clinic, please reach out to the Law Clinics at (205) 348-4960, email lawclinics@law.ua.edu, or email Prof. Baker at jrbaker@law.ua.edu.