Practical Experience
Biodiversity Law in Paradise (1/15/2013)
Every year, the students in Biodiversity Law travel with Professor Andrew W. Torrance to the Virgin Islands (U.S. and British) for an intensive week-long fieldtrip. This is the dispatch from January 15, which originally appeared on Torrance's blog Lexvivo. The Biodiversity Law class began its first…
Lawyer Suits, Eye Patches and Peg Legs, Oh My!
Back in February, KU's international moot court team traveled to Denver, Colorado to compete in the 55th annual Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. The Jessup Moot Court competition is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from 80 countries and more…
Traffic Court Experience Drives Home Vital Advocacy Skills
My new tie felt like a noose tightening around my neck. The suit chafed against me. I couldn’t breathe. My hands shook. Cold nausea rolled over me. But there was no backing out now. I shuffled my evidence, my notes, anything to keep busy, occasionally glancing to the podium, knowing I…
Three Clinics Later, 3L Flush with Practical Experience and More Focused in Job Search
The University of Kansas School of Law provides students with 13 clinical opportunities. As a nontraditional law student, I find that the clinical opportunities are my favorite experiences at the law school. Over the past three years, I have participated in the Public Policy Clinic, the Externship…
Student Finds Path to LGBT Advocacy Through KU Law
Jake McMillian didn't think Kansas was a progressive enough place to launch his career, but KU Law proved him wrong. Now, with a year of law school under his belt, he’s working and advocating for LGBT rights in Kansas City and has realized the importance of serving his own state. “As I have…
Boom! This is not a drill
Today, I’m sitting behind a desk in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, trying to think of a good way to tell a partner that I can’t find the answer to his question. This time a year ago I was in a firefight. It began with a flare lighting up the night sky. I had been waiting in a pickup truck…
Student Whistling New Tune After Summer Internship at Big Law Firm
I never planned on working at a law firm. I started law school not knowing if I even wanted to be a lawyer. I didn’t know any attorneys growing up, and I was considerably unfamiliar with the practice of law. As I settled into my life as a law student and began to absorb all of the new subject…
A Glimpse into the High-Stress World of Planet OCS: From Marine to Law Student
No joke, stepping off that bus was like stepping into another dimension. Behind you was the world you knew: you were familiar with this world, you had a pretty good idea how it worked and you thought you were pretty badass for it. But once your foot left the bus and landed on that hot asphalt…
No Sleeping on The Job: Courtroom Testimony Provides Pivotal Personal Moment for Law Student
Did you know that a billionaire is secretly building a small town near Paonia, Colo., called Bear Creek? You can’t drive up and look at it. There is a gate that you won’t get past without proper identification. If you run into one of the construction workers at a bar, you better hope he or she is…
Wrongfully Convicted Civil Rights Activist, Exiled 40 Years, Speaks to Innocence Project Students
Alyssa Boone (second from left) is pictured with Frederick Umoja, his daughter, and Project for Innocence staff, attorney Alice White and clinical associate professor Elizabeth Cateforis. Law professors are fond of telling their students not to “lose sight of the forest for the trees.” However,…