Clinical Programs and Externships
Elon Law's clinical programs put legal theory into practice, providing students with essential lawyering skills through casework management, research, writing, client interaction and courtroom advocacy, while also helping individuals in need.
Elder Law Clinic
Elon Law’s In-House Elder Law Clinic provides student lawyers, who have their Limited Practice Certification from the NC State Bar, the opportunity to represent low to moderate income Guilford County residents, age 60 and older, in their civil legal cases. Among the potential legal services offered are powers of attorney, end of life planning, grandparent rights, Medicare and Medicaid qualification, Social Security benefits qualification, veterans’ benefits qualification, contractual and consumer issues, and housing issues. The clinic student lawyers offer community education on elder law for residents of Guilford County, presenting programs to area groups such as civic clubs, church classes, study groups, community centers, public libraries and senior citizens centers.
Director and Clinical Practitioner in Residence: Hannah Vaughan
Phone: (336) 278-9314
Email: hvaughan@elon.edu
Humanitarian Immigration Clinic
Elon University School of Law established the Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic in December of 2010, allowing students, under the supervision of law faculty, to provide free legal services to low-income refugees and asylum seekers in North Carolina.
Under the supervision of law faculty, Elon Law students manage all aspects of refugee and asylee cases, meeting with clients, performing intake interviews, analyzing cases for legal remedy, gathering evidence, drafting and filing applications and briefs, and maintaining client correspondence. Students also observe and participate in hearings before federal administrative agencies and courts.
Faculty advisor:
Heather Scavone, Assistant Professor of Law & Director of Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic
Phone: (336) 279-9354
E-mail: hscavone@elon.edu
Small Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic
The Law School’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic is a law office which provides business-related legal services to entrepreneurs and small business owners who would not otherwise be able to afford legal representation. The clinic has offices in (i) the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, a business incubator located approximately two miles from the Law School, and (ii) the Greensboro Partners hi p’s Collab facility, located adjacent to the Law School. Services provided by the clinic include, but are not limited to, choice of entity advising, organizational document drafting and review, contract review and drafting, employment and human resource advising, regulatory compliance, and drafting financing documentation.
Faculty Director:
John Flynn, Distinguish Practitioner in Residence,
Phone: (336) 279-9200
E-mail: jflynn4@elon.edu
Wills Drafting Clinic
Elon Law’s In-House Wills Drafting Clinic gives student lawyers, who have their Limited Practice Certification from the NC State Bar, the opportunity to represent low-income homeowners referred by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Greensboro and Legal Aid of North Carolina. Student lawyers interview clients, draft documents to meet the needs of clients, meet with clients to explain and review documents, and oversee the self-proving signing protocol for those documents.
The wills drafting course operates as a law firm. Student lawyers alternate serving as the firm’s managing partner. In firm meetings, student lawyers lead discussion of ethical dilemmas related to wills drafting and engage the class in a detailed exploration of legal issues surrounding the transfer of property at death in North Carolina.
Faculty Director:
Margaret Kantlehner, Associate Professor of Law and Director of Externships,
Phone: (336) 279-9205
E-mail: mkantlehner@elon.edu
Guardian Ad Litem Clinic
In the Guardian Ad Litem Clinic, students work under the supervision of a faculty member and the Guardian Ad Litem Appellate Counsel in North Carolina to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in appeals of juvenile matters in the North Carolina Court of Appeals and North Carolina Supreme Court.
Faculty Director:
Alan Woodlief, Associate Professor of Law and Director of Moot Court Programs
Phone: (336) 279-9203
E-mail: awoodlief@elon.edu
Externships
Elon Law provides students the opportunity to perform a variety of legal work for governmental agencies and organizations, non-profit organizations, and in-house counsel offices. Externship students are required to spend at least 130 hours working under the supervision of an attorney at their externship placement. Students therefore spend at least 10 hours at their externship placement every week. Students also meet with the externship faculty supervisor and attend weekly classroom sessions or discussion board meetings on topics such as professional ethics and research and writing in various practice settings. Students earn three credits for an externship, graded on a pass/fail basis.
Faculty Director:
Margaret Kantlehner, Associate Professor of Law and Director of Externships,
Phone: (336) 279-9205
E-mail: mkantlehner@elon.edu