Southern University Law Center breaks ground on new $2M law clinic

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The Southern University Law Center has broken ground on a new $2 million law clinic.

It’s designed to better serve members of the Baton Rouge community in need of legal help and law students. The Southern University law community is all smiles, breaking ground on the brand-new space for future lawyers and the community.

“It sets us apart from a lot of universities because we really emphasize our clinics here,” said Chancellor Alvin Washington of Southern University Law Center. 

Washington opened the ceremony, which marked a major milestone in expanding access to justice and hands-on legal education.

“That means that we’ll have more space to assist more people and we’ll have more practice-ready graduates,” Washington declared.

The new law clinic will include client interview rooms, practice labs, a mediation suite, and a mock courtroom, providing space for students to gain legal experience under faculty supervision.

Virginia Listach with the Clinical Legal Education Program at Southern says she’s excited and grateful, calling the new annex a dream come true.

“This is so important,” said Listach. “We’ve been waiting for this to happen for a long time, so that we could have our own clinical building. We’ve been separated in different buildings. We don’t have a place for our clinical faculty, and it is somewhat difficult for our clients. This creates a cohesive environment for not only our students to learn, but also for our clients to come in. It gives us a sense of family when we’re all together and not scattered around, where we can talk to each other on a daily basis, and we know what we’re doing.”

The building is expected to be finished by next summer.

Southern University’s legal clinics handle over 700 cases across multiple practice areas, serving clients throughout the parish.

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