The Texas Access to Justice Commission presented its 2012 Law School Commitment to Service Award to South Texas College of Law (STCL) during the Nov. 12 new lawyers’ induction ceremony in Austin.
Donald Guter (pictured), STCL’s president and dean, says his school has demonstrated its commitment to service “in a tangible and big way.”
Guter says that during the 2011-2012 academic year, STCL provided about 100,000 hours of pro bono work worth about $1 million in legal services.
STCL also has expanded its space for legal services clinical programs from 4,500 square feet previously available in a rented facility to 15,000 square feet available in an addition finished in August, Guter says.
“We’ve increased on the opportunity for students to have clinical experience,” he says.
Guter notes that STCL students can participate in a wide array of clinical programs, including clinics on human trafficking, immigration, family law, child welfare, estate planning and wrongful convictions. He also says that STCL is the first law school in Texas to create an animal law clinic.
STCL does not plan to rest on its laurels after receiving the Law School Commitment to Service Award. “We’re going to try to do it again,” Guter says.
-- Mary Alice Robbins
Robbins is an Austin-based freelance writer and a former Texas Lawyer senior reporter.
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