The University of Texas at Austin   School of Law

National Security Clinic

“The clinic’s activities shouldn’t amount to a monologue about security or liberty. Instead, the clinic must pursue a dialogue about maintaining equilibrium between those two concepts.”
—UT Prof. Derek Jinks

Clinic Overview

The National Security Clinic provides students the opportunity to work as lawyers on cases and projects relating to national security and terrorism, under the supervision of professors.

Students in the Clinic have worked on criminal cases involving material support of terrorism laws, habeas corpus cases on behalf of persons detained at Guantanamo Bay, civil damages cases relating to the treatment of persons in detention, and military commission cases against unprivileged enemy belligerents.

Students have also worked on research and advocacy projects relating to terrorism surveillance and financial privacy, international humanitarian law and counter-terrorism, and the charitable financing of terrorism.

What to Expect

Clinic Casework

Students in the National Security Clinic have:

• Drafted and filed motions and briefs in federal district courts and appellate courts, and assisted with oral argument;
• Drafted legislation and policy briefs;
• Filed Freedom of Information Act requests with government agencies;
• Filed amicus briefs in federal court; and
• Published an Op-ed article in a major newspaper

Clinic Seminar

In weekly seminar sessions, students engage in contemporary debates about national security law while honing lawyering skills such as:

• attorney-client relationship-building,
• client interviewing and counseling,
• drafting legal briefs, and
• preparing for oral argument