Southern Methodist University student attorney Jake Torres, 27, left, and Becky Madole, a community coordinator with Uplift Education, speak with a woman, who did not want to be identified. She received help from SMU's legal clinic after receiving an eviction notice from her home, photographed on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016, at Uplift Heights Secondary School in Dallas.
Like their predecessors, clinic students represent clients who face obstacles with landlords, spouses, debt, and access to courts. Today, our students also provide legal assistance to children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect, consumers suffering from unfair practices and persons accused of crimes seeking to clear their name after being wrongfully accused.
Other students go to work on behalf of children, women in desperate need of protection from abusive partners, to win release of incarcerated wrongfully convicted, as well as clients seeking to exercise their First Amendment rights. Through it all, students also develop “softer skills” related to compassion, empathy, and patience — skills that will enhance their ability to advocate, resolve disputes, work with others who are different from them, and lead people to improve our communities.