Xiao Wang (Virginia), Are Appellate Clinics Effective?, 31 Clin. L. Rev. 427 (2025):

Law school clinics are integral to legal education, offering students practical experience while serving clients in need and affecting the law more broadly. But despite the enormous investments in experiential learning that law schools make each year, there remains a lack of comprehensive research assessing the efficacy of clinics in serving clients.

This Article aims to address this void by assessing the performance of fifteen appellate clinics across nearly three hundred federal court of appeals cases. The findings suggest promising evidence of clinical effectiveness. For example, in immigration cases, appellate clinics achieved a reversal rate of 55%, rising to 70% when all favorable case outcomes were considered (e.g., dismissals, reversals in part). For prisoner-plaintiff cases, the reversal rate was 41%, increasing to 71% with favorable outcomes included. These rates outpace national averages, even when compared to clients who are represented by non-clinic counsel. Such results provide empirical evidence confirming that law school clinics make a positive impact on case outcomes. The Article concludes by suggesting reforms—for law schools, courts, and other institutions—to facilitate the role of clinics as a resource for the public interest community.

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