IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlawss/v14y2025i4p48-d1701759.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Community Cornerstones: An Analysis of HBCU Law School Clinical Programs’ Impact on Surrounding Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Adeshola Akintobi

    (College of Agriculture Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC 20008, USA
    Howard University School of Law, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA)

  • Sabine O’Hara

    (College of Agriculture Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC 20008, USA)

  • Elgloria Harrison

    (School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing, Lehman College, New York, NY 10468, USA)

  • John Brittain

    (David A. Clarke School of Law, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC 20008, USA)

Abstract

Fifty million Americans, nearly 15% of the population, live below the federal poverty level, often facing civil legal issues without representation. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have long served as economic engines and vital resources for their communities. HBCU law schools uphold this legacy by preparing students for legal careers while instilling a commitment to service, particularly for underserved citizens who lack access to quality legal representation. This research examines the dual mission of HBCU law schools—educating students and serving local communities—through a systematic document analysis of publicly available materials and literature on law school clinical programs. The findings identify four key community performance indicators that define the community impact of HBCU law schools: advocacy, engagement, client outcomes, and representation. These indicators reflect a shared commitment across all institutions to addressing systemic inequities through clinical legal education, reinforcing the role of HBCU law schools as both training grounds for future attorneys and essential pillars of justice in their communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Adeshola Akintobi & Sabine O’Hara & Elgloria Harrison & John Brittain, 2025. "Community Cornerstones: An Analysis of HBCU Law School Clinical Programs’ Impact on Surrounding Communities," Laws, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlawss:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:48-:d:1701759
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14/4/48/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14/4/48/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlawss:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:48-:d:1701759. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.