Law schools now operate clinics focusing on tax law, community economic development, general practice, mental health, international law, human rights, environmental law, domestic violence and job discrimination. There are also clinics like the University of Chicago's MacArthur Justice Center that handle death-penalty cases. Gov. George Ryan recently raised the visibility of the MacArthur Justice Center and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern School of Law when he declared a moratorium on executions in Illinois. Ryan's decision was partly influenced by the clinics and Northwestern's Medill School, which produced evidence freeing Death Row inmates unfairly convicted of capital crimes. The fastest-growing clinics, however, are business law clinics that involve transactional law, Milstein said.
Transactional law is the polar opposite of litigation.
It involves drawing up contracts, handling real estate closings, incorporating businesses and intellectual property issues. In the last couple of years, Northwestern, the University of Chicago and Loyola have opened transactional law clinics to assist small-business owners, condominium associations and individuals with articles of incorporation, zoning matters, tax and regulatory compliance, and employment agreements. The law schools also opened legal clinics to encourage students to pursue careers in public interest law and as a way for the universities to reach out to people living in Chicago's economically depressed neighborhoods. The primary purpose of legal clinics, however, is to train law students. I have seen the tax forms, incorporation papers and other documents.