Regent University Law Clinic Provides Free Legal Aid to 1,000 Families

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (July 28, 2020) – In September 2019, Regent University School of Law opened a satellite campus law clinic in downtown Norfolk, Virginia to provide pro bono legal aid to the Hampton Roads community. Since its inception, the clinic has served 1,000 households.

“At Regent Law, we are humbled and honored to serve the Hampton Roads community by extending legal expertise to the underserved, completely free of charge,” said Regent University School of Law dean, Mark Martin.

The mission of the Regent Law clinic is to serve low income households in the Hampton Roads community with free legal representation for civil matters. The clinic handles cases in the areas of consumer issues, domestic relations, landlord/tenant matters, government benefits, and guardianships.

“The work of the law clinic is vitally important because, statistically, there is only one legal aid attorney for every 7,000-plus low-income persons in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said clinic director and associate professor at Regent University School of Law, Kathleen McKee, LL.M. “Our clinic is helping to fill that gap.”

A significant component of the clinic’s work is to assist victims of domestic abuse. The clinic advises abuse victims on how to navigate the legal system to secure protective orders, how to protect credit, how to secure releases from joint leases, and how to prepare for custody and support hearings.

“Regent University is deeply committed to providing world-class, Christ-centered education that equips Christian leaders to change the world,” said Dr. Gerson Moreno-Riaño, executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Regent University. “The extraordinary work of our law clinic is one example among many of how Regent integrates real world learning into its academic programs for a world-class education.”

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Regent Law’s more than 3,300 graduates practice law in 49 states and over 20 countries and include 38 currently sitting judges. The School of Law currently ranks in the top 25 percent of all law schools for obtaining judicial clerkships and ranked 20th in the nation for Ultimate Bar Passage in 2019. The school offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.) in three-year and part-time formats, an online M.A. in Law, an online M.A. in Financial Planning & Law, an on-campus and online LL.M. in Human Rights and an on-campus and online LL.M. in American Legal Studies.

Founded in 1977, Regent University has nearly 11,000 students studying on its 70-acre campus in Virginia Beach, Va., and online around the world. The university offers associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from a Christian perspective in 135+ program areas including business, communication, the arts, divinity, education, government, law, leadership, nursing, healthcare, and psychology. Currently, Regent University is ranked among top national universities by U.S. News & World Report and is one of only 23 universities nationally to receive an “A” rating for its comprehensive liberal arts core curriculum.