Labs and Practicums

Labs and Practicums offer live-client experiences under supervision of full-time and adjunct faculty practitioners.

Intellectual Property Labs

The Tulane Intellectual Property (IP) Labs in Patent and Trademark allow students to obtain practical, real-world experience representing clients in patent and trademark matters on a pro bono basis before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Students under supervision help screen and interview clients, conduct patentability or registerability searches, counsel the client regarding the results, and, if appropriate, draft and file patent or trademark applications, responses, and other documents necessary to the application.

Students staff the labs during the academic year and are supervised by adjunct faculty practitioners.

Students applying for the IP Lab in patents must have the technical background described in the General Requirements Bulletin on the USPTO website, available on pages 4-10 at: https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/OED_GRB.pdf.

Immigrants’ Rights Practicum

The Immigrants’ Rights Practicum, offered in the spring semester, consists of a seminar and a field placement with the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ). The practicum integrates lawyering theory, skills and doctrine in the context of representing noncitizens (seeking nonimmigrant U status). Students will be assigned to work in pairs, under the supervision of a NOWCRJ attorney and Prof. Hlass, on one U nonimmigrant status application for a NOWCRJ client.

"This practicum has been the most practical and worthwhile learning experience so far in law school for me.  This practicum gave me the opportunity to deal with a real client, hear his story, and tell his story for someone else by ways in which I had never done before (legal story-telling, evidence gathering, filling out forms, etc).  Finally, through this practicum I think I have come to know my strengths, faced my fears, and felt the gratifying emotion of compassion and understanding for others." – Golare Dabiri Tanha

"This course has been challenging and enlightening, and it has helped me to develop both professionally and personally more than any other experience in my law school career."
– Erin Morrissey

"Stepping out of the classroom and assuming the responsibility of representing, interviewing, and counseling my client has been one of my proudest achievements as a student at Tulane Law."
– Nate Hall