Integrate classroom studies with practical experience
The Legal Studies Department believes in giving students the opportunity to integrate classroom studies with practical experience and earn credit at the same time. The Legal Studies Department’s emphasis on practical application and the political advantage of our location in Illinois’s capital city offers great professional opportunities to our students. Examples of some of these opportunities include the Illinois Innocence Project, UIS Mock Trial, the Pre-Law Center, and multitude of internship opportunities.
The Illinois Innocence Project
Students in the Legal Studies Department (and other degree programs) can be selected to provide research and investigative assistance to the Illinois Innocence Project in cases where there is a strong likelihood that an inmate has been arrested, tried, found guilty, and imprisoned for crimes they most likely did not commit. Legal Studies students also have the opportunity to work with the Illinois Innocence Project by taking the LES 488 – ECCE: Conviction of the Innocent course (a multi-disciplinary 4-hour credit ECCE course regularly taught by Innocence Project faculty) and by participating in student internships through Internships and Prior Learning (IPL) program.
UIS Pre-Law Center
The University of Illinois Springfield Pre-Law Center serves UIS students who are considering law school or a career in law or a law-related field. Legal Studies students have been accepted to top law schools nationwide, recently including Boston University, Cornell, Fordham, Duke, UCLA, Emory, George Washington University, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, University of Colorado, University of Iowa, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Indiana University – Bloomington, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, UNLV, University of North Carolina, and University of Southern California.
UIS Mock Trial
Through the UIS Mock Trial competition, legal studies students have the opportunity to learn trial advocacy and litigation skills and experience, first hand, the role of attorneys and witnesses play in the courtroom. Students in the program learn valuable skills, including critical thinking, active listening, public speaking, and teamwork. The UIS Mock Trial Team competes against other college teams within the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). Students also have the opportunity to take coursework associated with mock trial, including: LES 376: Trial Advocacy, LES 377: Trial Advocacy: Civil, LES 378: Mock Trial Competition, and LES 379: Mock Trial Competition: Civil.
Internship Opportunities
Check out our internship opportunities for both Undergraduate and Graduate students.