Baylor Law School announced it will open a new family law clinic beginning in fall 2024. The clinic aims to provide vital support to pro se litigants in navigating the complexities of family law cases, focusing on divorce and matters affecting parent-child relationships, according to a press release.
Created with financial assistance from the Texas Bar Foundation, or TBF, the clinic will address the increasing trend of self-representation among divorce litigants, especially those facing literacy and language barriers. The family law clinic will join Baylor Law’s six other clinics—the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic, Estate Planning Clinics, Immigration Clinic, Intellectual Property Law Clinic, Trial Advocacy Clinic, and Veterans Clinics—that promote the school’s mission of service and access to justice.
Recent studies have shown a growing number of clients, regardless of their socioeconomic background, are choosing to represent themselves in family law matters. Baylor Law created the family law clinic, led by law Professor Stephanie Tang, to address this issue. Tang will serve as the clinic’s faculty supervisor, according to a press release. She will also lead training sessions, oversee clinic operations, and recruit student and attorney volunteers.
“We are honored to be able to offer the Family Law Clinic at Baylor,” Tang said in a press release. “The clinic will be run out of the McLennan County Courthouse and assist pro se litigants in drafting and reviewing often confusing legal documents in preparation for family court proceedings.”
The clinic will hold monthly walk-in hours at the courthouse, during which local volunteer attorneys and law students will offer on-site guidance to help pro se litigants navigate the legal system and understand the implications of their actions. This will, in turn, teach the law students lessons on representing their future clients and otherwise improving the quality of future legal services. The clinic is committed to translating its forms into Spanish to overcome any necessary language barriers. The clinic will also offer appointments to pro se litigants via phone or email to assist them in representing themselves. The clinic will help pro se litigants with immediate legal concerns and provide resources and guidance for post-divorce tasks to reduce the need for ongoing litigation and to improve the function of the state’s family law courts.
For more information about the clinic, contact Professor Tang via email at stephanie_tang@baylor.edu.