Welcome to El Centro Legal Clinics!
El Centro Legal is UCLA School of Law’s student-coordinated network of volunteer legal aid projects. Students in each El Centro project work with community legal organizations in Los Angeles to provide client service under the supervision of a licensed attorney.
Projects work with clients facing issues related to education, housing and homelessness, immigration, juvenile justice, domestic violence, workers’ rights, and labor protections. All volunteers receive client service and basic legal ethics training from UCLA Law, as well as specialized issue-area training from their assigned community partner.
El Centro Legal was founded in 1973 by UCLA’s La Raza Law Students Association as an experimental extracurricular program that made law student volunteers available to low-income residents of Santa Monica. The program took on the name “El Centro Legal de Santa Monica” and sought to address the needs of the Latinx population. El Centro proved successful in meeting the needs of low-income members of the community and provided practical training for UCLA Law students.
Over nearly 50 years, El Centro shifted its model to partner with legal services agencies throughout Greater Los Angeles. Today, El Centro places more than 200 law student volunteers in clinical settings to provide legal services to residents facing a range of civil and criminal legal issues. El Centro is one of the largest student organizations at UCLA School of Law and plays an integral role in meeting the legal needs of the Los Angeles community.
Contact
El Centro Legal Clinics
ElCentro@lawnet.ucla.edu
Confidentiality Notice: Emails to El Centro are not subject to attorney-client confidentiality. Please do not send private information to this address.
Leadership
Co-Executive Directors
Galyn Sumida-Ross, JD ‘23
Volunteer Directors
Jordyn Cho, JD ’24
Britt Chung, JD ‘24
Training Directors
Michelle Borbon, JD ’24
Grant Williams, JD ’24
Finance Director
Mahmood Jeewa, JD ‘24
Communications Director
Rachel Long, JD ‘24
El Centro Legal Clinics do not provide any direct legal assistance. Law students are not permitted to represent individuals in legal matters unless they are working under the supervision of a licensed attorney. For this reason, we do not refer individuals or organizations seeking assistance to private attorneys. If you believe you need to speak to a lawyer, please contact the Los Angeles County Bar Association at lacba.org or follow one of the links below to the State Bar of California.
Finding the Right Lawyer/Como Encontrar el Abogado Apropriado
Avoiding Fraud by Immigration Consultants / Información sobre Servicios Legales Para Inmigrantes en California
Información Legal en Español
Verify your attorney’s license