Olivia Demetriades '26
Staff Editor
On Tuesday, September 19, UVA Law Professor Xiao Wang addressed a crowd of interested law students in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic Information Session. He spoke about the clinic’s structure, some exciting potential cases, and the application process.
A recent addition to the faculty, Professor Wang is taking on the role of director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic this year. He left chilly Chicago and his role as the director of the Appellate Advocacy Center at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law for warmer weather in Charlottesville. At Pritzker, he supervised the Federal Appellate and Supreme Court clinics. Professor Wang also directed the National Appellate Clinic Network, a project that fosters digital collaboration and the sharing of resources between law students and faculty across the country to advance appellate clinic practice. He plans to introduce this program to the UVA Law community.
During the information session, Professor Wang extolled the benefits of participating in the clinic. While students can expect to greatly improve their written advocacy skills with the countless drafts of briefs they willwrite (and, of course, rewrite), they can also expect to play a role in some pretty influential decisions.
“Supreme Court opinions are breaking news,” Professor Wang said. “And by ethics rules, we don’t represent Chiquita or IBM. We represent the people that Chiquita and IBM allegedly oppressed. That’s a really powerful thing to get the chance to do in your third year of law school.”
The clinic, which is open to 3Ls (1Ls and 2Ls sit tight!), seeks to introduce students to all aspects of the U.S. Supreme Court practice. Students who participate get the chance to work directly with experienced litigators from Covington & Burling, Vinson & Elkins, or with Professor Wang himself as they conduct research, look through the case records, and write and edit briefs. Given the small number of writs of certiorari the Supreme Court grants each year, it can be difficult to find cases in need of litigation, so students should expect to play a role in the case identification process as well. Professor Wang mentioned an upcoming case students will work on in the spring that involves a question of mistaken identity and a previous case he worked on with Northwestern law students about food labeling to give students a sense of the wide variety of cases they may contribute to.
For this academic year, the clinic will be offered in the spring only. Professor Wang said he anticipates it to have between twelve and sixteen students who will be split into four smaller groups to work on specific cases. The clinic will have a seminar component that meets once a week to allow time to talk about the rules and procedures of the Supreme Court and discuss the cases students are working on. The four-credit clinic will be graded on an H/P/F scale, though it typically is a yearlong, eight-credit commitment.
Students hoping to secure a spot in the clinic can also look forward to an array of accomplished guest speakers. Previous guests of clinics Professor Wang taught at Northwestern include the Director of the National Association of Attorneys General and the hosts of 5-4, a podcast that offers progressive insight into landmark Supreme Court cases.
3Ls who wish to participate in the clinic this spring should apply by sending Professor Wang a resume, unofficial transcript, and brief letter of interest to x.wang@law.virginia.edu by October 4 as well as ranking the clinic in the lottery system. In their application materials, they should highlight any areas of law or specific issues they are passionate about. The clinic has a limited number of seats, so students should rank the clinic as their first choice for the highest chance of being considered.
Yoojin Lee ’26, a 1L who attended the information session, was drawn to the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic because of the broad range of cases. She said she is interested in big tech and antitrust law but hasn’t seen these topics addressed in other current clinics. In fact, Professor Wang encouraged students to bring their own interests into the clinic because they may play an important role in finding relevant cases for which they could petition for certiorari.
Professor Wang offered a few pieces of advice for interested 1Ls hoping to maximize their chances of securing a highly-coveted spot in the clinic: “Do well in your classes and find opportunities to refine your writing abilities.” He assured the 1Ls in the room that it is okay not to know what exactly they want to do within the legal field—a much-needed reminder for any 1L, not only those hoping to dabble in Supreme Court litigation.
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ojd5xy@virginia.edu