Loyola University New Orleans Law Clinic Receives Grants to Help Low-Wage Workers

Former Loyola law student practitioner and alumnus Haim Vasquez-Echeverri, J.D. ’11, and clinical professor Luz M. Molina assist a client in the Workplace Justice Project.

The Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice in the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law has received several grants totaling over a half million dollars. The grants were given to the Workplace Justice Project (WJP), which educates, litigates and advocates for low-wage workers in the New Orleans area and for policy changes in Louisiana.

With the grants, WJP will be able to hire a new staff attorney, continue efforts in education, litigation and advocacy and become a resource center for low-wage workers and worker advocates. The grants will also allow the clinic to continue to operate its weekly Wage Claim Clinic and worker education programs.

The WJP began in response to the need for legal counsel for the influx of immigrants and low-wage workers that moved to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help with rebuilding efforts. Seven years later, there is still high demand for legal counsel to protect these workers.

WJP, which has recovered more than $500,000 in lost wages for workers since 2005, allows third-year law students the opportunity to represent indigent clients under the supervision of experienced attorneys. By participating, student practitioners not only have the chance to experience firsthand what it’s like to represent clients, but they also have an opportunity to further the Jesuit ideals of scholarship and service at Loyola by providing legal representation to the needy. [Loyola University New Orleans]