Law Students Will Clerk in Costa Rica
By Olivia Calvert

Four University of Texas (UT) law students were recently accepted to a prestigious clerkship program located at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica.

Monica Jimenez, Lucas Lixinski, Tanner Neidhardt and Kassi Tallent are the sixth through ninth UT law students to be accepted into the clerkship program.

"In order to be eligible, applicants must have completed their third semester of law school, have a strong background in international and human rights law and also be fluent in Spanish," said professor Sarah Cleveland, who supervises the clerkship.

The clerkship, based in Costa Rica, entails a six-month or 12-week summer commitment.

Jimenez is currently in Costa Rica, Lixinski will begin in July and both Neidhardt and Tallent will begin in August and continue through the semester, Cleveland said.

"The Inter-American Court for Human Rights was established by the Organization of American States to hear claims against member states arising under the American Convention on Human Rights, other human rights treaties and customary international law," Cleveland said.

Neidhardt described his future duties in Costa Rica: "We will be assigned to a judge and begin working with him or her reviewing cases, documents and writing a final analysis for each case," he said. "The exciting part of the clerkship involves indigenous groups of people who haven't been able to use their own country's laws and legal system in their favor. I lived in Columbia for almost a year and a half, so their problems particularly interest me. Many indigenous groups are being caught in the crossfire of arguments between the native groups and the government," Neidhardt said.

Applicants in the clerkship are also required to produce a substantial research paper, supervised by the UT international law faculty. Participants in the six-month clerkship will receive up to 10 hours academic credit, and those enrolled in the summer program will receive four hours of credit for the clerkship, Cleveland said.

"The clerkship is going to be a wonderful experience, I can't wait to go," Neidhardt said. Applications for the spring clerkship will be accepted until July 15.