UWLaw:
Student Journals and Organizations
All offices are located in William H. Gates Hall.
Please contact
to update information on this page, or for help with your student organization website.
For more information on how to start or contact a student organization, contact the
Student Bar Association.
Affiliated Student Organizations
National Lawyers Guild
The National Lawyers Guild is the nation’s oldest and largest progressive bar association. The NLG is dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. At UW, the NLG seeks to support our peers by supporting progressive student movements and mobilizing resources though our Mutual Aid Society (online) and Mutual Aid Station (in person), both of which are available to all UW Law students regardless of NLG membership.
Contacts:
Rosalind Cuneo,
Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) is dedicated to providing a forum for education, advocacy, and scholarship aimed at protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system, and raising the profile of the field of animal law.
Contact:
The Student Health Law Organization (SHLO) concerns (1) the domestic and international laws and policies that affect equity in health care; (2) the regulatory and ethical issues affecting modern health care entities and practitioners; and (3) connecting UW law students with practicing health lawyers in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
Contacts:
Wei Wei,
Dan Weinreb,
The Tech Law Society connects law students with an array of technology-related resources to explore interesting career opportunities and stay informed on current events. The board members organize professional development events, networking opportunities, informational sessions, and resources for our members to successfully navigate both law school and their legal careers. We regularly work with other organizations on campus, including UW’s Tech Policy Lab and the Cyber Law Association of Washington. Anyone generally interested in technology or a technology legal career is welcome to join!
Contacts: Max Del Real,
Trent M.C. McBride,
Minority Student Organizations
The Asian/Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA) was formed with two major goals: 1) to organize, support and promote the concerns of Asian and Pacific Islander minorities in the legal profession, and 2) to increase ethnic diversity and awareness in the Law School and in the legal profession.
Contact: Emily Vo,
The Black Law Students Association (BLSA) aims to foster an inclusive community and provide support for Black law students.
Contact: Gabryelle Matz-Carter, ;
Enny Olaleye,
Jewish Law Students Association
The mission of the Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA) is to celebrate the tradition of lawyering as a form of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). The JLSA is designed to meet the needs of the Jewish student body within the University of Washington School of Law.
Contacts:
Chelsea Medwin,
Taryn Michaela Harris,
Latinx Law Student Association
The Latinx Law Student Associated (LLSA) provides professional, educational, and social support to member students while simultaneously fostering community amongst Latinx students on campus and in the Washington legal community. LLSA promotes the success of Latinx law students by organizing a variety of events, including networking opportunities, mentorship programs, and cultural celebrations. LLSA also strives to increase diversity and Latinx representation in the UW Law community and bring attention to a range of minority-related, social justice issues.
Contacts:
Wendy Roman,
Talia Cabrera,
Tanya Helbig,
Patrick Rettig,
Middle Eastern and South Asian Law Student Association
MESALSA strives to create a sense of community among students of Middle Eastern and South Asian heritage, as well as students interested in the Middle East and South Asia. MESALSA connects students to South Asian and Middle Eastern attorneys practicing in the PNW through several events throughout the school year.
Contact:
Minority Law Student Association
The Minority Law Student Association is for systemically marginalized students of this institution looking for a space to build community, question power, and further the goals of social justice. MLSA intentionally reclaims space for students of color, queer folks, people with disabilities, and other students from backgrounds that have been marginalized and continue to struggle with access to legal institutions and justice. MLSA offers solidarity with students who may not identify closely with traditional law school trajectories and seeks to create a place of community for those doing similar work. In addition to other affinity groups, MLSA is a space for minorities built on the mission to center and amplify their voices and experiences.
Contact:
Native American Law Student Association
The Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) was founded in 1970 to support Native and Indigenous students at the University of Washington School of Law and to promote the study of Indian law and Tribal law among all law students in order to serve Tribes and Native communities with a commitment to excellence and cultural competence.
Contacts:
Sam Hussey,
OUTlaws (LGBTQ+ Student Group)
The purpose of OUTlaws is to provide a social and support network for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) law students at the University of Washington (UW) School of Law; to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ legal issues within the student body and faculty; and to provide mentoring to law students by sponsoring on-campus speakers, discussion panels and advocacy activities
Contacts:
Zach Finn,
Gwen Stevenson,
Parents Attending Law School
PALS aims to create a social network, support group and student organization for students who have or are considering having children, as well as raising awareness in the law school community about work-family and parenting-related issues.
Women's Law Caucus
The Women’s Law Caucus is an intersectional feminist organization dedicated to raising awareness about women in law—both as professionals in the field and as subjects of the law. With the changing legal landscape related to reproductive rights, we want to create a safe space for students to discuss these topics and also be agents of change. We provide support to law students through mentorship programs, informational workshops, networking and service opportunities, and educational and social events.
Contacts:
Rhea Bhatia,
Julia Davis,
Student Journals & Boards
MCHB furthers excellence in oral and writing advocacy at the University of Washington School of Law. We sponsor five in-house competitions throughout the year including mock trial, contract negotiation and appellate advocacy competitions. MCHB also works to promote and sponsor teams that compete in regional and national moot court competitions across the country on behalf of the University of Washington School of Law.
Contact: Chelsa Edano,
The Washington International Law Journal was founded in 1990 [orginally Pacific Rim Journal] as an innovative vehicle for the discussion of legal and interdisciplinary policy-oriented issues affecting both Asian and trans-Pacific affairs. The Journal's function is three-fold. First, the Journal provides valuable writing and editing experience to University of Washington law students interested in Pacific Rim law and policy issues. Second, the Journal, as one of the only two student-edited law journals in the United States devoted to the Pacific Basin, and the only journal featuring translations of East Asian legal scholarship, encourages the debate of issues vital to the Pacific Rim. Third, the Journal enhances the University of Washington School of Law's national and international role as a center for East Asian legal studies. Membership is competitive and based upon first year grades and writing competition scores.
For more information, please contact the journal at: .
The Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts publishes concise legal analysis for practicing attorneys. The Journal collaborates with the Law, Technology & Arts Group (LTA), a new research program at the University of Washington School of Law. LTA was formed in 2009 when the University of Washington School of Law merged the Center for Advanced Study & Research on Intellectual Property (CASRIP), the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce + Technology, and the Graduate Program in IP Law & Policy into a single research unit. This new research group takes a comprehensive approach to the legal issues involving technological and artistic innovation. The Journal, which was launched in 2003, publishes in an electronic format and addresses business law and technology issues in a global context. The Journal's concise online format ensures each issue contains cutting-edge analysis of legal of emerging issues in business and technology. The Journal is a partnership between student editors and an Editorial Board comprised of faculty and attorneys who are noted experts in their respective fields. Membership is competitive and based upon first-year grades and performance in a writing competition.
For more information, please contact: .
The Washington Journal of Social and Environmental Justice (formerly the Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy) publishes legal scholarship on environmental affairs important to the Pacific Northwest region and beyond. By drawing expertise from across the disciplines, the Journal promoteFs the investigation of current environmental law and proposed solutions for the future.
For more information, please contact the journal at: .
Established in 1919, Washington Law Review is Washington State's flagship legal publication. Washington Law Review publishes four issues each year and regularly posts online features. It also hosts an annual symposium on a timely and relevant issue of law; facilitates conversations with visiting legal scholars; and provides opportunities for University of Washington School of Law students to publish scholarship and contribute their original research to the larger legal conversation.
For general inquiries, please contact the journal at: .
Student Legal Action Projects
Incarcerated Mothers Advocacy Project
The Incarcerated Mothers Advocacy Project (IMAP) is a coalition of law students, attorneys, social service providers and formerly incarcerated people who seek to change the rights afforded incarcerated and previously incarcerated folks in Washington. Centering core values of reproductive justice and prison abolition, IMAP supports incarcerated people by providing legal information on family law and family defense in Washington prisons and by connecting incarcerated parents to outside resources.
Contact: Chianaraekpere Ike,
Street Youth Legal Advocates of Washington
Street Youth Legal Advocates of Washington (SYLAW) is dedicated to addressing the legal needs of at-risk, system-involved, and homeless youth in King County. SYLAW works with the legal community, community organizations, and directly impacted folks in efforts to protect youth rights through know your rights presentations, mutual aid efforts, community organizing, and other forms of service. After a year of limited functioning due to COVID-19, SYLAW is excited to get back to the important work of addressing youth rights in King County. SYLAW operates in a non-hierarchical structure and is thrilled to welcome new members from all UW Law programs and experience levels. We especially encourage students who have been directly impacted to assume leadership positions within our organization.
Contact:
Student Advocates for Immigrant Justice
Student Advocates for Immigrant Justice (SAI Justice) is a student organization committed to service, advocacy, and community education with the goal of addressing the harms created by our current immigration system.
Contacts:
Student Societies, Forums & Clubs
Alliance for Disability Law & Justice
The Alliance for Disability Law and Justice (ADLJ) at UW Law advocates for a more inclusive, accessible, and holistic approach to law school from a foundation of anti-racism, intersectionality, and anti-ableism. ADLJ is guided by a vision of a legal profession that centers and celebrates the perspectives of all people, particularly those that have been marginalized by the legal system. As an intersectional feminist organization, ADLJ is committed to fighting ableism and oppression in our community, advocating for positive change and accessibility, and collaborating throughout the process. The mission of the Alliance is to create a UW Law community that acknowledges barriers to authentic inclusion, removes them as they arise and guarantees accessibility and inclusion for everyone.
Contact:
Center for Human Rights and Justice
The Center for Human Rights and Justice (CHRJ) aims to encourage dialogue on international and local human rights issues, paying particular attention to the role of the United States government and private sector in creating conditions of poverty, violence, and environmental degradation around the world. Additionally, CHRJ runs a low-cost used bookstore which provides students with affordable textbooks and helps fund a scholarship for public-interest summer internships. We invite interested students to reach out and join us in our work or to pitch us projects that we might collaborate on.
Contact:
Cyber Law Association of Washington
The Cyber Law Club focuses on the growing intersections of cyberspace and the law. We prioritize taking an antiracist and human rights lens to the tech and law issues facing society today. We host panels of leading practitioners in the field who prosecute cyber criminals, advise clients on cyber-security best practices and draft cyberspace public policy.
Contacts:
Chisup Kim,
Jacob Alhadeff,
Kay McNeil,
Entertainment Law Association
The Entertainment Law Association is dedicated to helping students pursue legal careers in the ever-growing entertainment and sports industries. The group sponsors guest speakers including UW Law alumni who have enjoyed successful careers in entertainment and sports law.
Contact: Kelton McLeod,
The University of Washington Environmental Law Society is a community of students interested in environmental, natural resource and land use law, as well as issues surrounding climate change, environmental justice, and the law. We facilitate events and panels to connect and learn from the environmental legal community in the greater Pacific Northwest, learn about opportunities for legal jobs and professional development, and build a community within the law school.
Contacts:
Michael Burley,
Maxine Sugarman,
Federalist Society
Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. The Society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities
Contact:
First Generation Law Student Association
First Generation Law Student Association at the University of Washington (FGLS) is a student-led group that strives to address the transition and integration of first-generation law students into the University of Washington School of Law and the legal profession through mentorship, career advising, and social activities.
Contacts:
Angel Torres Mann,
If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice
If/When/How is a national organization that seeks to transform the law and policy landscape through organizing, support, and advocacy so everyone has the power to determine if, when, and how to define, create and sustain families with dignity and to actualize sexual and reproductive wellbeing on their own terms. Our UW Law chapter seeks to build a coalition that educates, networks, and mobilizes law students and legal professionals within and beyond the legal system to champion reproductive justice.
Contacts:
Ashley Rot,
The primary goal of the International Law Society (“ILS”) is to give law students the resources, knowledge and practical tools needed to successfully navigate issues relating to international law – a subject both complex, and increasingly important to all legal practices.
The Law & Business Association seeks to connect, educate and provide opportunities to law students interested in business law by engaging with practitioners, faculty and other students across the University. LBA’s goal is to provide a forum for students to develop diverse and practical skills necessary for a successful legal career.
Contacts:
Enny Olaleye,
Hannah Aho,
The MLA connects UW Law students with professionals in the greater-Seattle legal community by focusing on issues that are important to servicemembers, veterans, and military families.
Contact:
Public Interest Law Association
The Public Interest Law Association (“PILA”) is a student-led organization committed to (1) promoting legal work that serves the public; and (2) recognizing current students who exemplify strong commitment to serving the public interest PILA is comprised of diverse law students who are passionate about serving others and their communities.
Contacts:
Karla Castro,
Anna Shumar,
The Student Bar Association (SBA) is the governing body for all University of Washington law students and student organizations.
For more information, please contact the group at .
Students for Labor and Employment Justice
Students for Labor and Employment Justice (SLEJ) is a student group focused on engaging and educating future lawyers on issues related to workers' rights. Labor and employment intersect with many different areas of law and is a field with a small community of passionate and dedicated advocates. SLEJ strives to connect students with this community and to increase awareness of labor and employment careers among the student body.
Contacts:
Beth Kidd,
Lauren Hunady,