Each year, the Clinical Legal Education Association invites law schools to nominate students as their Outstanding Clinic Student or Team and Outstanding Externship student. This series includes submissions from law schools celebrating their outstanding students.
From University of St. Thomas School of Law:
CLEA Outstanding Clinic Student: Monica Villanueva-Nelson
Monica was outstanding both at advocating for her own client and in supporting her fellow students on very difficult missions while she was in the Federal Commutations Clinic. Monica visited her client early in the year and produced an outstanding clemency petition for her—it was well-written, compelling, and comprehensive. She excelled at getting the story in
whole from a client that at times was prone to distraction. Perhaps more importantly, Monica played a key role as a servant leader in support of classmates who were taking the lead on other cases.
In addition to spending her entire third year in the Federal Commutations Clinic, Monica also was a student attorney in the Criminal and Juvenile Defense Clinic as a 2L and demonstrated many of the same qualities described above: willingness to go above and beyond her responsibilities to help her colleagues, attentiveness to client needs, and a phenomenal work ethic. Our nomination of Monica is in part a recognition that she spent half of her law school career enrolled in clinics and doing excellent work for our collective clients.
Monica quietly did great things, all within the mission of our school.
CLEA Outstanding Externship Student: Sarah Etheridge
Sarah Etheridge has been a force within the externship programs at the University of St. Thomas Law School and Ramsey County Public Defender’s Office. She has already participated in the Misdemeanor Defense and Advanced Externships and still has her entire 3L year left of law school. During her externships Ms. Etheridge has directly helped hundreds of indigent clients at various stages as their cases progress through the criminal district court and served as a peer mentor to over twenty (and still counting) fellow law students both at the Ramsey County Public Defender’s office and with successive externships. She continues to volunteer as a mentor today. Ms. Etheridge has shown excellence in her field and class work, displayed skill, intellect, and understanding in representing indigent clients in the criminal courts, fighting for their fair treatment and advocating for their interests. She has shown a deft ability to learn new skills, work in a stressful environment, and handle issues as they arise in a calm, professional manner. Ms. Etheridge’s ability to learn and think on her feet has
distinguished her as an excellent student attorney and a convincing advocate. Ms. Etheridge has shown leadership, reliability, and a sense of selfless service to the tasks that she has undertaken, the causes she has worked on, and the clients that she
represents. She repeatedly sought additional work and asked to take on more responsibilities during her externships to serve disadvantaged communities. These are some of the many reasons that Sarah Etheridge deserves this recognition.