Centers & Institutes

Students can explore pressing scholastic and community issues and address challenges with real-world legal application by connecting with numerous projects, research centers, and institutes at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Clemency Project

The Law School’s Clemency Project advocates for individuals serving disproportionately long prison sentences. The project’s work is at the heart of an innovative and integrated program aimed at connecting law students in a hands-on way to the human realities of mass incarceration, and using our experiences in individual cases to catapult judicial and policy changes that will impact a larger group of criminal justice-impacted individuals.

Corporate Institute

Building upon the strength of an internationally recognized business law faculty, the Corporate Institute combines concentrations, leadership training, business speakers and externships as an area of excellence at the Law School.

Human Rights Center

The Human Rights Center promotes research on real-world challenges, prepares future lawyers to defend human rights, and partners with civil society to impact law and practice at the local, national, and international levels.

Institute for Law and Economics

The Institute for Law & Economics promotes interdisciplinary research and collaboration within the University, as well as with other centers and scholars, nationally and internationally on topics at the interface of economics and the law.

Institute for Law and Rationality

The Institute for Law and Rationality promotes interdisciplinary collaborations among legal scholars and scholars in such fields as psychology, political science, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics (and neuroeconomics) to inquire into how the law does and should understand human behavior.

Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity

The Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity investigates the ways that laws, policies and practices affect development patterns in U.S. metropolitan regions, with a particular focus on the growing social and economic disparities within these areas. Through top-level scholarship, mapping and advocacy, the Institute provides the resources that policymakers, planning officials and community organizations need to address reform in taxation, land use, housing, metropolitan governance and education.

James H. Binger Center for New Americans

The only program of its kind in the U.S., designed in partnership with leading area law firms and non-profit immigration legal services, the Center expands urgently needed legal services for noncitizens, pursues litigation that will improve our nation's immigration laws, and educates noncitizens about their rights.

Program in Law and History

The Program in Law and History, established in 2007, connects students with scholars around the world to explore law in a historical context, fostering research and teaching across all periods of legal history.

Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice

The Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice brings legal education, legal and sociological research, theory, policy, and practice together to solve common problems in the field of criminal justice. The Institute initiates and supports coordinated research and policy analysis, partnering with multiple local and state jurisdictions from across the nation to provide recommendations and build links between researchers, practitioners, lawmakers, governing authorities, and the public.