2023 CLEA Student Awards for Clinics and Externships: Loyola – LA Law School’s Kendall Weaver

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 clinic and externship students. 

Loyola Law School’s nominee this year for the CLEA award is Kendall Weaver, a graduating clinical student who worked at the Loyola Project for the Innocent. Here’s what one of her clinical supervisors had to say about her:

Kendall Weaver was an invaluable asset to Loyola Project for the Innocent’s clinic over the 2022-2023 school year. As a clinical student, Kendall enthusiastically volunteered for any project and demonstrated a deep understanding of the complex considerations of post-conviction litigation. Kendall served as an important member of the litigation team in preparing for the evidentiary hearing of a client who has been incarcerated for 33 years for a crime he did not commit. She zealously advocated for her clients, undertook research of niche legal issues, prepared witness examinations, reviewed and compiled reports, drafted file-ready motions, and examined an important witness in court as a certified law student. Kendall demonstrated compassion for her clients and tenacity in tackling even the most tedious assignments. Kendall brought to LPI her experience and skills learned in Loyola’s Center for Juvenile Law and Policy, the San Diego County Alternate Public Defenders’ Office, Right Choice Law, and a firm representing over 200 victims of Northern California’s wildfires. She has dedicated her academic career to advocating for underserved populations. There is no doubt that she will succeed in any position she accepts as a public interest lawyer and that she will obtain justice for the clients she serves.