2025 CLEA Awards for Outstanding Clinical and Externship Students: Loyola-LA’s Andrew White
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.
Loyola Law School – Los Angeles:
CLEA Outstanding Clinical Student: Andrew White
During his time at Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution’s (LLCR) Conciliation and Mediation Assistance Clinic (fall 2023 to fall 2024), Andrew White exhibited an unwavering commitment to helping individuals while continuously enhancing his mediation skills. His proactive approach to seeking feedback and tackling challenging cases exemplifies his dedication to professional growth and helping others, and, accordingly, Andrew successfully resolved numerous cases that kept parties housed, prevented wage garnishment, facilitated informed decision-making, and concluded contentious litigation. By embodying the essential qualities of a mediator, he ensured that every client felt heard and empowered to achieve resolutions without court intervention.
One highlight of Andrew’s work includes his resolution of a complex eviction case involving a counterclaim for uninhabitability issues with damages exceeding $300,000. Over two mediation sessions, Andrew skillfully guided both parties to common ground where they could develop collaborative solutions. After 30 years of residence, the tenants’ home finally underwent much-needed and long-overdue improvements, including a new kitchen, washer/dryer hookups, and expanded closets in both bedrooms. Simultaneously, the landlord was able to reduce the square footage of the main house in order to transform his studio apartment into a one-bedroom unit with a chef’s kitchen. Thanks to this hard-earned compromise, both parties then agreed to dismiss their legal complaints with prejudice, effectively ending their contentious litigation.
Andrew was also a consummate community member who enthusiastically supported his colleagues, most notably in creating an information packet for new clinic students that actively fostered LCCR’s commitment to collaboration. As a bilingual professional fluent in both English and Spanish, Andrew also enriched our clinic’s outreach and effectiveness. The LCCR staff and students affectionately referred to him as “Señor Andres Blanco,” a testament to the respect and admiration he has earned from his peers.