Lou Cortina
Maureen A. Sweeney, JD
Francis King Carey
School of Law
Professor and Director, Immigration Law Clinic
About Professor Sweeney
Sweeney, who has led the Immigration Law Clinic since joining the Carey School of Law in 2004, is highly respected for her innovative client advocacy and work on broader issues impacting immigrant communities. The Yale Law School graduate has earned numerous honors, including the 2019 University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service and the 2016 Maryland Legal Services Corporation Benjamin L. Cardin Distinguished Service Award.
Impact
Sweeney teaches her students to combine legal theory with practice and gives them opportunities to help poor or marginalized people through the immigration clinic. Many prospective Carey School of Law students identify the clinic as a chief reason for applying, and current and former students rave about Sweeney’s teaching methods and mentorship. She also strives to educate the UMB community and the public at-large about asylum and immigration issues.
Quotes
“I love the work of asylum and immigration law because I’m continually inspired by my clients, who are resilient, hardworking, loving, and remarkably generous people. I’m also proud that the Carey School of Law is known as a place to be well-trained as an advocate who wants to fight for justice for immigrants.”
— Sweeney
“People who lack citizenship also often lack access to legal services, courts, education, and due process. They find themselves in a system they don’t understand without the resources to adjudicate their rights. The work of Professor Sweeney and her students seeks to address these problems.”
— Donald B. Tobin, JD, dean and professor, Carey School of Law
