At Drexel Kline, Legislation and Regulation introduces first-year students to how statutes and administrative agencies shape everyday life. In one section of the course, taught by Professor Richard H. Frankel, associate dean of experiential learning, students apply that material in pro bono immigration matters involving survivors of crime who are seeking U nonimmigrant status (U visa) after cooperating with law enforcement.

Working with practicing attorneys and under supervision, students help draft legal complaints challenging years-long delays in visa decisions, circumstances that can leave applicants unable to work lawfully while living in prolonged uncertainty about their status in the United States.

The assignment places students in active client matters while they are still learning the foundations of statutory interpretation and administrative law, connecting classroom doctrine to the lived consequences of agency decision-making.

Doctrine in Practice

Legislation and Regulation is a required first-year course designed to broaden how students approach sources of law. While many 1L courses emphasize judicial opinions, this course focuses on statutes enacted by legislatures and rules developed by administrative agencies.

In Frankel’s pro bono section of the course, students work directly with client matters involving delayed immigration applications, applying concepts involving statutory interpretation and agency action to legal complaints seeking decisions on long-pending U visa applications. Students examine how statutory language, agency obligations and procedural timelines can shape how long individuals wait for decisions affecting their immigration status.

“When you can see how approaching a statute one way has one effect on an actual client, and a different reading could have a very different effect, you start to see why statutory and administrative law matter,” Frankel said.

Pro Bono Service Embedded in the Course

The pro bono component is introduced early and designed to be manageable within the first-year curriculum.

Many clients have spent years waiting for decisions on U visa applications, delays that affect their ability to work legally, stabilize their families and remain secure in the United States. Yet, many individuals cannot afford to hire a lawyer to help them get a decision on their case.

That’s where students come in. Students help draft complaints against a federal agency arguing that the delays are unlawful and require judicial review under administrative law principles studied in class. Students work in collaboration with practicing attorneys and under supervision, contributing to legal complaints on behalf of clients navigating the immigration system.

The work is completed in collaboration with attorneys from Barley Snyder and the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC), which partner with Drexel Kline on the U visa cases.

“Our clients in this project have a resilience and determination that’s remarkable,” said Andy Mahon, an associate at Barley Snyder. “I’m very fortunate to have the chance to work with them and to collaborate with our partners at PIRC and Drexel.”

Celia Acosta, a paralegal in Barley Snyder’s Immigration Practice Group, said being part of this project reinforced her belief that “compassionate legal advocacy and statutory interpretation will change the lives of many.”

For Frankel, incorporating this work connects legal study with professional development. “A lot of students come in wanting to help people or solve problems,” he said. “If all they’re doing is reading cases and writing exams, that connection can feel distant.” Working with a real client makes that connection more tangible.

Assignment to Responsibility

For some students, the weight of the work became clearer once they understood the consequences clients faced while waiting for immigration decisions, including prolonged legal uncertainty, continued instability in their immigration status and the possibility of removal proceedings.

Jeremy Shpigel, JD ’27, said the experience changed how he approached legal work. “With a class assignment, I’m striving for a good grade,” he said. “But that importance is overshadowed by the importance of the plaintiff’s liberty at stake in the case.”

That awareness brought pressure but also shifted his perspective on the assignment. Over time, he began approaching legal problems with the client’s goals in mind. “I’m more prone to consider what outcome the client wants and then work backwards from there,” he said.

Dañiela Wright, JD ’27, entered the course expecting dense reading but instead found a way to understand how government operates in practice. “It felt like this course was about learning how the government actually works,” she said, pointing to the role of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and federal agencies in shaping everyday life.

Through her client’s case, those administrative structures stopped feeling theoretical. Delays tied to agency decision-making shaped where families could work, plan and feel secure.

She carried that perspective into her client matters, where attention to statutory detail extended to reviewing case files, finding a translator, responding to questions and concerns, and helping complete complex documents.

Seeing Statutes in Context

Sydney Young, JD ’27, said the experience changed how she understood the relationship between statutory interpretation and agency action. While studying the APA in class, students were also helping draft legal complaints tied to long-pending U visa applications.

“Part of the ordinary Leg Reg curriculum was learning about the APA, but as a class, we were able to make legal arguments under the APA seeking determinations on clients’ U visa applications that had been pending for several years,” she said.

Young said the work also changed how she approached statutory interpretation, especially when competing readings carried consequences for actual clients.

That impact becomes clearer in Wright’s work with her client. After learning the client had been waiting years for a decision, she began to see how statutory interpretation connects to long-term uncertainty, not only for individuals, but also for their families. “My client had been waiting for eight years for a decision,” she said.

“Seeing how years of delay shaped my client’s life gave me a heightened sense of urgency.” That urgency informed how she approached interpretation, focusing on both the text and its broader purpose.

Developing Legal and Professional Skills

Drafting a legal complaint requires more than doctrinal understanding. Students also confront questions involving communication, trust and professional judgment. They learn how to interview clients who may be recounting traumatic experiences, how to identify facts that matter legally and how to translate those facts into a structured pleading.

The course includes discussions on client communication and trauma-informed counseling, with active attorneys participating throughout the semester.

Frankel noted that these skills develop alongside doctrinal learning. The course covers foundational administrative law principles while giving students a context in which to apply them.

When the Work Becomes Personal

Often, the shift happens while students are drafting the first complaint or hearing a client describe extended waits for a decision.

“I think having to digest those personal stories is impactful,” Frankel said.

At the same time, the course's structure ensures students are supported. All work is supervised and framed within a learning process.

Building a Foundation for What Comes Next

The experience introduces students to questions they will continue encountering throughout law school and practice: Access to justice, client trust and the responsibilities that come with legal representation.

While not every student will pursue immigration or public interest work, the experience is designed to be transferable. Skills in statutory analysis, legal writing and client communication apply across practice areas.

Equally important is the perspective students gain. Understanding how laws affect individuals, and how legal arguments can shape those outcomes, becomes part of how they approach future work.

“The more you can understand the conditions of other people’s lives and the broader circumstances of those who obtain legal representation, the more helpful that is as an attorney,” Frankel said.

Early Exposure, Lasting Impact

By integrating pro bono work into a required first-year course, Legislation and Regulation asks students to confront legal interpretation as something more than an academic exercise. Statutory language, agency action and procedural delay become tied to individual lives, forcing students to think not only about what the law says, but what it does.

For students, that combination connects coursework with purpose while they are still developing foundational skills. And for the course itself, it spotlights a central idea: Statutes and regulations shape outcomes in ways students can see as they work through real cases.