The University of Louisville’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law announced via a press release that it has received a bequest of $1 million to permanently endow a law clinic run by students. It is believed to be the largest gift in the history of the school.
Impoverished clients are paired with law students by the clinic to provide them with legal representation and advice. The clinic was created in 2009 and has taken on over 500 cases since its inception. The clinic works with the Legal Aid Society, which operates out of the same building as the clinic.
The gift was issued to the school from Sue Ellen Ackerson and her family in honor of Robert Ackerson, her late husband. Robert founded Ackerson and Yann Law Firm. The clinic will be renamed The Robert and Sue Ellen Ackerson Law Clinic.
“This gift is truly powerful because it helps some of the most underserved people in our community,” said University of Louisville President James Ramsey. “We are grateful to the Ackersons for ensuring that the law clinic will be funded well into the future.”
Ackerson graduated from University of Louisville’s College of Business in 1955. Her husband graduated from the law school in 1958 and died in 2008.
“We wanted to do something to help both the law school and the community as well as show both Bob’s and my appreciation for all the university has meant to our family,” she said. “The clinic was a perfect fit.”