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MSU Law Professor Brings Experience Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors to Immigration Law Clinic
Professor Veronica Thronson
Impassioned and skilled advocacy changes lives. Clinical Professor Veronica Thronson understands that and makes sure that her students in the high-stakes Immigration Law Clinic know it, too.
Professor Thronson began her legal practice at Legal Aid in Las Vegas, Nevada, representing victims of domestic violence in family law proceedings. Her cases often involved victims of domestic violence who were also immigrants. She worked at Legal Aid for eight years as the director.
Her clients lacked resources and support. She visited them at shelters, changed their children’s diapers in her office, and helped them find basic life necessities like clothing. Opposing parties in her cases verbally harassed her and occasionally her clients’ estranged partners resorted to stalking Professor Thronson.
And yet, despite the physical danger and the challenging nature of her daily work, Professor Thronson continued to do it. She would spend four to five days a week in court and admitted that after a while it “got old.” But at the end of the toughest days, she returned to her own stable home, which gave her the stamina to put in the hard work to provide her clients with that same opportunity for stability.
Since coming to MSU Law in 2010, Professor Thronson has worked in the Immigration Law Clinic alongside students to represent clients in a wide variety of immigration matters. The clinic’s clients include refugees, trafficking victims, and minors apprehended at the border.
The MSU Immigration Law Clinic has represented people from over 80 countries. Professor Thronson explained that while not all of the students who participate in the clinic aspire to become immigration lawyers, they leave with a skill set and experience that can be applied to nearly all areas of the law.
