As we point toward a new school year, the Law School’s Office of Public Service looks forward to welcoming new (or future) Marquette lawyers—and welcoming back one of our own. Specifically, as we continue working to expand access to justice, the Law School has named Joshua H. Hernandez, L’22, assistant director of the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinics.

The MVLCs connect community members facing civil legal challenges with free legal advice. At each legal clinic, volunteer attorneys work alongside volunteer law students to provide guidance and support to those in need. What began in 2002 as a single evening clinic has grown into a network of neighborhood-based clinics that serve thousands of individuals each year. More generally, the MVLCs foster a culture of pro bono service among lawyers and their “successors” in the profession (i.e., current law students).

Josh Hernandez will work in the Office of Public Service with me, as assistant dean, and Katie Mertz, L’11, as director. He will help oversee MVLC operations and recruit, support, and supervise law students and volunteer attorneys. His work will include leading the MVLCs’ Mobile Legal Clinic, which brings legal services directly into Milwaukee neighborhoods where it may be difficult for people to receive help. These services include a growing focus on estate planning and probate matters for low-income individuals and families.

Josh brings a longstanding connection to the MVLCs. As a Marquette law student, he volunteered extensively with the clinics—completing more than 300 hours of pro bono service, serving on the MVLC student advisory board, and earning the Milwaukee Bar Association’s 2021 Public Interest Law Student of the Year Award. After graduation, he continued his involvement as a volunteer attorney while practicing with Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. Indeed, the Milwaukee Justice Center honored him with its Jon Allen Pace Setter Award as Volunteer Attorney of the Year in 2025.

More could be said about Josh, who serves as treasurer of the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers Association and on a number of community boards. Suffice it here to say his experience as a former student volunteer, a volunteer attorney, and, most generally, a Marquette lawyer positions him well to help advance the MVLCs’ mission of expanding access to justice while supporting the law students and lawyers whose service makes that mission possible. We are very glad to welcome back Josh.