A state-owned building known as MacKenzie Hall, at 110 Sherman St. in Hartford, will be going back to the University of Connecticut School of Law for it to use for legal clinics and other programs.
The university had briefly owned the building in 1981, when it acquired the former Hartford Seminary campus, according to UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz.
UConn retained the use of five other seminary buildings, now all part of the law school’s campus. However, it had transferred MacKenzie Hall to the state. In recent years, the state’s Attorney General’s Office made its home there, but those employees have since moved to downtown Hartford.
UConn proposed to take back ownership, and state officials agreed, according to Reitz.
The transfer is expected to be completed this month, and UConn Law programs will then begin moving into the building, Reitz said. UConn Law plans to use it to house legal clinics for law students to gain experience.
These law clinics cover a variety of legal areas, from intellectual property to tax law to criminal defense. Portions of the building will be used for related office space. UConn’s Connecticut Community Law Center will also be housed there.
“We are extremely pleased with this opportunity to centralize our clinics, which are key to UConn Law’s mission of community engagement and essential to the practical training of our students,” said UConn School of Law Dean Eboni S. Nelson.
