Grace Wankiiri Orsatti

Grace Wankiiri Orsatti, Clinical Assistant Professor, directs the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of University's Wills & Healthcare Decisions Clinic, and Externship & Pro Bono Program.

As Director of the Duquesne Kline Wills & Healthcare Decisions Clinic, Professor Orsatti’s work centers on promoting justice through clinic collaborative work and pro bono initiatives.

Professor Orsatti’s research operates at the intersection of aging and the law and healthcare ethics. Her scholarship examines legal and ethical aspects of estate and incapacity planning, with a particular focus on older adults, alternatives to guardianship, health/financial decision-making, and age-related racial disparities. Her scholarship appears in leading health journals.  Professor Orsatti has received funding from the McElhatten Foundation and the American College of Trusts and Estates Council (ACTEC) Foundation for her interdisciplinary medical-legal and estate planning community clinical work serving older adults.

Professor Orsatti serves on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the Court, the Pennsylvania Bar Association Elder Law Section Council, and the Allegheny County Bar Association Elder Law Committee. 

The Duquesne Kline Externship Program prepares students take the next step in their education.  As Externship Program Director, Professor Orsatti helps students secure meaningful externship opportunities to meet student’s educational needs, support their pre-professional development, and complement and enrich classroom learning.  Externship students partner with  leading law firms, government agencies, non-profits, judiciary, and in-house counsel.  Externship students benefit from immersion in subject-specific areas of law while developing critical transferable legal skills, equipping students for their future as effective practitioners.

The Duquesne Kline Pro Bono Program offers a variety of pro bono opportunities to students, and coordinates legal service opportunities with community organizations.  The Duquesne Kline Clinics, Pro Bono Program and Externship Program embody the law school’s mission to educate lawyers to excel in the ethical practice of law, to preserve the highest ideals of our profession, and to promote equal  justice  and  democratic  discourse  through  leadership,  service,  and  civic engagement.