The clinic in question is part of the students' legal education, so referring to it as an unpaid internship is misleading--they are "paid" in school credit. 75

The clinic in question is part of the students' legal education, so referring to it as an unpaid internship is misleading--they are "paid" in school credit. 75% of my third year law school course credit was via working in a legal clinic. Had I not been in a clinic, I would have been taking classes instead for the same amount of credit, and learned a lot less about being a lawyer. I agree this isn't the solution to a fundamentally broken patent litigation process, but these students are almost assuredly better off for the experience and it's a mutually beneficial relationship for the students and clients who can't afford traditional legal representation.