Our outstanding clinical law programs offer students opportunities to learn about the real practice of law while providing essential services to a population that is largely underserved by the legal profession. Students also benefit from the instruction of faculty members who are themselves dedicated and experienced legal practitioners. For many, participation in a clinic is the turning point in their education, when they realize what it means to represent people who need their help.

Students are certified to practice under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03; a certification which allows them to represent clients without compensation in both civil and criminal cases. Clinics do more than teach students where to stand in a courtroom. They enable tomorrow’s legal professionals to acquire—and practice—the skills and knowledge they need to serve clients in a productive, responsible, and successful way.

All clinics meet the following eligibility, general requirements and deadlines described below.

ELIGIBILITY

• Only students who will be in their final year of law school are eligible for the Defenders and the Prosecutors Program.  Students who are finishing law school in December 2011 must confirm their eligibility with Lorraine Cove, Assistant Dean and Registrar, before applying for a criminal clinic.  Students in their last two years of law school are eligible for all other in-house clinics, the Battered Women’s Advocacy Project, and most Internships.  Third-year day students and fourth-year evening students will be given preference in admission if they have not yet taken a full-year clinical program.   

• Students must be in good academic standing both at the time of application and at the start of the clinic and must either have successfully completed or be concurrently enrolled in Evidence to participate.

• Participation in a clinic is subject to an employment conflict check.  This is reviewed at the time of application and at the start of the fall semester.  The seven in-house clinics function as a unitary law firm with seven practice areas. Because of this law firm model, students in an in-house clinic will not be able to engage in employment that may conflict with any of the in-house clinics. For example, no student in an in-house clinic may work at a district attorney's office because of the inherent conflict with Suffolk Defenders.

• Inquiries regarding eligibility for specific independent Internships for credit should be directed to Bernadette Feeley, Associate Clinical Professor, Civil and Judicial Legal Internship Program.  Professor Feeley’s office is located in Suite 165 (tel. 617/573-8049

GENERAL CLINIC REQUIREMENTS

1.         Admission to a clinic is through a lottery selection process, although individual clinics may give preference to students with relevant foreign language fluency or those who have completed other relevant courses.  In order to drop a clinic once a student has registered, the student must obtain the permission of the Clinical Professor teaching the clinic.  After add/drop ends, the names of enrolled students are submitted to the Dean's Office by the Clinical Programs Office to be certified for student practice under S.J.C. Rule 3:03. 

2.         Students must commit themselves to serve in the full-year clinics for both semesters; partial credit is not available for a student who withdraws after one semester.  A grade and credit are given at the end of the academic year.

3.         No student may be enrolled in more than one clinical program in any semester or receive more than 12 clinical credits (which includes credits for an internship) during his or her law school career.  A student with questions about this limitation, or who seeks to obtain a waiver, should write the Director of Clinical Programs.       

4.         Students should not take more than 15 total credits (an overload) during any semester in which they participate in a clinic.  The Deans’ Office will presumptively reject overload petitions of clinical students.

Please review the additional requirements applicable to specific clinics.

APPLICATION DEADLINES

Applications are available for the fall semester are available prior to early registration sometime the end of February.  The spring application is due the end of October. Late applications are accepted but will not be part of the selection process until all applications submitted on time have been considered. Email and/or faxed applications are not accepted.  The selection process is done by lottery.  The results of are mailed prior to early registration.

 A. Why should I enroll in a clinic?

A clinic is an opportunity to put theory into practice.  Clinics offer a student the opportunity to perform all the tasks of a lawyer under the direct and intensive supervision of a member of the law school faculty.  Clinic students represent clients and grapple with the substantive legal issues, strategies, and ethical and interpersonal issues inherent to lawyering.  In working on their cases as the lead “lawyer” but with close supervision, students learn in a guided but self-directed manner that allows greater reflection on aspects of representation, how to improve their skills, and how to tackle new legal problems.  The skills students learn and practice – such as interviewing and counseling clients, negotiating with opposing counsel and other parties, legal research and writing, navigating complex systems to further their clients’ interests, and courtroom advocacy – are transferable to any legal environment.  Finally, students will represent clients who otherwise would not have access to the legal system.

B. In addition to representing clients, what will I do in a clinic?

All of the clinics hold weekly seminars taught by a member of the Clinical Faculty.  Although class content varies, generally the curriculum focuses on the lawyering skills and ethical framework necessary to effectively represent each clinic’s clients.  Weekly seminar attendance and active participation are required.

In addition to the weekly seminars, students will have regular individual meetings with their Clinical Professor to obtain feedback and supervision on their cases.  Students will be expected to take initiative in seeking answers to their clients’ legal problems.  This process of the student first finding the relevant information, thinking through its implications, and then bringing it to the professor for feedback intended to guide the student towards a better understanding of the law is known as “self-directed” or “active” learning. 

Students should expect to work a minimum total of 15 hours per week including the seminar and weekly supervision meetings.  The type of work varies from clinic to clinic but generally this involves work on cases, preparation and execution of out of class simulations, and class preparation.  Students should be aware that the 15 hours a week is a minimum and workloads can be quite intense throughout the academic year.  Also, the requisite hours often cannot be scheduled in advance (for example, 5 hours on Thursdays, the rest over the weekend) because the timing of the work is client and court driven.  Because of the intense and uncertain demands of a clinic, students engaged in outside employment should speak with the relevant Clinical Professor before enrolling to discuss whether they will have the necessary time and flexibility to participate. (*Please note: The Evening Landlord-Tenant Clinic has different time requirements.)  

C. How will I be graded?

Students will receive a detailed set of written Grading Guidelines describing the criteria that will be used to assess their performance throughout the year and on which their grade will be based at the end of the year.  They also will receive both mid-year and end-of-year evaluations from their Clinical Professor.