6620 Consumer Mediation Clinic (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5)
Students act as neutral third parties who help local consumers resolve disputes with businesses by facilitating mediated agreements. Students perform intake interviews, provide information and referrals, identify interests and priorities of the parties, generate and narrow options, and craft settlement terms. Student-mediators develop problem-solving techniques as they learn about federal and state consumer laws. For 2 credits, students devote 10 hours per week to clinical work, including phone hours, attend a required weekly two-hour seminar, and present a brief paper analyzing one mediation case. Students may earn 1 additional credit by participating in the Community Dispute Resolution Center, a joint project of the Law School and the non-profit Center for Dispute Settlement. Students conduct co-mediations of interpersonal disputes referred by community agencies and organizations. Requirements for this component include an additional 4 hours per week of clinical work, attendance at an intensive training session during a weekend before commencing co-mediations, preparation of brief writings on co-mediations, and participation in out-of-class videotaped simulations. Open to second- and third-year students. Permission of the instructor required prior to registration. The grade of H, P, LP, or NC is given for this course. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6621 Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic (4, 5, or 6) S. Jones
Under faculty supervision students assume substantial responsibility for advising small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Students interview and counsel clients; draft incorporation, limited liability company, and partnership documents (such as articles of incorporation, bylaws, articles of organization, operating agreements, and partnership agreements); research local licensing requirements and zoning laws; review and draft contracts and leases; and advise on basic intellectual property issues, tax problems, and related matters. Prerequisites: Law 6250 and 6300 and permission of instructor. Law 6472 and 6474 are recommended. The grade of H, P, LP, or NC is given for this course. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6622 Public Justice Advocacy Clinic (4, 5, or 6) Gutman
Under faculty supervision, students represent clients before administrative agencies and participate in public interest litigation on behalf of low-income clients. Student responsibilities include client interviewing, factual development, legal analysis, drafting of pleadings, discovery and motions, and negotiating settlements in cases. Students may also work with nonprofit and community organizations to present positions in legislative fora and in regulatory matters pending before administrative agencies. Open to second- and third-year students. Students may take this course for two semesters. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6623 Neighborhood Law and Policy Clinics (4, 5, or 6)
Students represent indigent clients in a range of civil matters, including welfare, disability, and housing benefits, as well as matters pertaining to offender re-entry. Student responsibilities include interviewing, fact investigation, negotiations, and conducting hearings at administrative tribunals and in D.C. Superior Court. Students may have the opportunity to participate in policy advocacy before the D.C. City Council and administrative rule-making bodies. Open to second-year and third-year students. (Case work and class participation)
6624 Family Justice Litigation Clinic (4, 5, or 6) Kohn, Strand
Under faculty supervision, students represent indigent litigants in DC Superior Court. Students undertake a range of cases in the Family Court (divorce, custody, child support, alimony) and the Domestic Violence Unit (civil protection orders, modification and extension of civil protection orders, and contempt). While representing domestic violence litigants, students also have the opportunity to gain experience in criminal practice by collaborating with the U.S. Attorney's Office in related prosecutions of accused batterers. Students are responsible for every phase of litigation, drafting of initial pleadings, motions, conducting discovery, settlement negotiations, and taking the case to trial. In the weekly two-hour seminar, students study the substantive and procedural law relevant to their cases, including the local domestic violence and family law statues, criminal law, evidentiary principles, and procedural rules. The seminar also focuses on litigation skills exercises, including performing direct and cross examinations, arguing motions, and conducting negotiations. Permission of the clinic director is required prior to registration. Open only to 3Ls. Prerequisites: Law 6230 and Law 6360. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6625 Federal, Criminal, and Appellate Clinic
(4, 5, or 6) Oleson
Under supervision of the instructor, third-year students litigate appellate cases, primarily direct appeals from criminal convictions in area courts of appeal. Student responsibilities include development of the lawyer/client relationship, record review and selection of issues, briefing, and oral argument. A weekly seminar addresses the lawyer’s role, ethical and procedural problems, litigation strategy, and criminal justice issues through role-playing, simulation, and written exercises. Student work loads fluctuate, but average about 20 hours per week. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor, and applications must be submitted during the spring of the preceding academic year. Must be taken for the full academic year; 8 graded credits are awarded at the end of the spring semester. Prerequisite: Law 6230 and 6360; Law 6650 is recommended. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6626 Vaccine Injury Clinic (4, 5, or 6) Meyers, Shoemaker
This clinic allows approximately ten second- and third-year students, under faculty supervision, to represent individuals who have suffered serious vaccine-related injuries and who are seeking damages in trial and appellate proceedings before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. A weekly two-hour seminar will focus on multidisciplinary (medical/legal) training in vaccine injury issues, and on lawyering skills such as client interviewing and counseling and cross examination of medical experts. Students will also evaluate Claims Court’s program as a model for tort reform. Students must devote approximately 16 hours per week to the clinic, and participate in both the fall and spring semesters. Four hours of graded credit are given for each semester. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6627 Environmental Law Clinic (2 or 3) Turley
Second-, third-, and fourth-year students participate in the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Clinic, representing clients in environmental litigation in both the federal and state systems. Students work under faculty supervision in administrative, trial, or appellate actions, particularly citizen suit actions. This work includes actions under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act, and the Federal Facilities Compliance Act. Permission of the instructor is required prior to registration. Two or three hours of graded credit are given for this course. Prerequisite or concurrent registration: Law 6430. Students may enroll con-currently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6628–29 Clinical Teaching and Scholarship I & II (1, 2, 3, or 4) Goldfarb
Exploration of the multiple goals of clinical education, with an intensive orientation to clinical methods and a historical and philosophical overview of clinical education. Students examine, use, and evaluate clinical pedagogies designed to meet these multiple goals and submit regular journals throughout the year. Other areas of inquiry include the role of clinical education in legal education, the role of law school clinics in social justice issues and in communities, pedagogies for teaching and supervising lawyering in a public service context, the nature of reflective learning and the value of journals as pedagogy, and types of clinical scholarship. Enrollment limited. Open to LL.M. students serving in clinical fellowships. Law 6628 is prerequisite to Law 6629. This course is graded on either a letter-grade basis or a CR/NC basis; consult the instructor before enrolling. (Writing assignments)
6630 Immigration Clinic (4, 5, or 6)
Students assume substantial responsibility for handling a range of immigration law matters, including determining what benefits or forms of relief, if any, are available to their clients, and, in appropriate circumstances, representing their clients in removal proceedings. Because the Clinic’s clients come from all over the world, cultural sensitivity is essential and foreign language skills are welcome. A minimum of 210 hours of work per semester and attendance at a two-hour weekly seminar are required. Permission of the instructor is required prior to registration. Prerequisite: Law 6538. Students may enroll in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6631 Health Rights Law Clinic (4, 5, or 6) S. Jackson
Under faculty supervision, second- and third-year students provide advice and information and assist in providing legal representation to older D.C. residents who are having difficulty with medical bills, Medicare, Medicaid, and other health insurance problems. Students perform two hours of intake at the office or by home visit each week, attend the weekly two-hour health insurance seminar, and take major responsibility for up to five cases during the semester. Areas of legal representation include Medicaid, “Medigap” insurance, HMO or managed care coverage under Medicare; appeals regarding denial of payment for hospital or home health care before the utilization review organization or an appropriate judicial forum; negotiating with collection agencies and billing offices regarding payment of medical bills. Student should expect to devote 10 hours per week to this course. The grade of H, P, LP, or NC is given for this course. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6633 International Human Rights Clinic (4, 5, or 6) A. Smith
Under faculty supervision, students work in a clinical setting in partnership with experienced attorneys and specialized institutions engaged in human rights activism on case projects drawn from one of two principal areas: (1) litigation and advocacy before international human rights tribunals and treaty bodies, primarily in the Inter-American and United Nations human rights systems; or (2) human rights litigation and advocacy in the United States, especially in relation to the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act. Corequisite: Law 6567; prerequisite: Law 6520, 6546, or 6568 or completion of the GW–Oxford International Human Rights Law Program. (Skills)
6634 Law Students in Court (4, 5, or 6) D. Johnson
A clinical program in trial advocacy, offering an opportunity to develop skills as a trial lawyer while representing indigent persons in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Students may participate in either the civil division (which focuses primarily upon the representation of tenants in landlord–tenant actions, but also handles some consumer, negligence, and other civil matters) or the criminal division (in which student litigators defend persons charged with misdemeanor offenses). Students in both divisions have the opportunity to participate in jury trials. They are responsible for all aspects of litigation under the supervision of clinical instructors: interviewing clients and witnesses, conducting investigations, preparing pleadings, engaging in settlement negotiations or plea bargaining, and conducting all motions hearings and trials pursuant to the Superior Court’s third-year practice rule. Only third-year students who have completed Law 6230 and 6360 may participate in the clinic. Seminars are held in the evenings. Students must have one day per week available for court appearances and plan to devote approximately 20 hours per week to the clinic. Students must participate in the program for two consecutive semesters, beginning in either the summer or fall. Application must be made during the spring semester of the preceding academic year. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. Enrollment is limited to 16 students. This course is graded on a CR/NC basis in the first semester and by letter-grade in the second semester. (Skills)
6635 Disabled People and the Law (2) Banzhaf
Examination of those areas in which persons with disabilities have traditionally been denied some right or benefit afforded other persons in our society and have resorted to legal action; introduction to statutes and agencies designed to protect people with disabilities. Students may choose to prepare a research paper (and receive legal writing credit and a numerical grade) or to gain practical experience doing a clinical project (on a CR/NC basis). Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6637 Legal Activism (2 or 3)
Study of the legal process, not to benefit individual clients, but as a powerful tool for affecting social change and advancing the public interest. Topics discussed in a two-hour seminar meeting each week include principles of maximizing legal leverage, legal judo, guerrilla law, working with the press and members of Congress, drafting of legal documents, unusual legal tools and tactics, negotiation, making money from public interest law, etc. Students may choose to bring a public interest legal action before an agency or in court or may undertake another legal action project for 3 credits and receive a numerical grade. Alternatively, students may do research on a topic related to public interest law for 2 credits on a CR/NC basis. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors. (Skills)
6638 Intensive Clinical Placement (arr.) Staff
Projects involving litigation, research, or public interest activities of a legal nature (including aid to indigents, support of public interest nonprofit corporations, and support of governmental agencies or courts) may be initiated and will be supervised by a faculty member. Projects must be approved in advance by the Law School Supervisory Committee (three members) both as to whether the project is appropriate and as to the number of credit hours to be granted. A maximum of 10 credit hours may be taken in one or two semesters. This course is open to a limited number of third-year students. This course is graded on a CR/NC basis. Students may enroll concurrently in this course and Law 6668 only with permission of both instructors.