Criminal Appeals & Post-Convictions Services Clinic

Students will be appointed to represent clients by the D.C. Court of Appeals. Students work in teams of two to analyze trial court decisions, identify and research potential appellate issues, draft and file an appellate brief, and evaluate cases for potential post-conviction motions. Students should expect to conduct significant research and writing as part of this clinic. Students will also evaluate each case for potential post-conviction issues, including ineffective assistance of counsel, and will potentially draft post-conviction motions. Students will also engage in client interviewing and counseling, and may have the opportunity to engage in motions practice or oral argument depending on case needs.

In the seminar, students focus on case evaluation, appellate strategy, and critical thinking. Students also learn the substantive law necessary in their lawyering work, including standards of appellate review, ineffective assistance of counsel, and other post-conviction issues. Students will have an opportunity to practice oral advocacy in the classroom setting. Finally, in seminar, students consider what meaningful access to counsel means in the criminal justice system, and grapple with the impacts of bias, discrimination, and injustice on their clients. Students meet with their supervisors on at least a weekly basis to review and discuss case strategy and analyze various factual and legal issues relating to their cases. Supervisors review and give significant feedback on all written and oral advocacy.

Students will leave this intensive clinical experience with insight into the court system, the right to assistance of counsel, and the ways in which our system is just and unjust. They also leave having engaged in lawyering work for litigants under the close supervision of experienced clinical faculty who seek to support students in their professional development, their lawyering skills, and their professional identity formation – all of which will serve students in their marketability and their job performance.

Students will be selected based on their potential to provide high quality, client-centered legal services to our client population. Faculty will consider students’ interest in and commitment to the practice of criminal law, appellate practice, access to justice, advocacy on behalf of those who have been marginalized, and/or litigation generally. Students who have not yet been able to explore these areas should not be deterred from applying but should explain in their applications their interest in and enthusiasm about working on these issues.

Interested students must fill out the Uniform Clinic Application from the Law School's student portal website under "Clinics," where a complete set of application instructions are posted at least a few weeks prior to registration.

Students may contact Professor Carter to discuss the Clinic generally or to ask specific questions. Permission of the instructor is required prior to registration. Students may not enroll in this course and in Law 6668 (Field Placement) unless they have the written permission of the Clinic Director and the Assistant Dean of Field Placement.

Students will be expected to devote an average of 24 hours per week to their Clinic work. The work will ebb and flow during the semester, requiring substantially more work when working under a particular deadline. We ask that students be prepared to be as flexible as possible since much of the work of the Clinic will be deadline driven, and the failure to meet deadlines could be significantly detrimental to a client. Many students find that time spent in the Clinic is one of their most valuable law school experiences, and well worth the substantial time commitment.