University of Utah : S.J. Quinney College of Law

The 2008-2009 Clinical Program

Tags:clinic overview 

The College of Law offers a variety of clinical experiences.  Each clinic relies on placing the student with a supervisor to work on real cases.  Each clinic has a related class to prepare for and/or reflect upon the experience.

There are two clinics which are offered every term – Summer, Fall and Spring – to develop basic skills for and insights about the practice of law:
•    Judicial Clinic placements with Judicial Process class     
•    Civil Clinic placements with Lawyering Skills class    

There are five clinics which focus on particular practice areas or service projects where all the students in the class are simultaneously doing clinic work:
•    Criminal Clinic placements with Criminal Process class (3L, year-long)
•    Innocence Clinic placement and class (year-long)     
•    New Ventures Clinic placements and class (year-long)    
•    Small Business Clinic and class (Fall)
•    Non-Profit Clinic and class (Spring)     

There are a variety of other clinical opportunities that permit students to add a live experience to a related course when that course is taught (or the following term).  These include:
•    Legislative Clinic with Legislative Process class (Fall)    
•    Mediation Clinic with Advanced Negotiation/Mediation class (Fall)
•    Disability Clinic with Disability Law class (Fall)
•    Elder Law Clinic with Elder Law class (Fall)  
•    Environmental Clinic with Environmental Practice Class (Spring)
•    Health Law Clinic with Health Care Regulations class (Spring)    
•    Victims Clinic with Rights of Crime Victims class (Spring)    
•    Consumer Law Clinic with Consumer Law class (Spring)    

There are two NEW clinic / experiential programs.  They are:
•    International Clinic – 3Ls only – requires pre-requisites.  Plan ahead!    
•    International Environmental Practicum – work with NGO from India – Fall & Spring        

There are limited opportunities for student-arranged clinics        

Credit Requirements: A student must competently complete 50 hours of relevant legal work for every 1 credit (P/F) awarded in a clinic.  Most clinic placements require 100 or 150 hours of work in a semester (which equates to 7-10 hours of work per week) to receive 2 or 3 (P/F) credits.  A student may earn up to 14 credits toward graduation from clinical placement work.  This credit limitation does not include graded credit received for participation in the accompanying academic course.

To Enroll: Although judicial students are selected by the supervising judges, most other clinics are “open enrollment.” Occasionally a clinic (or placement in a clinic) has limited space and faculty decide which students will best be able to benefit from the experience.

Why Enroll: The benefits of participating in the Clinical Program can include:  learning basic lawyering skills and how to learn from experience, learning about legal institutions and about law in the context of practice, gaining insight into one’s strengths and career preferences, and providing valuable service.

More information is available at http://www.law.utah.edu/academic/clinic/default.asp or contact:

• Prof. Linda F. Smith, Clinical Program Director, Rm. 225,  581-4077 clinical@law.utah.edu
• The other involved faculty member(s) listed below each clinic description