Juvenile and Family Law Program
- Coordinators, Juvenile & Family Law Program: Professor Clare Huntington and Professor Colene Robinson
- Juvenile Law Clinic
- Juvenile and Family Law Club
- Student Resources: 1L Student Course Planning Guide [pdf], Recommended Readings & Movies [pdf], Certificate Application [pdf]
- Certificate Program
- Faculty
- Student Profiles
- Career Opportunities
- Events & Programs
Juvenile and family law covers a broad range of practice areas, such as marriage, divorce, custody, visitation, family support, child abuse and neglect, delinquency, adoption, estate planning, and elder law. The Juvenile and Family Law Program (JFLP) provides students with opportunities to acquire specialized knowledge in this field, develop a network of, and foster collaboration between, students, academics, and practitioners, and engage in interdisciplinary work in the study and practice of the field. The Program includes specialized courses, research projects, externships, and the Juvenile Law Clinic.
Certificate Program
Colorado Law offers a Juvenile and Family Law Certificate that demonstrates a completion of a concentrated course of study in juvenile and family legal issues. Certificates require at least 95 credit hours (89 are required for the JD), with at least 18 of the 95 hours in designated courses. In addition, students must maintain a 72 GPA and an 86 GPA will earn a “with honors” designation. Visit Rules of the Law School for complete details. Interested students should submit a completed Certificate Application [pdf].
Required Courses
- Family Law
- One of: Juvenile Justice, Domestic Violence, Parent, Child and State
- One Clinic: Juvenile Law, Civil Litigation, Criminal Defense, American Indian Law
- Additional credits from the following courses:
- Accounting for Lawyers, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Bankruptcy, Domestic Violence, Education Law, Estate Planning, Health Law I, Human Rights, Juvenile Delinquency, Mediation, Negotiation, Parent, Child & the State, Poverty Law, Sexuality and the Law, Spanish for Family Lawyers, Wills and Trusts
- And/or Externship
- And/or moot court competition
Faculty
- Associate Professor Clare Huntington, Program Co-Coordinator, practiced as an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice and served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justices Harry A. Blackmun and Stephen Breyer.
- Associate Clinical Professor Colene Robinson, Program Co-Coordinator and Juvenile Law Clinic Director, represents children and parents in child abuse and neglect and delinquency cases. She was recognized as one of ten national Civitas Childlaw Scholars.
- Clinical Professor Norman Aaronson, Civil Litigation Clinic Director, is a former teacher in the U.S. Peace Corps and attorney with Colorado Rural Legal Services.
- Legal Writing Professor Alan Canner teaches Education Law and has written about hospice care.
- Associate Clinical Professor Ann England, a former public defender, oversees juvenile delinquency cases.
- Professor Wayne Gazur teaches Estate Planning and Wills & Trusts, and has published a textbook on estate planning.
- Associate Professor Melissa Hart specializes in employment discrimination and issues of work and family. Prof. Hart served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
- Associate Dean Dayna Matthew specializes in health and bioethics law.
- Associate Professor Carolyn Ramsey specializes in domestic violence, criminal law and procedure, and gender issues.
- Clinical Professor Jill Tompkins directs the American Indian Law Clinic and serves as Appellate Justice with the Mashantucket Pequot, Passamaquoddy, and Pokagon Band of Potawatoni courts of appeal.
- Assistant Dean Lorenzo Trujillo teaches legal drafting in Spanish, is a former family law practitioner and school district in-house counsel, holds a Ph.D. in education, has published articles on truancy.
Student Profiles
Emily Wright (’08), JFLP RA, emily.wright@colorado.edu
Ian Shipps (’08)
Jenna Mazzucca (’08)
Valerie Gaimon (’09)
Melanie Jordan (’09)
Career Opportunities
Careers with a juvenile and family law focus include family law practitioners (solo practice or law firm), guardian ad litem or child’s attorney, Social Services Agency attorney, criminal law (District Attorney or Public Defender specializing in juveniles), policy makers, and Judicial Clerkships in specialized juvenile or family courts. The Office of Career Development maintains an extensive listing of juvenile and family law career opportunities including internships, clerkships, externships, and job postings through the CDOnline.
- Internships have been available at Judicial District Attorney Offices [pdf], AllergyKids, Ayers Law Firm, Bringing Justice Home Project, Colorado Lawyers Committee, Denver District Court, Family Court Facilitator's Office, Boulder Office of Dispute Resolution, Voices for Children-CASA.
- Colorado family law firms include Dale E. Johnson, Dena Silliman Nielson, Elkus & Sisson, Harris Law Firm, Julie A. Caputo – Attorney and Counselor at Law, Law Firm of David Littman, Law Office of Eric Ruderman, McGuane and Hogan, and Offices of Keane Law.
- Colorado family law organizations include CASA for Children, Colorado Association of Family & Children's Agencies, Colorado Children's Campaign, Colorado State Foster Parent Association, Central Visitation Program, Denver Children's Advocacy Center, Mile High United Way, National Association of Counsel for Children, Office of the Child’s Representative, Piton Foundation, Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center, Servicios de la Raza, and Urban Peak Denver.
- Government family law offices include Administration for Children and Families – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Welfare Services Division – Colorado Department of Health and Human Services, Family & Children's Division – Denver Department of Human Services, and National Clearinghouse for Child Abuse & Neglect.
- National child advocacy organizations include Adoption Exchange, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, Center for the Future of Children, Children's Rights, Child Welfare League of America, and Kempe Children's Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect.
- Academic institutions and think tanks include Chapin Hall Center for Children and The Urban Institute.
Events & Programs (Including Past Events)
- Mentoring Sessions
- Movie Nights with Guest Speakers
- The Meth Epidemic, with guest speakers from The Metro North Task Force (11/7/07)
- Aging Out documentary, with youth moderators from Broadway Youth Shelter (9/13/06)
- Speakers Series and Career Development Brown Bags
- Collaborative Law and Ethics: A Discussion with Dave Johnson (2/20/07)
- Westlaw Family Law Research Training Luncheon (11/16/06)
- Working in Marital Dissolution brown bag (11/15/05)
- Street Law: Youth Mentoring Program
- National Moot Court Competition: Child Welfare and Adoption Law
- Clinic and Mock Trial Presentations
- National Adoption Day: The Juvenile Law Clinic and its alumni represent several clients for adoption every year
- Statewide Symposiums and National Conferences
- Consulting with Children on Permanency: Developing Best Practices (11/9/07)
- National Association of Counsel for Children Law Office National Symposium (1/18-20/07)
- Voice of Youth in the Courtroom: Is it Time for a Change?: Colorado Law and Office of the Child's Representative statewide symposium (11/9-10/06)
- The Law and Psychology of Same-Sex Parenting, co-sponsored by Colorado Women's Bar Association, OUTLaw, Federalist Society, Student Trial Lawyers Association (9/20/05)
