Appellate Advocacy Clinic
- Principle Contact, Appellate Advocacy Clinic: Deborah Cantrell*
- Course Number and Description
Mission and Clients
The Appellate Advocacy Clinic, established in 1988, is taught by experienced attorneys from the Appellate Division of the Colorado Public Defender's Office and the Criminal Division of the Colorado Attorney General's Office. The Clinic is an intensive research and writing experience that enables students to learn the appellate process by handling actual appeals of criminal cases in the Colorado state court.
Scope
Students, under direct supervision of the instructor, complete an appellate brief for a case currently on appeal in the Colorado Supreme Court or the Colorado Court of Appeals and for attending the oral argument. In addition, students receive formal instruction on appellate procedure, issue identification, appellate brief writing, and oral advocacy, and must conduct oral argument for their case before a panel of attorneys. While appellate cases do not generally present any opportunity for additional fact investigation, students who take the Clinic when it is being taught by defense lawyers will generally meet and interview their clients, often through a prison visit.
* The clinic is taught alternately by the Colorado Public Defender’s Office and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Deborah Cantrell is available to answer questions.
