Civil Litigation Clinic
The Civil Litigation Clinic is a two semester course. The first semester, in the fall, provides students with an introduction to civil practice. The second semester, in the spring, concentrates on courtroom evidence.
In the fall semester, students are trained in civil practice, including topics such as letter writing, drafting complaints and other pleadings, motion practice, discovery (interrogatories, requests for admission and deposition practice), negotiations, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. Each week law students either participate in drafting pleadings/letters, or mock presentations, including motion arguments and negotiation sessions.
Second semester students get courtroom experience with evidence exercises. Each week they prepare direct and cross examination, role playing and learning techniques on how to lay foundation for testimony, use of diagrams, photographs, and other exhibits in the courtroom, business records, and expert witnesses. The course concludes with a final mock jury trial at the Boulder County Courthouse.
Throughout both semesters, students represent real clients in court proceedings. Each student carries a case load of about five or six cases. The Civil Litigation Clinic focuses on family law (divorce, custody, child support) in Boulder District Court, and disability law (Social Security appeals before Federal Administrative Law Judges). The Clinic also represents some immigration clients in political asylum cases.
A typical client would be a woman seeking divorce from her husband. The client may be in an abusive relationship and need a protective order. The law student would interview the client, prepare court pleadings, and arrange for service on the husband. In the first semester, discovery will be conducted and perhaps a temporary orders hearing scheduled after an initial status conference with the judge. When children are involved, experts may be appointed (special advocates) to investigate and make recommendations to the court on parenting time/custody issues. The case would likely be set for permanent orders and final divorce decree in the spring.
Another typical client would be an individual who is 52 years old, disabled, with an eighth grade education, seeking Social Security disability benefits, due to a physical or mental condition. The client has been initially turned down for benefits by the Social Security Administration. The law student would petition for a hearing before a Federal Administrative Law Judge. The law student will work with doctors and other health care providers to develop stronger evidence to submit to the Court. The claimant and witnesses will testify at the hearing, the student will direct examine his/her client and cross-examine vocational experts and medical experts called by the Judge to Testify. The law student will also submit a legal brief to the court, arguing the merits of his/her client’s case based on testimony and medical evidence.
Student Resources
| Norman Aaronson Clinical Professor Legal Aid and Defender Program 404 UCB, Wolf Law Building Boulder, CO 80309-0404 303-492-6602 Norman.Aaronson@colorado.edu |
