Criminal Defense Clinic
The Criminal Defense Clinic is a training and instructional program designed to teach students the basic skills of criminal practice and to afford students the opportunity to represent clients in actual cases in municipal and county courts primarily in Boulder County. Each new client is assigned a student attorney who is responsible for that case and who works under the close supervision of one of the two clinical professors who teach full-time in the clinic. The attorney/professor works closely with the students on all aspects of the cases and accompanies the student attorney to all contested hearings and trials in the courts. Students in the clinic are permitted to practice in Colorado courts by Colorado statute and Colorado Supreme Court Rule. The law school offers a one-semester clinic taught by Professor Ann England and a two-semester clinic taught by Professor Pat Furman. Enrollment in each clinic is limited to 12 students.
The Criminal Defense Clinic has two main goals: (1) to provide the instruction and training to our law students to prepare them for the practice of law, and (2) to provide high-quality legal services to our client community and to serve the community at large by providing legal assistance to those too poor to otherwise afford a lawyer. These goals are accomplished by a program designed to meet the needs of both our clients and our law students.
The people our students represent run the gamut. During a semester, a student may represent a homeless person charged with illegal camping as well as a person charged with child abuse, sexual assault or multiple alcohol-related traffic offenses. Our students take cases from first bond appearance, through motions hearings, to trial and on appeal and are expected to take full responsibility for the case. The Criminal Defense Clinic offers students the opportunity to appear in court and to advocate in an adversarial system; however, many of our students report that the most outstanding feature of the program is learning first-hand about many dimensions of the client-lawyer relationship and having an opportunity to assist persons who otherwise would likely be without legal representation.
Student Resources
| H. Patrick Furman Clinical Professor Legal Aid and Defender Program 404 UCB, Wolf Law Building Boulder, CO 80309-0404 303-492-2638 furman@colorado.edu |
Ann England Clinical Professor Legal Aid and Defender Program 105N UCB, Wolf Law Building Boulder, CO 80309-0404 303-492-0285 Ann.England@colorado.edu |
