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Civil Litigation Program Requirements

Four Courses: 14 Credits

The civil clinic is actually a cluster of four courses given over two semesters to second- and third-year students. For specific course information, click here. Students receive a total of 14 credits over the two semesters for fieldwork and course work:

• Six credits for the field component which must be taken over both semesters
  • Three credits in the fall
  • Three credits in the spring
• Eight credits for course work
  • Three credits for "Pretrial Advocacy: Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiating" during the fall semester
  • Three credits for "Trial Advocacy" during the spring semester
  • Two credits for "Professional Responsibility" in the fall semester
  
  Please note that you must take the Pretrial Advocacy, Trial Advocacy and Professional Responsibility courses specifically for students enrolled in the Civil Litigation Program.

Course Prerequisites

If you have not already done so, you must take Evidence during the first semester to satisfy the student practice rule. If you have already taken Trial Advocacy or Professional Responsibility, you will still need to take ours which are closely integrated with your field work.

The Field Work

Massachusetts allows second- and third-year law students to practice law in its state and federal courts under the supervision of clinical faculty on behalf of indigent clients in civil cases. The Civil Litigation Program is housed in the offices of GBLS and takes GBLS’s cases. The average clinic student caseload over two semesters typically includes one divorce, one eviction defense, at least one unemployment case and one Social Security appeal. Other kinds of cases may also be assigned. The number of cases a student is likely to handle depends on the complexity of the case she or he already has. For instance, this year four of our students were assigned to two very complex federal cases which precluded their taking other work while they were handling these claims.

Our goal is to get you cases with a high likelihood of a hearing or a trial at the end, such as a divorce or a summary process defense. Our strategy is to put you into a position of responsibility for representing your own clients. We will ask you to interview your clients, counsel them, negotiate with other attorneys, prepare legal documents, research the applicable facts and law, prepare for and present your client’s cases at trial. You may also have motions to file and argue. Everything you do will be discussed with your clinical professor. Your professor will always go to court with you and will make sure that you are adequately prepared before you go. All your written work and case planning will also be reviewed and critiqued by your professor.

The Course Work

The Civil Litigation Program also includes a serious classroom component during which we teach you the theories of practice for use in the field. The "Pretrial Advocacy: Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiating" course during the first semester and the "Trial Advocacy" in the second semester are taught in groups of roughly 14 students and two clinical professors per group. Half of the classes are devoted to activities and simulations in which you role play with the skills we teach. Our Professional Responsibility course is taught by Professor Robert Burdick, and in that course you will be asked to analyze the ethical dilemmas you encounter in your field work. The culminating experience of the coursework takes place in mock trials near the end of the spring semester.