• Degree Requirements
• First Year Writing
• Moot Court Programs
• Clinics/Externships
  • About Clinical Programs
  • Civil Litigation Program
    • About the Program
    • Requirements
    • Concentration
    • Faculty
  • Criminal Clinical Program
    • About the Program
    • Requirements
      • Second Year Students
      • Third Year Students
    • About the Courts
    • Concentration
    • Faculty
  • Legal Externships
    • About the Program
    • Requirements
    • Field Placements
      • Placement Listings
      • Accepted Students
        • Fall Semester Students
        • Spring Semester Students
        • Placement Search
        • Program Materials
    • In Class
    • Concentration
  • Legislation Policy & Drafting Clinic
    • About the Program
    • What Alumni Say
    • How Legislation Clinics Work
    • Requirements
    • General Legislation
    • Intellectual Property Legislation
    • Health & Environmental Legislation
    • Concentration
    • Faculty
    • Contact the Editor
    • FAQs
  • Legislative Counsel Clinic
    • About the Program
    • Requirements
  • Legislative Internship Program
    • About the Program
    • Requirements
    • Recent Legislative Internship Placements
    • FAQs
  • Trial Advocacy Program
  • How to Apply
    • Open House
    • Application A
      • Clinical Programs Application A and Preference Sheet
    • Application B
      • Legislative Programs Application & Preference Form
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs
• Concentration
• Dual Degrees
• Study Abroad Programs
• Pro Bono Program
• Visiting Exchange Students

Criminal Law Clinic

Like their peers in the Civil Litigation Programs, students enrolled in the Criminal Law Clinics carry full responsibility for their cases while receiving close faculty supervision. In all the Criminal Clinics, students conduct investigations to formulate trial strategy, file appropriate pre-trial motions, participate in plea bargaining, try cases before judges and make sentencing arguments. They are expected to follow their cases from beginning to end; in recent years some clinic students have taken their cases to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

There are two tracks within the Criminal Law clinics:

• Second-year students can enroll in the Intensive Program in Criminal Trial Advocacy. This track begins in the spring semester of the second-year and is completed in the fall semester of the third-year, when students are immersed in the practice of criminal law.
• Available to third-year students, the second track offers exposure to the program but does not require as many credits. The program begins with classroom work in the fall semester and culminates in trial work in the spring semester.

Application

Students who have already participated in the Civil Litigation Program will have a lower priority than those who have not. And, third-year students who applied to the criminal clinic last year and were not offered a position have preference over third-year students who have never applied to the criminal clinic before. There are no other restrictions on the selection process. Students who are on a journal will be treated the same as the rest of the student body.