Legislative Counsel Clinic

The Legislative Counsel Clinic is a new clinic that gives students the opportunity to develop and apply a variety of legal skills to the legislative process. Clinic participants work on several projects during the semester that highlight different aspects of the legislative process, allowing students to relate—and test—the theories discussed in class to real life situations.

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Gun Control, Corporate Taxes, Mental Health, Access to College

At the heart of this clinic are the fieldwork projects.  These projects allow students to directly participate in some of the key policy discussions currently taking place on Beacon Hill.  The projects highlight different aspects of the legislative process including the operation of legislative committees, how to build coalitions and advocate for legislation, the legislative oversight function, and the collection of legislative history.

Students in the past have worked on the following projects with the various committees of the Massachusetts General Court:   

  • Reform the Criminal Offender Record Index (CORI) System;
  • Improve mental health care for children;
  • Reform the way state transportation projects are financed;
  • Improve access to the Commonwealth’s community college system;     
  • Reform the Small Claims Court;           
  • Updating the animal control laws;  
  • Provide greater protection to the Commonwealth’s waterways;
  • Improve the Child In Need of Services (CHINS) Statute.

In addition, the Clinic conducts oversight projects to review whether existing statutes and government programs are functioning as intended.  For example, Clinic students have assisted the Governor’s Commission on Corporate Taxation in reviewing the state’s corporate tax laws, and have reviewed the Gun Control Act of 1998 on behalf of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

Finally, the Clinic students work on the Legislative History Project. As an ongoing project of the clinic, students gather, organize and put into context documentation related to recent substantive changes to the General Laws. This documentation includes testimony submitted to the relevant committees, speeches given on the floors of the Senate and House, and committee reports. These sources will then be posted on the web as a resource for anyone trying to understand or interpret Massachusetts statutes.

For more information contact Sean J. Kealy.