Experiential Learning

Whether representing underprivileged citizens in housing court, helping overturn a wrongful conviction, arguing for a client in an unemployment compensation case, or providing pro bono support to an immigrant applying for citizenship, you will have opportunities to gain practical skills under the guidance of top legal practitioners.

We offer three types of experiential courses—clinics and practicums, externships, and simulations. Each integrates doctrine, theory, skills, and legal ethics. Students receive ample professional feedback and are also asked to self-evaluate. For JD students, each course counts toward the ABA’s 6-credit experiential learning requirement.

Other opportunities to gain experience, which do not count towards the experiential learning requirement, include serving on the editorial board of one of our six law journals, participating in moot court competitions, or observing oral arguments at one of the state and federal courts in Greater Boston. Many international students are eligible to participate in optional practical training upon completion of their degree, an ideal option for those seeking to gain hands-on experience in the US legal market.

A BU Law student sits for an interview in the atrium of the law complex.

BU Law Clinics & Practicums

Ten Boston University School of Law students share the stories of how they are making an impact in their BU Law Clinics and Practicums.

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Clinics & Practicums

Gain hands-on experience working with real clients on current cases or policy matters. JD students are guaranteed at least one clinical experience in their second or third year.

Health Justice Practicum

ONE SEMESTER – Health Justice Practicum students will address the interplay of law, policy, health systems, social identity, and health inequities.

Prison Education Practicum

ONE SEMESTER – Students have the opportunity to design and execute a 6–8-week class on criminal procedure and legal research to be taught to incarcerated individuals awaiting trial on criminal charges. Gain invaluable practical experience while providing a service to the individuals who attend the course.

Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program

FULL YEAR – Students learn practical legal skills while providing pro bono representation to vulnerable non-citizens facing deportation and survivors of human trafficking.

Environmental Law Practicum

ONE SEMESTER – Complete an environmental-law related legal project for a Boston-based environmental law organization, with topics such as clean energy, water regulation, and environmental justice.

A dozen law students sit in a courtroom listening to a professor speak.

Civil Litigation Clinic

FULL YEAR – Students take the lead representing individuals and families living in poverty in civil legal matters related to housing, family law, discrimination, wage-theft, unemployment benefits, or other poverty law issues.

Two female students chat with their classmates in a lecture hall.

Consumer Economic Justice Clinic

FULL YEAR – A 12-credit clinic in which students learn substantive consumer law and develop key litigation skills through client representation over two semesters.

Access to Justice Clinic

FULL YEAR – In this 12-credit national award-winning clinic, students actively analyze and address the intersections of the legal system with the multiple systemic barriers faced by their clients living in poverty. Students will learn how identity, justice, and the legal system intersect.

International flags on the lawn outside the United Nations building.

International Human Rights Clinic

FULL YEAR – Work for global and regional human rights while representing non-governmental organizations and group clients from all parts of the world.

Professor Shira Diner speaks with two students in a courtroom.

Criminal Law Clinical Program

FULL YEAR – Learn first-hand what it means to be a criminal law attorney by formulating trial strategy, filing pretrial motions, participating in plea bargaining, trying cases and making sentencing arguments.

Three law students sit around a coffee table and review paperwork.

Racial Justice and Movement Lawyering Clinic

ONE SEMESTER – This clinic will train students in the traditions of community and movement lawyering, providing real-world opportunities to support racial justice projects in collaboration with community partners.

Professor Madeline Meth and three others pose for a photo on the steps of a courthouse in Boston, MA.

Appellate Clinic

FULL YEAR – In the Appellate Clinic, students litigate complex, public-interest cases in courts of appeals and the Supreme Court. Our clients are individuals and entities unlikely to obtain quality representation without the clinic’s assistance.

Compassionate Release Practicum

ONE SEMESTER – In this practicum, students will engage in the direct representation of terminally ill and/or permanently incapacitated prisoners not otherwise entitled to counsel.

BU/MIT Student Innovations Law Clinic

FULL YEAR – The BU/MIT Student Innovations Law Clinic (SILC) is a free and confidential legal service for students at MIT and BU who seek legal assistance related to their research, advocacy, and creative projects.

Compliance Policy Clinic

ONE SEMESTER – Explore the impact of legal and regulatory compliance on business operations, legal norms underlying compliance, and the role of ethics in regulatory and compliance practice.

Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic

ONE SEMESTER – During this one-semester program, students learn the theoretical and practical aspects of law-making bodies through a combination of classwork and fieldwork.

Mental Health Litigation Practicum

ONE SEMESTER – The Mental Health Litigation Practicum provides representation for persons allegedly living with mental illness who are facing commitment and involuntary treatment petitions.

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