Criminal Law Clinical Program

Learn the real-world practice of criminal law.

Students enrolled in the Criminal Law Clinical Program learn first-hand what it means to be a criminal law attorney. They formulate case strategies, engage in client counseling, draft legal pleadings, and litigate trials, evidentiary motion hearings, bail hearings, sentencing hearings, and other matters in court. Their investigative fieldwork includes interviewing witnesses and visiting crime scenes. Students follow their cases from beginning to end; in some years clinic students have even taken their cases to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

The Criminal Law Clinical Program is a two-semester Program. In their second semester, students can choose from the following:

  • Prosecutor
  • Defender

During the first semester of participation, students (called ‘juniors’) act in a supporting role on cases handled by ‘senior’ members of both the Defender and Prosecutor Clinics, providing a unique opportunity to view the system from both sides. The ‘seniors’ are second semester students who carry full responsibility for their own cases, working exclusively on defense or prosecution matters. Defenders represent indigent adult and juvenile clients in the Boston Municipal Court and the Boston Juvenile Court in a variety of misdemeanor and felony cases. Prosecutors handle felonies and misdemeanors on behalf of the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office in the Quincy District Court.

Students begin the Criminal Law Clinical Program as either a 2L or a Fall 3L. The requirements for each ‘track’ are different, so please read carefully below. All students participating in the Criminal Law Clinical Program are eligible for the Concentration in Litigation and Dispute Resolution.

Second-year track

The 2L track begins in the fall semester of a student’s second year and is completed in either fall or spring semester of the third year.

Pre-/co-requisites: Students must take a course in Evidence and a course in Criminal Procedure (Comprehensive or Constitutional) in either the first or second semester of their second year.

2L year requirements

Students participate in two courses: Criminal Trial Advocacy (fall) and Criminal Trial Practice I (fall or spring). While enrolled in Criminal Trial Practice I (the ‘junior’ semester), students must reserve either a Tuesday or Wednesday for court observation and participation in addition to the scheduled class time.

3L year requirements

Having completed Criminal Trial Practice I, students take Criminal Trial Practice II, during either the fall or spring semester.


Optional fall course: Whichever semester students do their clinical work, we offer an optional course in the fall specifically designed for Criminal Law Clinical Program students: Professional Responsibility for Criminal Practice.

Third-year track

Available to third-year students, this track begins with classroom work in the fall semester and culminates in trial work in the spring semester.

Pre-/co-requisites: students must have completed, by the end of the first semester of 3L year, a course in Evidence, a course in Trial Advocacy, and a course in Criminal Procedure (Comprehensive or Constitutional). Students who have not taken a course in Trial Advocacy in their 2L year must enroll in Criminal Trial Advocacy: LAW JD 981 in the fall.

Fall semester requirements

Spring semester requirements

Criminal Trial Practice II (5-8 credits) examines advanced issues in criminal practice, such as motions to suppress and sentencing advocacy. In conjunction with their class work, students are assigned to either the Prosecutor Clinic or the Defender Clinic. Students in the Prosecutor Clinic may choose to enroll for 5 or 8 credits.

OR

Defender Clinic

THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice II is for students in their second semester of the Program and who have been assigned to the Defender section. In the Defender Clinic, students represent indigent defendants charged with criminal offenses in either the Boston Municipal Court or the Boston Juvenile Court. Students act as defense counsel under the supervision of the clinical professor. The work in court provides students with exposure to lawyering experiences such as investigation, interviewing, counseling and trial advocacy. Primary emphasis is on the development of trial skills, and students spend the first part of the semester acting as defense counsel in misdemeanor cases of increasing complexity. Later in the semester, representation in felony cases is possible. At all times case assignments are based upon an individual assessment of a student’s progress and demonstrated competence. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement and counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.

Prosecutor Clinic

THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice II is for students in their second semester of the Program and who have been assigned to the Prosecutor section. Students act as prosecutors in the Quincy District Court on behalf of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office, handling felony and misdemeanor cases of increasing complexity under the supervision of the clinical professor. Students are exposed to a wide variety of experiences, including investigation, interviewing and trial advocacy. Students litigate evidentiary hearings and conduct every phase of a jury or bench trial. Students collaborate but serve as the lead prosecutors on their own cases. Case assignments are based upon an individual assessment of a student’s progress and demonstrated competence. Students in the Prosecutor Clinic may choose to enroll for 5 or 8 credits. Those receiving 5 credits must be available to be in court one full day and one additional morning per week on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. Those receiving 8 credits must be available two full days per week on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement and counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.

Faculty & Additional Information

The Criminal Law Clinical Program is taught by:

For more information, please contact Interim Program Director Brian Wilson. Applications are available each March for participation the next academic year (see Clinics, Practica, & Externships: How to Apply link).