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• Civil Litigation Clinic(CLIN7180,7181)
• Civil Rights and Constitutional Litigation Clinic(CLIN7186,7187)
• Juvenile Justice Clinic(CLIN7164)
• Impact Litigation Clinic(CLIN7184, 7185)
• Immigration Law & Human Rights Clinic(CLIN7154, 7155)
• Immigrant Workers' Rights Clinic(CLIN7156-57)
• Family Law Clinics(CLIN7182, 7183)

Civil Litigation Clinic (CLIN7180,7181)

4 credits clinical component, 1 credit classroom component

Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative 2.60 GPA, Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Persuasion and Advocacy.

Note: Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

The Civil Litigation Clinic provides students with an opportunity to litigate civil cases in a variety of fora and subject areas. The caseload may range from a federal class action lawsuit to landlord-tenant, consumer, and family cases in state court. Students will engage in all phases of the legal process, including interviewing, counseling, negotiation, motions, pleadings, discovery, trials, and appeals. The clinic represents tenants in landlord-tenant cases, represents parents and children in divorce and custody proceedings, and litigates consumer and a variety of other cases as well. The seminar is designed to ensure that students develop a common base of litigation skills through simulated exercises and will also introduce students to relevant substantive law. In addition to the seminar, students participate in weekly team meetings for the cases for which they are responsible. The Clinic requires an average of fifteen hours per week in addition to the two hour seminar. Litigation demands will vary on a weekly basis, and students must have the flexibility to commit more extended hours to meet court deadlines. The clinic is open to day and evening students who are the equivalent of a third year day student.

The course is letter-graded for both the clinical and class components.

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Civil Rights and Constitutional Litigation Clinic (CLIN7186,7187)

4 credits clinical component, 1 credit classroom component.

Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative 2.60 GPA, Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Persuasion and Advocacy.

Note: Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

The Civil Rights and Constitutional Litigation Clinic focuses on national security and human rights cases emerging from the war on terror, including those raising issues related to the lawfulness of extraordinary rendition, torture and indefinite detention. The clinic has been heavily involved in the Guantanamo Bay habeas cases, litigation to protect the rights of immigrants, prisoners' rights and increasing openness in government. The seminar is designed to ensure that students develop a common base of litigation skills through simulated exercises and will also introduce students to relevant substantive law. In addition to the seminar, students participate in weekly team meetings for the cases for which they are responsible. The clinic requires an average of fifteen hours per week in addition to the two hour seminar. Litigation demands will vary on a weekly basis, and students must have the flexibility to commit more extended hours to meet court deadlines. The clinic is open to day and evening students who are the equivalent of a third year day student.

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Juvenile Justice Clinic (CLIN7164)

2 credits.

Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative 2.60 GPA, Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Persuasion and Advocacy.

Note: Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

The Juvenile Justice Clinic provides students the opportunity to litigate before the Superior Court of New Jersey, Family Part. In the process, students learn about the premises underlying the juvenile system and develop specialized skills necessary for practice in that court. Students are involved in a full range of juvenile court proceedings including detention hearings, formal trials and sentencing hearings. The clinic is open to day and evening students who are the equivalent of a third year day student. The course is letter-graded.

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Impact Litigation Clinic (CLIN7184, 7185)

2 credits clinical component Fall semester. 2 credits clinical component Spring semester. 1 credit classroom component Spring semester.

Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative 2.60 GPA, Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Persuasion and Advocacy.

Note: Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

NOTE: This course does not satisfy the Trial Requirement.

Each Impact Litigation Clinic student briefs and argues an appeal in federal court over the course of a semester. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit appoints the Impact Litigation Clinic to represent indigent, pro se litigants in federal appellate cases that raise noteworthy legal issues. Cases include a range of subject areas such as employment and housing discrimination, police brutality, and unconstitutional prison conditions. Students work closely with clinical faculty, reviewing the trial court record, preparing the appendix for appeal, consulting with the client, researching and writing the appellate briefs, and preparing for oral argument. At the end of the semester, each student argues her case before the Second Circuit. Both the clinical and classroom component of the course address the legal rules and strategic considerations involved in the appellate process; the course focuses more generally on advanced legal research, analysis and writing, and preparation for effective oral advocacy in the courtroom. The clinic is open to day and evening students who are the equivalent of a third year day student. The course is letter-graded for both the clinical and class components.

 

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Immigration Law & Human Rights Clinic (CLIN7154, 7155)

4 credits clinical component, 1 credit classroom component.

Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative 2.60 GPA, Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Persuasion and Advocacy.

Note: Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

The Immigration Law/Human Rights Clinic provides students the opportunity to represent people from all over the world who have fled persecution and seek political asylum in the United States. Students enrolled in the clinic represent indigent clients before the INS, immigration judges, the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Third Circuit. Students will be actively involved in all stages of representation including: researching human rights conditions in diverse countries; interviewing and counseling clients; drafting affidavits; researching and writing briefs; preparing witnesses for trial and examining witnesses (including experts) in court. In addition, because so many of the clinic's clients have just arrived in the United States and are being held at the nearby INS detention center, students gain exposure to the conditions of INS detention. In addition to working on political asylum cases, students may also represent clients pursuing other forms of relief from removal or family-based immigration matters (including battered spouse self-petitions). The classroom component combines trial skills with substantive immigration law. The law clinic is open to day and evening students who are the equivalent of a third year day student. The course is letter-graded for both the clinical and classroom components.

 

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Immigrant Workers' Rights Clinic (CLIN7156-57)

4 credits clinical component, 1 credit classroom component.

Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative 2.60 GPA, Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Persuasion and Advocacy.

Note: Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

The Immigrant Workers' Rights Clinic provides students the opportunity to represent immigrant workers in a variety of matters that may include human rights-based claims to protection under the Refugee and Torture Conventions, human trafficking, and wage and hour claims related to employment. Students will be actively involved in all stages of litigation including researching human rights conditions in diverse countries, interviewing and counseling clients, drafting affidavits, researching and writing briefs, conducting discovery, preparing and arguing pre-trial motions, preparing witnesses for trial, examining witnesses (including experts) in court, and settlement negotiations. In addition to direct client representation, students may be involved in Know Your Rights presentations and community outreach on issues impacting immigrant workers in New Jersey. The classroom component combines pre-trial and trial skills with substantive immigration and labor law. The law clinic is open to day and evening students who are the equivalent of a third year day student. The course is letter-graded for both the clinical and classroom components.

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Family Law Clinics (CLIN7182, 7183)

4 credits clinical component, 1 credit classroom component.

Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative 2.60 GPA, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Family Law, Marriage and Divorce and Persuasion and Advocacy.

NOTE: Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

NOTE: The clinic fulfills the Trial Requirement if the student is eligible to appear in court under New Jersey Court Rules.  Students cannot participate in an externship in the same semester in which they are enrolled in a clinic.

The Family Law Clinic provides students with the opportunity to develop practice skills and an intensive understanding of various areas of family law practice. Students serve as counsel to clients in divorce and adoption cases from original interview through final judgment. Students also serve as law guardians for children in termination of parental rights and other cases. They are supervised in their activities by the clinic's attorneys, but have primary responsibility for the conduct of the case. Students draft all pleadings and make court appearances on behalf of their clients. The clinic offers training in techniques of advocacy and in legal ethics as well as providing an important service to those who would otherwise be unable to afford legal representation. The clinic is open to day and evening students who are the equivalent of a third year day student.

The course is letter-graded for both the clinical and class components.

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