Course Details

Description:

The Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Civil Practice Clinic is the oldest of the University of Minnesota Law School's clinical programs. Traditionally, each year students in this program have handled approximately 150 civil cases on behalf of low-income clients.

The clinic introduces students to the practice of lawyering through a combination of instructional methods. Weekly classroom sessions explore topics such as interviewing, negotiation, drafting, motion practice and discovery. Simulated exercises allow students to apply classroom learning in a lifelike setting. Finally, each student handles approximately three live cases under clinic faculty supervision, involving topics such as family, disability, and discrimination law. These cases provide student attorneys with the opportunity to participate in almost all aspects of the lawyering process including actual court and administrative hearings.

The clinic course is a two-semester program for which students earn a total of seven credits. Students may begin their participation in the Civil Practice Clinic in either Fall or Spring semester. Each year, four to six third-year students are selected as student directors who act as junior partners in the clinic law firm. The directors supervise beginning student attorneys and handle the most difficult of the clinic cases.