October 8, 2007 | Vol. XI, Issue 8

Clinics Offer Rare Law School Opportunity to Apply Classroom Theory in a Practice Setting

Interested in counseling clients, advising government agencies regarding policies, or even doing a jury trial? You should look closely at one of the law school's excellent clinic programs.

Clinics offer the rare law school opportunity to apply classroom theory in a practice setting while learning valuable lawyering skills. Students are closely supervised by one of our highly experienced clinical professors/practitioners.

In a number of the clinics, students gain valuable experience collaborating with social workers, mental health and family counselors, environmental and land use professionals, or alternative dispute resolution experts. Students in the following clinics appear in court under Florida Supreme Court certification as a Certified Legal Intern (CLI). CLI certification also positions students to gain employment and appear in court with certain agencies, e.g., State Attorney, Public Defender, Legal Aid, or AmeriCorps, prior to taking the bar exam.

• Criminal Law Clinics - Students are placed in either a State Attorney or a Public Defender office and, handle every aspect of the prosecution or defense of a criminal case.
• Virgil Hawkins Civil Clinics - Depending on which VHCC clinic they select, students provide advice to pro se litigants in family law cases, represent indigent clients with a variety of family law problems, and represent juveniles in areas including dependency, delinquency, emancipation, and special education.
• Child Welfare Clinic - Students advocate for children by working with Child Welfare Legal Services, the Child Protection Team, or the Juvenile Public Defender program.

The following two clinics allow students to gain valuable experience without the need to be a certified legal intern:

• Mediation Clinic – Students learn through observation and practice the skills needed to be good mediators and receive the training to obtain Supreme Court certification as County Court mediators.
• Conservation Clinic – Offers both law and graduate students the opportunity to work on cutting edge environmental and land use law and policy issues.

If you have questions about any of the clinics, please stop by 100 Bruton-Geer Hall. Tours of the clinics are available and you are encouraged to speak with faculty about their clinics. You may visit anytime, but specific open house hours are 2-3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Clinic applications will be available in the Law Clinics and Student Affairs after Oct. 8. Completed applications are due by Oct. 26 at the Office of Student Affairs. Clinic offers will be emailed by the end of October, and you will be requested to respond within 48 hours if you intend to accept the offer. Upon acceptance, you will be automatically registered. The final step will be to go to the Clinics and complete your CLI application paperwork by Nov. 15. For more information, go to http://www.law.ufl.edu/centers/hawkins/.

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