Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professors Richard Roe, Sarah Medway, and Sean Arthurs

J.D. Clinic 560 | 3 credit hours

In the Street Law Community Clinic in the summer term, law student instructors teach courses in practical law to adults in a variety of community settings: correctional facilities; treatment centers for alcohol, drug, or HIV problems; homeless shelters; halfway houses; and other community settings. Courses also may be offered in juvenile detention facilities. The Street Law instructors, in pairs, teach two courses in the community, consisting of a weekly 90-minute class, at two separate sites, for six weeks of the eight-week summer session. Topics include negotiation and dispute resolution; small claims court; public benefits; landlord/tenant; torts; family law; and various other topics of civil and criminal law. The clinic utilizes interactive, participatory, learner-centered methods that not only develop learners’ knowledge and skills in the subject areas but also develop critical thinking, reading, writing and listening skills, and basic advocacy skills. The first class will be held on Thursday, May 24 and will consist of a 4-hour orientation on teaching methods from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. An additional 3-hour orientation will be held on a day that is convenient for the clinic students. Regular seminar classes will be held from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. on Mondays through July 16. Clinic faculty observe law student instructors and review lesson plans, research and law student journals periodically; individual and team supervisory sessions are also conducted periodically. The clinic promotes law student development in the areas of analytical thinking, public speaking, planning and preparation, communication with laypersons, and legal research.

Students may not receive credit for both this course and the year-long Street Law: High School clinic.

Participation: 4 or more students. To apply for this clinic, view the application and course description packet on the web (http://www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/) beginning April 2, 2013. Submit your application electronically to streetlaw@law.georgetown.edu by April 26, 2013. Upon receipt of this application, a Street Law faculty member will contact applicants to schedule a mandatory informational interview, which must be conducted by May 4, 2013. In scheduling the informational interview, every effort will be made to accommodate the applicants’ schedule, in recognition that the interviews occur during the final exam period. Note that interviews can be conducted by phone or in person and typically last no longer than 30 minutes. The clinic has a minimum requirement of 4 students and a maximum of 12. Part-time students will be given preference for selection in this clinic, assuming they meet the other admission criteria. When the minimum number of students is enrolled in the clinic, offers will be made on a first-come, first-served basis until all the clinic spots are filled. Any applications submitted after the April 26, 2013 deadline will be considered on a space-available basis, and informational interviews will be required before any offers are made. Offers will be extended beginning May 7, 2013, and students must accept their offer within three days to secure a spot in the clinic. If the clinic receives no response by 5:00 p.m. on the third day after the offer was made, the clinic will consider the offer declined and will offer the seat to another student. This process will continue until all of the clinic seats are filled. Students are permitted to apply both for a summer clinic and a clinic offered in the 2013-2014 academic year; however, seats in summer clinics will be given first to those students who do not obtain a seat in a clinic offered during the academic year.