Students in the Death Penalty Clinic work under the supervision of Professor Elisabeth Semel, the Clinic Director, and Professor Ty Alper, Associate Director, on capital direct appeals and post-conviction cases and occasionally on other matters relating to the death penalty and criminal law. Students will also be supervised by investigators and paralegals who are members of the legal teams assigned to individual cases. Students review trial records, interview clients and witnesses, examine evidence, work with experts, and prepare habeas corpus petitions, motions and briefs. Students are required to enroll in the Clinic for a full year. The Clinic is counsel for individuals under death sentence in California, Alabama, and North Carolina. In the past, the Clinic has served as counsel in additional litigation, such as representing amici curiae in capital cases before the United States Supreme Court.
The Clinic is administered like any law office and students must adhere scrupulously to rules regarding privilege and confidentiality. They will learn case management skills and should be prepared to work according to the demands of the litigation, including during breaks, when necessary. Our expectation is that students will work a minimum of 16 hours per week (in addition to team and individual meetings), though the actual number of hours may vary from week-to-week. Students should also expect to travel during the course of their participation in the Clinic, including during school breaks. Because of the demands of our cases, Death Penalty Clinic students may not enroll concurrently in another clinic or field placement. We will also screen students for potential conflicts of interest. Students who enroll in the Clinic will be expected to review significant portions of the trial record in one of our two direct representation cases during the summer in order to be prepared to begin work in the fall semester. Also, they must be available to attend a training program on the Friday and Saturday before fall classes begin.
Clinic students must also enroll in the Seminar, which is given in the fall semester. The Seminar provides the theoretical foundation and skills training for the Death Penalty Clinic. Because the Seminar will include discussions of our cases, it is only open to students who concurrently enroll in the Clinic. The Seminar meets weekly, most likely Wednesdays from 3:20 – 5:10 p.m. In addition, students will meet with their assigned teams every other week, most likely Thursday mornings.
Students who enroll in the Clinic for a full year will only enroll in the Seminar in their fall semester. However, the second semester will include regular clinic meetings in which students participate in additional skills training and case discussions.
Enrollment in the Clinic and Seminar is by permission. Applications will be available in the Registrar's Office. Prerequisites are Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Evidence. Faculty have the discretion to waive the prerequisites in individual cases. We will ask to meet with some students before making enrollment decisions. Decisions will be made by late April. Space will be limited, and we will keep a waiting list if the Clinic and Seminar are over-enrolled.
Death Penalty Clinic (T. Alp*r, E. Sem*l)
Domestic Violence Practicum (N. Lem*n)
This clinical consists of 11-19 hours per week in a domestic violence legal setting and 1 hour per week in a seminar class with the other students. Enrollment in the clinic will include 5 or more students. Interns will keep logs of work done and any questions, concerns, or reactions, reflecting on what they are learning.
There are several different domestic violence legal agencies in the greater Bay Area where interns may work. Some interns will be certified so that they can represent clients at restraining order hearings, having interviewed the clients and drafted the restraining orders. Since the time between the interview and the hearing is usually only three weeks, it is possible for students to go through this entire process with many clients in a 14-week semester. The issues involved in restraining orders can be complex, involving restitution, payment of debts or child support, custody and visitation, and property control, in addition to the standard no-contact and stay-away orders. There may also be overlapping actions involving the same parties in the juvenile or criminal courts or other family law actions. Of course, other legal issues also arise in the course of the interview, typically in the areas of immigration, housing, welfare, and consumer rights. The students also may use counseling skills, as their clients are in crisis.
Placements also include the Domestic Violence Units of several different District Attorney’s Offices, working with the Public Policy and Research Committee of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence on pending state bills and other domestic violence issues as well as writing amicus briefs, the Domestic Violence Project of the Employment Law Center at the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (family law, immigration, and other types of cases), and Free Battered Women/The Habeas Project, which works to help incarcerated battered women get out of prison.
The classroom component will be a discussion of how the internship is going generally, with the focus on ethics, the lawyering process, case discussion, and any specific legal questions that arise. There will be some reading assigned, covering specifics of California domestic violence law and the lawyering process.
Students are encouraged to enroll in TeleBEARS Phase I so that placements may be arranged, and are urged to contact the instructor before enrollment begins. If the clinic is over enrolled, selection will be made by the instructor. This clinical has been offered at Boalt since 1989, shortly after Lecturer Nancy Lemon started an annual seminar in Domestic Violence Law.
EBCLC Seminar (J. Selb*n)
This seminar (289) and clinic (295.5z) offer a unique educational opportunity at Boalt, integrating reading, reflection and classroom discussion on the lawyer’s role in providing legal services to low-income clients and community groups with student lawyering experiences at the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC). Concurrent enrollment in the course and clinic is mandatory for students new to the clinic (advanced clinic work may be conducted in subsequent semesters with the permission of the instructor).
Together the course and the clinic provide students with the opportunity to learn first-hand about the professional responsibilities and challenges of representing individual and group clients, including instruction in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (and California-specific rules where appropriate). The course satisfies the Professional Responsibility requirement.
The first third of the semester is devoted to providing students with the substantive law and skills necessary to assume substantial responsibility for cases, clients and/or projects in each practice area, including several training sessions and activities for all EBCLC students and multiple “breakout” trainings by practice area. During the remainder of the semester, we discuss materials written by practitioners, academics and students about many of the issues that face EBCLC clients, EBCLC as an institution, and students working at EBCLC. Cases and projects in the five practice areas at EBCLC serve as a focus for discussion of the real-life challenges confronting lawyers and clients.
Students are required to submit periodic “reflection pieces” connecting their clinic experience with the classroom component. A final group project (paper and presentation) is also required. With the addition of one or more Law 299 units, papers prepared for this course may be developed further to satisfy the Writing Requirement.
International Human Rights Seminar (L. Fletch*r, R. Alth*lz)
Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in both the clinic and the seminar. Prior enrollment in International Human Rights Law or its equivalent is preferred.
The International Human Rights Law Clinic allows students to design and implement creative solutions to improve the lives of human rights abuse victims. Students work on innovative human rights projects that advance the struggle for justice on behalf of individuals and marginalized communities that have been the targets of repression and violence. In addition, they may prepare and conduct litigation before national and international judicial forums concerning human rights violations. They also may engage in interdisciplinary empirical studies of the impact of human rights abuses—research that aims to achieve policy outcomes.
Enrollment is limited to 6-8 students who have obtained permission of the instructor. Please obtain the application for the clinic (available from the Registrar’s Office) and to the Registrar’s Office.
In addition to the clinical work, clinic students enroll and participate in a seminar that provides a bridge between legal theory and practice. The International Human Rights Clinic Seminar is a 2-unit course devoted to substantive legal training and provides the opportunity for peer feedback and critique on cases and projects. The course also offers a critical reflection on the lawyer's role in human rights advocacy. In addition to the weekly seminar, students meet at least once a week with faculty members in supervision sessions to discuss case progress and strategy. Enrollment is limited to participants in the International Human Rights Clinic. All students must have permission of the instructor to enroll.
Advanced Legal Research (B. Berr*ng, M. L*vy, K. Vand*n He*vel)
The primary goal of this course is to give an overiew of the research universe that will make the transition from law school to law practice easier and more productive. In order to give students a framework for developing successful research strategies, we will be exploring the history of legal materials and examining the structure and use of the various research tools. Students will be working with all types of research books and systems, from earliest nominative reporters to the newest online databases.
