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Family Law Clinic
Class Term:
Fall Term 2023-2024
Catalog Number:
5398
Professor(s):
Professor
Clinic
Credits:
4 (2 Contact, 2 Field)
Graduation Requirements:
Experiential Learning
Priority:
3rd Year Priority when offered in the Fall, 2nd Year Priority when offered in the Spring
Full Year Course:
No
Category:
Standard Courses
Additional Information
Students may register for the clinic in their third year. In the first semester, students will be awarded 1.5 credits for seminars and 2.5 for fieldwork. In the second semester, students will receive 1 credit for seminars and 3 for fieldwork. It is anticipated that students will dedicate an average of 10 hours per week to meet the demands of live client representation. The timing of this work will vary depending on the nature and posture of each case.
The Family Law Clinic is fortunate to have an ongoing partnership with the Family Division of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. As such, students must be available EVERY Tuesday OR Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Family Court building in downtown Pittsburgh where students will interview and meet with clients. Students must also have some flexibility in their schedules to fit in necessary court hearings. The hearing times may vary but are usually at 9AM or 1PM. Clinic students must arrange their class schedules so as to be available to meet these time requirements.
Grading Details
Each student will receive a letter grade based on detailed evaluation criteria capturing individual development of lawyering skills. This evaluation criteria includes seminar participation, oral and written communication, interviewing, fact investigation, advice and counseling, practice management, collaboration, reflection, and professional growth.Students will receive a grade at the conclusion of each semester, however, in the event that a student does not complete the second semester the student shall receive a W for the course, thus nullifying the grade for the prior semester. Students will receive 4 credits per semester. Students are required to register in the Fall. No new students will be added to the Family Law Clinic in the spring term.
Description
The Family Empowerment and Legal Access Clinic is a yearlong clinic wherein students develop critical lawyering skills through assisting and representing historically disadvantaged litigants in family law issues. The student assumes full lawyering responsibilities for their clients while under the supervision of clinic faculty. They interview and advise clients, conduct necessary fact investigation and legal research and draft related legal documents and filings. In some cases, students may negotiate resolutions with opposing parties or advocate for a client’s interest before the Court of Common Pleas.
To accomplish this, students participate in a weekly 1.5-hour seminar, and carry a caseload of both extended and limited representation matters. The extended representation prioritizes clients who face numerous barriers to engaging in the legal system such as immigrants, limited English speaking litigants, survivors of trauma and children. The limited representation matters are obtained through litigant interviews at the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesdays or Thursdays mornings. All fieldwork is completed based on the student’s availability and the relative demands of the client matters.
Clinic begins with a pre-semester orientation in which students cover fundamental topics necessary to beginning fieldwork. The dates for this orientation are provided after registration for the clinic. The hours spent in orientation count towards the seminar hours for the semester. During the semester, clinical students meet weekly for a 1.5-hour class session. The seminar covers a wide variety of topics necessary to facilitate client representation: lawyering skills, application of Pennsylvania family law, and professional identity development. As the semester progresses, seminars are reduced to accommodate the demands of fieldwork.
Students will receive a grade at the conclusion of each semester, however, in the event that a student does not complete the second semester the student shall receive a W for the course, thus nullifying the grade for the prior semester. Students will receive 4 credits per semester.