The Youth and Education Law Project offers students the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of educational rights and reform work, including direct representation of youth and families in special education and school discipline matters, community outreach and education, school reform litigation, and/or policy research and advocacy. All students will have an opportunity to represent elementary and high school students with disabilities in special education proceedings, to represent students in school discipline proceedings, or to work with community groups in advocating for the provision of better and more equitable educational opportunities to their children. In addition, the clinic may pursue a specific policy research and advocacy project that will result in a written policy brief and policy proposal.
Students working on special education matters will have the opportunity to handle all aspects of their clients' cases. Students working in this area will interview and counsel clients, investigate and develop facts, work with medical and mental health professionals and experts, conduct legal and educational research, create case plans, and represent clients at individual education program (IEP) team meetings, mediation or special education due process hearings. This work will offer students a chance to study the relationship between individual special education advocacy and system-wide reform efforts such as impact litigation.
Students working on school discipline matters will interview and counsel clients, investigate and develop facts, interview witnesses, conduct legal and educational research, create case plan, and represent clients at school discipline hearings such as expulsion hearings. Such hearings provide the opportunity to present oral and written argument, examine witnesses, and present evidence before a hearing officer. If appropriate and necessary, such proceedings also present the opportunity to represent students on appeal before the school district board of trustees or the county board of education.
The education clinic includes two or three mandatory training sessions to be held at the beginning of the term, a weekly seminar that focuses on legal skills and issues in law and education policy, regular case review, and a one hour weekly meeting with the clinic instructor. Admission is by consent of instructor.
Special Instructions:
General Structure of Clinical Courses
Beginning with the 2009-2010 academic year, each of the Law School's clinical courses is being offered on a full-time basis for 12 credits. Students enrolled in a clinic are not permitted to enroll in any other classes, seminars, directed research or other credit-yielding activities during the quarter in which they are enrolled in a clinic. This will allow students to obtain an immersive professional experience without the need to balance clinical projects with other classes, exams and papers. (The rules described here do not apply to Advanced Clinics for students who are continuing with a clinic in which they were previously enrolled. For information about Advanced Clinics, please see the course descriptions for those courses.) Students enrolled in a clinic should expect to work at least 40 hours per week and to be available for meetings during normal business hours. Because students have no other courses (and hence no exams or papers), the clinical quarter goes from the first day of classes through the final day of the examination period.
The work during the week is divided into three components. First, the main component is the work on client matters or case work. Students are expected to devote at least 30 hours per week to the various facets of this work (this time includes meetings with instructors to discuss the work). Second, students will spend approximately five-to-seven hours per week preparing for and participating in a weekly seminar or seminars. Third, over the course of the quarter each student will spend a total of 27 hours (plus appropriate preparation time) participating in "clinical modules." These clinic-wide modules are mini-courses designed to enhance the clinical quarter by providing students with opportunities to develop their professional skills, problem solving capacities, understanding of professional ethics, and exposure to professional values. Each module involves 4.5 hours of meeting time and students are required to complete six modules during the course of their clinical quarter. Some modules and some clinic meetings may take place on evenings or weekends.
Students will be awarded three separate grades for their clinical quarter, each reflecting four credits. The three grades are broken into the following categories: clinical practice; clinical methods; and clinical coursework. Grading is pursuant to the H/P system.
Students may not enroll in any clinic (basic or advanced) which would result in them earning more than 24 clinical credits during their law school career.
This course is cross-listed with the School of Education (Same as EDUC 334X ).