The Clinic Experience

Let's begin at the beginning.  A clinic is like a mini-law firm within the school.  The clinic faculty act as the partners, and the students are the associates.  Clinics manage a variety of issues, from family law to tax law.  Every law school has a few different clinics.  They are taken like classes, for class credit, and can be done for as many semesters as your school allows.

For most evening students, clinics are not a viable option. The clinics that tell you they are open to evening students may mean well, but they probably aren't giving you the whole story.  There will be times when you will need to be available during regular business hours, talking or meeting with clients, or making court appearances.  However, I would recommend making this work within your schedule if at all possible.

I had basically counted out clinics as an option, because all of the clinics at Rutgers were during the regular school year, and you needed some daytime availability. But, this past summer the Community Law Clinic opened up during the summer for the first time. I believe that of the 12 students that jumped at the opportunity, 11 were evening students. What made the summer option more viable than the spring or fall was the fact that a) it was only a 10 week commitment, and b) you could select the number of hours per week that you committed to. Finally, some flexibility!!!

Community Law basically acts as a free legal service for community organizations, not-for-profits, and the like, who need help with all manner of things. This clinic handles some real estate, not-for-profit formation, by-law drafting, contract drafting, and even litigation where necessary.  I knew that I wanted to make this work, but I also knew that to be really effective, I needed to be available to my clients during the day.  I arranged to take Wednesdays off from my full-time job, and made up those 8 hours during the rest of the week.  Was it brutal?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.

Since I have a non-legal job, and the summer associate market completely dried up for the second year in a row this past year, I was panicked about how I would get legal experience.  The clinic was the perfect place for this. Yes, in a sense I had to pay to get legal experience, but being an evening student will force you to make these kinds of decisions.

Aside from the experience, being a part of the clinic was a lot of fun. I met great professors, worked with some of my favorite evening people, and learned a lot about the role of my law school in the greater community (dare I say that I felt a sense of pride?). If there is any way that you can finagle the flexibility to get involved with a legal clinic at your school, do it.

Clinics - Not Entirely Impossible!

So we discovered a few things about clinics that I forgot to report on. The Evening Student Association held a clinic event that was well attended back in November (there was free food), and we were able to arrange for the faculty directors to speak in the evening about each of their respective programs.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with clinics, they are basically classes that are more "hands-on" than regular classes. You work closely on cases and issues with real clients. In some instances you get to go to court (although only 3Ls get to argue under certain circumstances, such as in family court).

We heard from faculty directors about the Child Advocacy, Constitutional Litigation, Environmental Law, Urban Legal, and Special Education clinics. The general consensus was that evening students are allowed to register for them, but you will need some flexibility in your schedules. There are mandatory seminars that meet weekly towards the end of the day, and there may be some instances when you will be needed to do coursework during the day. So, if you work on a flex schedule or can get away when you need to, then you can do a clinic. Some are more flexible than others, of course. And, if there is one that you are aching to be a part of, you can always contact the director and try to work something out. Nothing is impossible, not even for evening students!

If you can, then I would definitely recommend participating in a clinic. It is a great way to get legal experience, which is the biggest problem for many of us evening students. I'm all for killing two birds with one stone (back off, PETA), and with a clinic you get experience plus school credit. I am going to try it for next fall, but right now I have to break the news to my boss that I'm leaving early two days a week starting in January. THIS should be fun!