Experiential Clinic (EXPCL)

The course will provide instruction to students in the legal representation of children in various civil matters, including dependency, adoption and custody actions. Students will be managing a caseload of clients. Students will meet directly with their clients, and correspond with agencies and opposing counsel. Students will appear at all court appearances with a supervising attorney. The supervising attorney will meet with students individually on a regular basis for case reviews. The classroom component of the course will focus on various substantive and skills issues, including lectures on child interviewing skills and lectures from physicians on the medical aspects of child abuse.

The Community Law Clinic offers students the opportunity to practice law as a certified legal intern under the supervision of a supervising attorney. Students work in the areas of family law, disability law, housing law, and public benefits law. Students work with clients through every step of legal representation from the initial interview to document preparation, court presentations and negotiations, to potential appellate work. Students will learn the basics of client representation and litigation. In addition, students will develop their own professional identity, will gain an understanding of how to advocate on behalf of a client, will be presented with the issues surrounding social justice, and will learn the importance of reflection in legal work. This course satisfies the experiential learning requirement.

The Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy Clinic will focus on legal analysis and problem solving in the area of legislative and regulatory practice. The clinic's primary goal is to provide students experience with the legislative and regulatory processes by which policy is made and implemented at the state level, and to prepare them to advocate a particular policy position. Using the Pennsylvania legislature and Commonwealth agencies as the prime focuses, clinical students gain experience in how to draft legislation; comment on proposed regulations; work with the state's legislative leadership, legislative committees, and executive branch agencies; represent interest groups in advancing public policy agendas; influence public opinion on contemporaneous policy issues; effectively deal with opponents; and earn the support of officials and staff from across the political spectrum.

Students in the MLP Clinic will work to reduce health disparities and improve health in vulnerable communities through joint medical-legal advocacy with the Penn State Hershey Medical Group in Harrisburg. The Clinic will address the health-harming legal needs of the community, which may include public benefits, advance care planning, housing, and/or immigration matters; as well as policy and institutional projects that arise from its collaboration with medical partners.

Students who have successfully completed a clinic course may be eligible to apply for Advanced Clinic, with faculty approval. This second-semester clinic course is designed to significantly advance the student's knowledge of the subject matter area studied in the first semester of clinic and to expand students' knowledge of areas of practice in other clinics. Class sessions are devoted to case rounds discussions, and students take significant responsibility in crafting their own learning agendas. Acceptance to this course is limited and only permitted with faculty approval.