-
CRIM. JUSTICE EXTERN PLACEMENT (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3030)
2 credits
Students work 140 hours in pre-approved criminal externship placements under the guidance of carefully selected mentor-attorneys. It is expected that students will be integrated into all aspects of the legal setting so that students will assist their mentor-attorneys in their day-to-day legal activities as well as receiving research, writing or other legal assignments. Some placements may include an opportunity for students to appear in court, interview clients, or interact with opposing counsel, while others may be more observational in nature. Criminal clinical placements are with prosecutor and defender offices in the counties and boroughs near St. John's Law School and occasionally with pre-approved private practitioners who take assigned counsel cases. The course is graded on a pass-fail basis. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Criminal Clinical Externship Seminar.
-
CRIM. JUSTICE EXTERNSHIP SEM. (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3020)
2 credits
The Criminal Clinical Externship Seminar seeks to promote self-directed learning in students through appropriate goal-setting and the critical reflection on how the criminal justice systems function (how the law, procedures, practice and fact patterns interrelate), give students an understanding of the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys within the systems, and orient students to recognize and begin to learn the skills prosecutors and defense attorneys must acquire. Students must complete weekly short written assignments based upon relevant readings and externship observations and experiences, a collaborative student presentation, accurate timesheets, and a lawyering skills simulation. The seminar uses an interactive classroom format where students share insights gained through their externship observations and experiences. Grades are based upon class participation, weekly written assignments, and a final student presentation. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Criminal Clinical Externship Placement.
-
GENERAL EXTERNSHIP PLACEMENT (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 4000)
2 credits
Students work 140 hours in pre-approved externship placements under the guidance of carefully selected mentor-attorneys. It is expected that students will gain a sense of what it is like to be a lawyer practicing in that particular law setting, so that students will assist their mentor-attorneys in their day-to-day legal activities as well as receiving research, writing or other legal assignments. Some placements may include an opportunity for students to appear in court, interview clients, or interact with opposing counsel, while others may be more observational in nature. Placements may be with administrative, city, state, and federal judiciary members; prosecutor and defender offices; and civil placements which meet the interests of the student body including, among others, organizations which are on the leading edge of housing law, domestic violence law, immigration law, environmental law, labor law, mental hygiene law, consumer law, and general civil litigation. The course is graded on a pass-fail basis. This course must be taken in conjunction with the General Clinical Externship Seminar.
-
GENERAL EXTERNSHIP SEMINAR (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3090)
2 credits
The general clinical externship seminar explores important issues in lawyer development through weekly readings, directed journal assignments and collaborative student presentations. The seminar uses an interactive classroom format which may include simulations and discussions where students share insights gained through their externship observations and experiences. Grades are based upon class participation, weekly written assignments, and a final student presentation. This course must be taken in conjunction with the General Clinical Externship Placement.
-
JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP PLACEMENT (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3050)
2 credits
Students work 140 hours in pre-approved judicial externship placements in the chambers of administrative, city, state, or federal judges. It is expected that students will be integrated into all aspects of the judicial chambers so that students will observe court proceedings as well as receive substantive research and writing assignments. The course is graded on a pass-fail basis. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Judicial Clinical Externship Seminar.
-
JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP SEMINAR (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3040)
2 credits
The Judicial Clinical Externship Seminar directs students to consider the richness and variety of the courts in which they work to promote self-directed learning through appropriate goal-setting and the critical reflection on judicial process, lawyering skills, and legal institutions. Weekly short written assignments based upon relevant readings and externship observations, accurately kept timesheets, student presentations and a lawyering skills simulation are used to engage students in recognizing and using decision-making strategies in responding to professional responsibility issues. Grades are based upon class participation, weekly written assignments, and a final student presentation. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Judicial Clinical Externship Placement.
-
SUMMER EXTERNSHIP SEMINAR (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 3060)
1 credits
The Summer Clinical Externship Seminar incorporates aspects of the General Clinical Externship Seminar and the Civil, Criminal and Judicial Clinical Externship Seminars with an emphasis on short written assignments, some of which are class-wide assignments and some of which are substantive-area specific, and group collaborative projects. Grades are based upon class participation, weekly written assignments, and a final student presentation. This course must be taken in conjunction with the Summer Clinical Externship Placement.
-
TRIAL ADVOCACY-CONCENTR. CRIM (ADVOCACY AND LEGAL SKILLS - 6020)
3 credits
The concentrated Criminal Trial Advocacy Course meets on a concentrated schedule (six hours per week) during the middle seven weeks of the fall semester. Each week students attend a one hour lecture and demonstration class and participate in two 150 minute small-group simulation class. Two trial advocacy professors provide constructive critique, demonstrate skills, and encourage classroom exploration of case theory and approaches to the simulation assignment due in class. The course culminates in student teams litigating a full-day criminal trial based upon a specially developed case file. The course emphasizes learning basic trial advocacy skills including voir dire, opening statements, summation, direct and cross examinations, evidentiary procedures, and working with expert witnesses. Grades are based upon class participation, ability to learn from critique, and the level of performance for each skill simulated, and the final trial. N.B.: A student may take both civil and criminal trial advocacy but may not take either more than once (including Intensive or Concentrated courses but excluding any advanced trial advocacy courses which may be offered).