Federal Criminal Justice Clinic

The Federal Criminal Justice Clinic's primary mission is to zealously represent indigent defendants charged with federal crimes while giving students a unique opportunity to practice in federal district court. The FCJC is the first legal clinic in the country that exclusively represents clients charged with federal felonies, and is one of only a few legal clinics that allows students to appear in federal district court on behalf of criminal defendants.

The clinic's cases fall into two categories. The first category consists of cases we enter at the time of the arrest, carry through the district court to trial or guilty plea and sentencing, and then carry through appeal and beyond. The second category consists of cases we become involved in at a later stage of the proceedings because they present a novel legal issue or an issue on which there is a circuit split. We join with other defense attorneys who are litigating cases that enable us to raise the legal issue at the district court level, handle or assist in any Seventh Circuit appeals that arise on the issue, and, if necessary, litigate the issue all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

FCJC students are generally assigned to cases in teams of two. Students interview clients and witnesses; meet regularly with clients at the federal jail; conduct and participate in bond hearings, preliminary hearings, arraignments, plea hearings, sentencing hearings, and trials; write and argue motions and briefs; negotiate with Assistant United States Attorneys and probation officers; and participate in investigations. Students learn to represent clients at every stage of a federal criminal case by attending required weekly supervision sessions that include skills exercises and simulations, as well as lectures and discussions.

Students enter the FCJC in their third year. Given the intensity and timeline of federal criminal cases, students are required to commit to three quarters in the FCJC, and they receive two credits per quarter, with a required time-commitment of ten hours per week. The pre-requisites/co-requisites are Evidence, Criminal Procedure I, and Federal Criminal Procedure. Students may take these required courses during their 2L year OR during the fall quarter of their 3L year. In addition, it is strongly recommended that students interested in joining the FCJC take Professor Siegler’s Federal Sentencing seminar during the spring quarter of their 2L year, and that students who have been admitted to the clinic take the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop at the beginning of their 3L year.

Alison Siegler, the director of the FCJC, is Associate Clinical Professor of Law and was previously an attorney with the Federal Defender Program.