Alison Siegler : Courses and Seminars
Federal Criminal Justice Clinic
LAWS 67513
The Federal Criminal Justice Clinic zealously represents indigent defendants charged with federal crimes and gives students a unique opportunity to practice in federal district court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and to write briefs to the United States Supreme Court. The FCJC is the only legal clinic in the country that exclusively represents indigent clients charged with federal felonies. We enter our federal district court cases at the time of the arrest, take them to trial or guilty plea and sentencing, and then carry them through appeal and beyond. As part of our broader mission to promote fairness in the criminal justice system, we also take Seventh Circuit appeals and write amicus briefs and petitions for certiorari to the Supreme Court. We filed amicus briefs in two Supreme Court cases last year: Alleyne v. United States, No. 11-9335, and United States v. Davila, No. 12-167.
FCJC students interview clients and witnesses; meet regularly with clients at the federal jail; conduct and participate in bond hearings, preliminary hearings, arraignments, evidentiary hearings, plea hearings, sentencing hearings, and trials; research, write, and argue motions and briefs; negotiate with prosecutors; and participate in case investigations. Students involved in our appellate litigation research and write briefs to the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court and conduct oral argument in the Seventh Circuit. The seminar component includes skills exercises, simulations, lectures, case rounds, and discussions. The pre-requisites/co-requisites are Evidence, Criminal Procedure I, and Professor Siegler’s Federal Criminal Procedure course; these courses may be taken at any time during 2L or 3L year. It is strongly recommended that students interested in joining the FCJC take Erica Zunkel’s Federal Sentencing seminar during 2L year, and take the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop at the beginning of 3L year. The FCJC gives priority to 3Ls but is also open to 2Ls. Students typically apply 6 credits to the clinic during 3L year; students are limited to 3 credits during 2L year to preserve credits for 3L year.
Autumn 2013
Erica Zunkel, Alison Siegler
Federal Criminal Justice Clinic
LAWS 67513
The Federal Criminal Justice Clinic zealously represents indigent defendants charged with federal crimes and gives students a unique opportunity to practice in federal district court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and to write briefs to the United States Supreme Court. The FCJC is the only legal clinic in the country that exclusively represents indigent clients charged with federal felonies. We enter our federal district court cases at the time of the arrest, take them to trial or guilty plea and sentencing, and then carry them through appeal and beyond. As part of our broader mission to promote fairness in the criminal justice system, we also take Seventh Circuit appeals and write amicus briefs and petitions for certiorari to the Supreme Court. We filed amicus briefs in two Supreme Court cases last year: Alleyne v. United States, No. 11-9335, and United States v. Davila, No. 12-167.
FCJC students interview clients and witnesses; meet regularly with clients at the federal jail; conduct and participate in bond hearings, preliminary hearings, arraignments, evidentiary hearings, plea hearings, sentencing hearings, and trials; research, write, and argue motions and briefs; negotiate with prosecutors; and participate in case investigations. Students involved in our appellate litigation research and write briefs to the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court and conduct oral argument in the Seventh Circuit. The seminar component includes skills exercises, simulations, lectures, case rounds, and discussions. The pre-requisites/co-requisites are Evidence, Criminal Procedure I, and Professor Siegler’s Federal Criminal Procedure course; these courses may be taken at any time during 2L or 3L year. It is strongly recommended that students interested in joining the FCJC take Erica Zunkel’s Federal Sentencing seminar during 2L year, and take the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop at the beginning of 3L year. The FCJC gives priority to 3Ls but is also open to 2Ls. Students typically apply 6 credits to the clinic during 3L year; students are limited to 3 credits during 2L year to preserve credits for 3L year.
Winter 2014
Erica Zunkel, Alison Siegler
Federal Criminal Justice Clinic
LAWS 67513
The Federal Criminal Justice Clinic zealously represents indigent defendants charged with federal crimes and gives students a unique opportunity to practice in federal district court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and to write briefs to the United States Supreme Court. The FCJC is the only legal clinic in the country that exclusively represents indigent clients charged with federal felonies. We enter our federal district court cases at the time of the arrest, take them to trial or guilty plea and sentencing, and then carry them through appeal and beyond. As part of our broader mission to promote fairness in the criminal justice system, we also take Seventh Circuit appeals and write amicus briefs and petitions for certiorari to the Supreme Court. We filed amicus briefs in two Supreme Court cases last year: Alleyne v. United States, No. 11-9335, and United States v. Davila, No. 12-167.
FCJC students interview clients and witnesses; meet regularly with clients at the federal jail; conduct and participate in bond hearings, preliminary hearings, arraignments, evidentiary hearings, plea hearings, sentencing hearings, and trials; research, write, and argue motions and briefs; negotiate with prosecutors; and participate in case investigations. Students involved in our appellate litigation research and write briefs to the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court and conduct oral argument in the Seventh Circuit. The seminar component includes skills exercises, simulations, lectures, case rounds, and discussions. The pre-requisites/co-requisites are Evidence, Criminal Procedure I, and Professor Siegler’s Federal Criminal Procedure course; these courses may be taken at any time during 2L or 3L year. It is strongly recommended that students interested in joining the FCJC take Erica Zunkel’s Federal Sentencing seminar during 2L year, and take the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop at the beginning of 3L year. The FCJC gives priority to 3Ls but is also open to 2Ls. Students typically apply 6 credits to the clinic during 3L year; students are limited to 3 credits during 2L year to preserve credits for 3L year.
Spring 2014
Erica Zunkel, Alison Siegler
Federal Criminal Procedure: From Bail to Jail
LAWS 47301
This course surveys the federal criminal process from the formal filing of charges in court through trial and beyond. While Criminal Procedure I examines the procedural rules that govern police investigations, this course examines the procedural rules that govern the criminal process after an arrest. (This course is not called “Criminal Procedure II” because there are no prerequisites and it is not related to Criminal Procedure I.) The law that governs after formal proceedings have commenced is based largely on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and on the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, but is less doctrinal and constitutional than the law that governs during the investigative stage of a case. Topics include: pretrial release and detention, the preliminary hearing, the grand jury, the charging instrument, joinder and severance, discovery, selected trial issues (including confrontation rights), plea bargaining and negotiation, and sentencing. We also examine prosecutorial discretion and ethical issues surrounding the representation of criminal defendants. Various guest speakers typically visit class, including federal district court judges, an Assistant United States Attorney, and a criminal defense lawyer.
The final grade is based on an eight-hour take-home examination.
Autumn 2013
Alison Siegler
