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Clinical Courses

The courses listed below provide a taste of the clinical courses offered at the Law School. This list includes the courses taught in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. Not all of these courses are offered every year, but this list will give you a representative sample of the variety of courses we might offer over any two-year period. Other new courses will likely be offered during your time at the Law School.

PLEASE NOTE: This page does not include courses for the current academic year. To browse current course offerings, visit my.UChicago.

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Courses

Abrams Environmental Law Clinic

Students in the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic promote clean energy, fight against water pollution, protect natural resources and human health, and address legacy contamination. Students learn practical legal skills, such as conducting factual investigations, interviewing witnesses and preparing affidavits, reviewing administrative determinations, drafting motions, working with experts, arguing motions and presenting at trial or an administrative hearing. The Clinic represents regional and national environmental organizations and individuals and often works with co-counsel. In addition to litigation, the Clinic may also engage in legislative reform and rule-making efforts; students interested solely in that kind of work should notify the instructor before joining the Clinic. While the course does not have any pre-requisites, students are strongly encouraged to take an environmental law, energy law, and/or administrative law courses at some point during their time in the clinic. A student enrolling in the Clinic for the first time should sign up for two credits; in subsequent quarters, the student may enroll for one, two or three credits per quarter after consultation with clinic faculty. Evaluation based on legal research and writing, oral presentation and advocacy. Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Winter 2022: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Autumn 2021: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Spring 2021: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Winter 2021: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Autumn 2020: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Spring 2020: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Winter 2020: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Autumn 2019: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Winter 2019: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Autumn 2018: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Spring 2018: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Winter 2018: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock
  • Autumn 2017: Mark N. Templeton and Robert A. Weinstock

Civil Rights Clinic: Police Accountability

The Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project (PAP) is one of the nation's leading law civil rights clinics focusing on issues of criminal justice. Through the lens of live-client work, students examine how and where litigation fits into broader efforts to improve police accountability and ultimately the criminal justice system. Students provide legal services to indigent victims of police abuse in federal and state courts. They litigate civil rights cases at each level of the court system from trial through appeals. Some students also represent children and adults in related juvenile or criminal defense matters. Students take primary responsibility for all aspects of the litigation, including client counseling, fact investigation, case strategy, witness interviews, legal research, pleadings and legal memoranda, discovery, depositions, motion practice, evidentiary hearings, trials, and appeals. A significant amount of legal writing is expected. Students work in teams on cases or projects, and meet with the instructor on at minimum a weekly basis. Students also take primary responsibility for the Clinic's policy and public education work. PAP teaches students to apply and critically examine legal theory in the context of representation of people in need. It teaches students to analyze how and why individual cases of abuse occur and to connect them to systemic problems, often leading to "public impact" litigation and other strategies for policy reform. Through our immersion in live client work, we engage fundamental issues of race, class, and gender, and their intersection with legal institutions. We instruct students in legal ethics and advocacy skills. And we seek to instill in them a public service ethos, as they begin their legal careers. Students are required to complete, prior to their third year, Evidence, Criminal Procedure I, and the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop. Constitutional Law III is also recommended. Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Craig Futterman
  • Autumn 2021: Craig Futterman
  • Spring 2021: Craig Futterman
  • Winter 2021: Craig Futterman
  • Autumn 2020: Craig Futterman
  • Spring 2020: Craig Futterman
  • Winter 2020: Craig Futterman
  • Winter 2019: Craig Futterman
  • Autumn 2019: Craig Futterman
  • Spring 2019: Craig Futterman
  • Winter 2019: Craig Futterman
  • Autumn 2018: Craig Futterman
  • Spring 2018: Craig Futterman
  • Winter 2018: Craig Futterman
  • Autumn 2017: Craig Futterman

Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project Clinic

The Project provides law and social work students the supervised opportunity to represent children and young adults accused of crime in juvenile and criminal court. Representation includes addressing the social, psychological and educational needs of our clients and their families. In addition to direct representation, students are involved in policy reform and public education including work with coalitions on issues of juvenile life without parole, youth violence, mass incarceration, and the collateral consequences of conviction. Students will participate in case selection and litigation strategies. Students will be expected to do legal research and writing including drafting motions and memoranda on various legal issues, i.e. evidentiary questions, sentencing, etc. and brief writing. Additionally, students will do pre-trial investigation and fact development including interviewing clients and witnesses. 3L students who have taken a trial practice course will have the opportunity to argue motions and second chair hearings and trials. Policy work will include general research on issues, drafting statement and position papers and attendance at meetings. Corequisite: Evidence must be taken at some point that the student is in the clinic.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Herschella Conyers
  • Winter 2022: Herschella Conyers
  • Autumn 2021: Herschella Conyers
  • Spring 2021: Herschella Conyers
  • Winter 2021: Herschella Conyers
  • Autumn 2020: Herschella Conyers
  • Spring 2020: Herschella Conyers
  • Winter 2020: Herschella Conyers
  • Autumn 2019: Herschella Conyers
  • Spring 2019: Herschella Conyers
  • Winter 2019: Herschella Conyers
  • Autumn 2018: Herschella Conyers
  • Spring 2018: Herschella Conyers and Randolph Stone
  • Winter 2018: Herschella Conyers and Randolph Stone
  • Autumn 2017: Herschella Conyers and Randolph Stone

Employment Law Clinic

Randall D. Schmidt and his students operate the Clinic's Employment Law Clinic. The Clinic focuses primarily on pre-trial litigation and handles a number of individual cases and class actions. In individual cases, the Clinic represents clients in cases before the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Illinois Human Rights Commission and seeks to obtain relief for clients from race, sex, national origin, and handicap discrimination in the work place. In the class actions, the Clinic represents groups of employees in employment and civil rights actions in federal court. Additionally, in its individual cases and law reform/impact cases, the Clinic seeks to improve the procedures and remedies available to victims of employment discrimination so that employees have a fair opportunity to present their claims in a reasonably expeditious way. To accomplish this goal, the Clinic is active in the legislative arena and participates with other civil rights groups in efforts to amend and improve state and federal laws. It is suggested, but not required, that all students in the Employment Law Clinic take the Employment Discrimination Law seminar. It is recommended that third-year students take, prior to their third year, either the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop or some other trial practice course. Students will be evaluated on their written and oral work on behalf of the Clinic's clients. Participation may be considered in final grading. Academic credit varies and will be awarded according to the Law School's general criteria for clinical courses as described in the Law School Announcements and by the approval of the clinical faculty. Evidence is a prerequisite for 3L's in the clinic. The Intensive Trial Practice Workshop (or an equivalent trial practice course) is recommended for 3L's in the clinic.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Randall Schmidt
  • Winter 2022: Randall Schmidt
  • Autumn 2021: Randall Schmidt
  • Spring 2021: Randall Schmidt
  • Winter 2021: Randall Schmidt
  • Autumn 2020: Randall Schmidt
  • Spring 2020: Randall Schmidt
  • Winter 2020: Randall Schmidt
  • Autumn 2019: Randall Schmidt
  • Spring 2019: Randall Schmidt
  • Winter 2019: Randall Schmidt
  • Autumn 2018: Randall Schmidt
  • Spring 2018: Randall Schmidt
  • Winter 2018: Randall Schmidt
  • Autumn 2017: Randall Schmidt

Entrepreneurship and the Law

This seminar examines how the law and legal counsel influence innovation and entrepreneurship in the US, including by micro-enterprises and high-growth disruptors. The seminar explores the position of the entrepreneur in society, in the economy, and in our constitutional framework, in order to analyze the entrepreneur's fundamental legal needs. We survey legal questions particular to start-ups, including strategies for structuring a business organization, financing, and protecting intellectual property. Assignments require students to research issues that apply to hypothetical and real start-ups and practice lawyerly skills like strategic planning, negotiation, drafting, and counseling. Students' grades will be based on active participation, short written assignments, and a research paper. Students who have taken LAWS 53188 The Lawyer as an Entrepreneur: Analyzing & Evaluating Early-Stage Ventures may not enroll in this class.

Previously:

  • Winter 2022: Elizabeth Kregor and Catherine Gryczan
  • Winter 2021: Elizabeth Kregor
  • Winter 2020: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Autumn 2018: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Autumn 2017: Salen Churi, Elizabeth Kregor, and Amy Hermalik

Exoneration Project Clinic

The Exoneration Project is a post-conviction clinical project that represents people convicted of crimes of which they are innocent. Students working in our Project assist in every aspect of representation including selecting cases, advising clients, investigating and developing evidence, drafting pleadings, making oral arguments, examining witnesses at evidentiary hearings, and appellate litigation. Through participation in our Project, students explore issues of error and inequality in the criminal justice system, including police and prosecutorial misconduct, the use of faulty scientific evidence, coerced confessions, unreliable eyewitness testimony, and ineffective assistance of counsel. The Exoneration Project is an intensive, rigorous experience designed for students who are committed to providing the best possible representation to deserving clients. Second-year students wishing to enroll in the Project are encouraged to take Evidence in their second year. Third-year students are required to complete, prior to their third year, Evidence and the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop (although we recognize that that may not be possible under current circumstances). Students are also strongly encouraged but not required to take Criminal Procedure I and II. Students will receive credit for the work they do in accordance with the credit rules for all other clinical programs. Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Russel Ainsworth, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller
  • Winter 2022: Russel Ainsworth, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller
  • Autumn 2021: Russel Ainsworth, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller
  • Spring 2021: Russel Ainsworth, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller
  • Winter 2021: Russel Ainsworth, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller
  • Autumn 2020: Russel Ainsworth, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Lauren Myerscough-Mueller
  • Spring 2020: Joshua Tepfer, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Russel Ainsworth
  • Winter 2020: Joshua Tepfer, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Russel Ainsworth
  • Autumn 2019: Joshua Tepfer, Karl Arthur Leonard, and Russel Ainsworth
  • Spring 2019: Tara Thompson, David Owens, and Joshua Tepfer
  • Winter 2019: Tara Thompson, David Owens, Joshua Tepfer, Russell Ainsworth, and Karl Leonard
  • Autumn 2018: Tara Thompson, David Owens, Joshua Tepfer, Russell Ainsworth, and Karl Leonard
  • Spring 2018: Tara Thompson, David Owens, Joshua Tepfer, and Russell Ainsworth
  • Winter 2018: Tara Thompson, David Owens, Joshua Tepfer, and Russell Ainsworth
  • Autumn 2017: Tara Thompson, David Owens, Joshua Tepfer, and Russell Ainsworth

Federal Criminal Justice Clinic

The Federal Criminal Justice Clinic is the first law school clinic in the country to focus on representing indigent clients charged with federal felonies. The FCJC gives students a unique opportunity to represent individual clients in federal court. FCJC students also engage in policy advocacy and systemic reform efforts, with a focus on combating racial disparities and racially discriminatory practices. The FCJC is currently leading a Federal Bail Reform Project through which students have engaged in legislative advocacy before Congress and have created the first federal court watching initiative in the country.

The FCJC litigates in federal district court in Chicago, before the Seventh Circuit, and in the U.S. Supreme Court. In our district court litigation, FCJC students may have an opportunity to interview clients and witnesses; meet with clients; conduct and participate in hearings and trials; research, write, and argue motions and briefs; and participate in case investigations. During the pandemic, FCJC students have continued representing clients virtually and have litigated numerous successful motions for compassionate release. Students involved in appellate litigation write briefs to the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court and may conduct oral argument in the Seventh Circuit.

The FCJC seminar includes skills exercises, simulations, lectures, case rounds, guest speakers, and discussions. The pre-requisites/co-requisites are Professor Siegler's Criminal Procedure II course, Evidence, and Criminal Procedure I; 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 a trial advocacy course. The FCJC is a year-long clinic. First priority is given to 3Ls; the remaining slots go to 2Ls. Students who want to learn more about the FCJC or who have questions about the enrollment requirements may contact Prof. Siegler or Prof. Zunkel.

Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Alison Siegler
  • Winter 2022: Alison Siegler
  • Autumn 2021: Alison Siegler and Judith P. Miller
  • Spring 2021: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Winter 2021: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Autumn 2020: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Spring 2020: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Winter 2020: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Autumn 2019: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Spring 2019: Alison Siegler
  • Winter 2019: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Autumn 2018: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller
  • Spring 2018: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and James R. DuBray
  • Winter 2018: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and James R. DuBray
  • Autumn 2017: Alison Siegler, Erica Zunkel, and Judith P. Miller

Global Human Rights Clinic

The Global Human Rights Clinic (GHRC) works to advance social and economic justice worldwide. The Clinic uses multidimensional advocacy strategies to address pressing human rights issues, including documentation and reporting, legislative and institutional reform, and litigation in domestic, regional and international tribunals. Working in project teams, students develop essential lawyering skills, including oral advocacy, fact-finding, research, legal and non-legal persuasive writing, interviewing, media advocacy, cultural competency and strategic thinking. GHRC clients and partners include United Nations agencies and other multinational organizations, NGOs and individuals across the globe, and national and local governments. Clinic projects vary from year to year. In 2020-2021, GHRC projects included litigation of a Petition on behalf of domestic workers before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; advisory support to candidates for Chile's constitutional commission on measures to advance gender equality and women's rights; publication of two reports on police lethal use of force policies in the U.S. and globally; design and delivery of trainings on strategic litigation and comparative foreign law to lawyers in Tanzania challenging inhumane prison conditions; and documentation to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Vietnam's violation of its citizens' right to freedom of expression. For more information on the Clinic's work, visit the GHRC's website: https://www.law.uchicago.edu/ghrc and Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GHRChicago. Students may enroll for up to three credits in the Clinic per quarter. New students to GHRC enrolled in the J.D. program should plan to take the Clinic for three quarters for a minimum of two credits each quarter, unless they receive faculty approval prior to registration. Continuing J.D. students and LLMs may take the Clinic for any allowable amount of credits and quarters. Participation may be considered in final grading. Recommended (not required) co-requisites: Public International Law; International Human Rights Law.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Claudia M. Flores and Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat
  • Winter 2022: Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat
  • Autumn 2021: Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat
  • Spring 2021: Claudia M. Flores and Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat
  • Winter 2021: Claudia M. Flores and Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat
  • Autumn 2020: Claudia M. Flores and Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat

Housing Initiative Transactional Clinic

The Housing Initiative Transactional Clinic provides legal representation on complex real estate development projects to build affordable housing. Clients include nonprofit, community-based affordable housing developers and housing cooperatives. Students serve as deal lawyers, working with clients and teams of professionals -- such as financial consultants, architects, marketing professionals, property managers, and social service providers -- to bring affordable housing and mixed use development projects to fruition. Projects range from single family rehabs with budgets in the $30,000 to $75,000 range, to multi-million dollar rental and mixed use projects financed by low income housing tax credits, tax exempt bonds, TIF, and other layered subsidies. Students also counsel nonprofit clients on governance and tax issues related to their work. In addition to their client work, students meet as a group in a weekly two-hour seminar in autumn quarter, and in a weekly one-hour seminar during winter and spring quarters, to discuss the substantive rules and legal skills pertinent to real estate development transactions and to examine emergent issues arising out of the students' work. During the fall quarter seminar, returning clinic students need only attend the first hour; new students should attend for the full two hours. In the winter and spring quarters, all students should attend all the one-hour seminar sessions. Academic credit for the Housing Initiative Transactional Clinic varies and is awarded according to the Law School's general criteria for clinical courses as described in the Law School Announcements and by the approval of the clinical faculty. Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Spring 2021: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Winter 2021: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Autumn 2020: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Spring 2020: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Winter 2020: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Autumn 2019: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Spring 2019: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Winter 2019: Jeffrey E. Leslie
  • Autumn 2018: Jeffrey E. Leslie

Immigrants' Rights Clinic

The Immigrants' Rights Clinic provides legal representation to immigrant communities in Chicago, including individual representation of immigrants in removal proceedings, immigration-related complex federal litigation, and policy and community education projects on behalf of community-based organizations. Students will interview clients, develop claims and defenses, draft complaints, engage in motion practice and settlement discussions, appear in federal, state, and administrative courts, conduct oral arguments and trials, brief and argue appeals, and engage in media advocacy. In the policy and community education projects, students may develop and conduct community presentations, draft and advocate for legislation at the state and local levels, research and draft public policy reports, and provide support to immigrants' rights organizations. Past and current projects include the first challenge to indefinite detention under the PATRIOT Act, a civil rights lawsuit alleging Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment challenges against state law enforcement involved in an arrest that led to deportation, litigation against ICE detention centers for conditions of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges to due process in removal proceedings, representation of asylum seekers and human trafficking victims, and publication of the first guide to the immigration consequences of criminal convictions for criminal defense attorneys in Illinois. The seminar will meet for two hours per week and will include classes on the fundamentals of immigration law and policy as well as skills-based classes that connect to the students' fieldwork. Both 2L and 3L students are encouraged to apply. Students must enroll for either 2 or 3 credits each quarter and must enroll for all three quarters. Students will be evaluated on the fieldwork portion of course on the basis of whether they: • Fulfill professional obligations to clients • Work diligently and zealously towards accomplishing the clients' goals • Collaborate with team members and supervisor effectively • Show willingness to learn new skills and confront new legal problems • Show improvement in legal writing, oral advocacy, and other lawyering skills • Willingly incorporate feedback into your work • Use reflection to learn from clinic experiences • Display responsibility, collegiality, and professionalism • Meet internal and external deadlines • Attend class prepared to discuss readings and regularly participate in classroom discussions • Practice excellent file management and time-keeping.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: A. Nicole Hallett
  • Winter 2022: A. Nicole Hallett
  • Autumn 2021: A. Nicole Hallett
  • Spring 2021: A. Nicole Hallett
  • Winter 2021: A. Nicole Hallett
  • Autumn 2020: A. Nicole Hallett
  • Spring 2020: A. Nicole Hallett
  • Winter 2020: A. Nicole Hallett

Innovation Clinic

The Innovation Clinic gives students the opportunity to counsel startups and venture capital funds on a broad range of corporate law and strategic issues, including regulatory compliance, entity formation, stock options and employee equity, privacy, employment, governance and founders' agreements, and commercial agreements. Students also present on such topics at the Argonne National Laboratories' Chain Reaction Innovations Incubator and at the Polsky Center. In addition to their work with the Clinic's clients and the substantive topic areas to be covered, students will have the opportunity to train in, and develop, the soft skills that separate good lawyers from highly effective lawyers in a transactional practice, such as negotiation, client management, preparedness and flexibility. Students will work with startups across a wide variety of industries and will also complete non-client related homework assignments to prepare them for client work. Students are required to enroll in the Clinic for a minimum of two consecutive quarters, and enrollment is currently capped at three consecutive quarters of participation. Students may take between 1-3 credits in any given quarter.

Students will be evaluated based on the quality of work they prepare for the Clinic's clients, how well they interact with clients and demonstrate a command of the soft skills required for effective transactional legal practice, and the volume and quality of their participation during in-class sessions.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Emily Underwood
  • Winter 2022: Emily Underwood
  • Autumn 2021: Emily Underwood
  • Spring 2021: Emily Underwood
  • Winter 2021: Emily Underwood
  • Autumn 2020: Emily Underwood
  • Spring 2020: Emily Underwood
  • Winter 2020: Emily Underwood
  • Autumn 2019: Emily Underwood
  • Winter 2019: Emily Underwood
  • Autumn 2018: Emily Underwood
  • Spring 2018: Salen Churi
  • Winter 2018: Salen Churi
  • Autumn 2017: Salen Churi

Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship

The Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship, or IJ Clinic, provides legal assistance to low-income entrepreneurs who are pursuing the American Dream in spite of legal obstacles. IJ Clinic students develop practical skills in transactional lawyering while helping creative entrepreneurs earn an honest living, innovate, and build businesses that build neighborhoods. Students advise clients on issues such as business formation, licensing, zoning, strategic relationships, employment law, intellectual property protection, and regulatory compliance. Students become trusted advisors for their clients and have the opportunity to consult with clients on business developments; draft and review custom contracts; negotiate deals; research complex regulatory schemes and advise clients on how to comply; and occasionally appear before administrative bodies. Students may also work on policy projects to change laws that restrict low-income entrepreneurs. Policy work may involve legislative drafting, lobbying, and community organizing. Academic credit varies and will be awarded according to the Law School's general criteria for clinical courses as described in the Law School Announcements and by the approval of the clinical staff. A commitment of at least two consecutive quarters is required.

Evaluation is based holistically on the student's client work.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Elizabeth Kregor and Catherine Gryczan
  • Winter 2022: Elizabeth Kregor and Catherine Gryczan
  • Autumn 2021: Elizabeth Kregor and Catherine Gryczan
  • Spring 2021: Elizabeth Kregor
  • Winter 2021: Elizabeth Kregor
  • Autumn 2020: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Spring 2020: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Winter 2020: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Autumn 2019: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Spring 2019: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Winter 2019: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Autumn 2018: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Spring 2018: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Winter 2018: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik
  • Autumn 2017: Elizabeth Kregor and Amy Hermalik

Intensive Trial Practice Workshop

This is a required class for participation in the Civil Rights-Police Accountability Clinic, the Criminal & Juvenile Justice Project Clinic, and the Exoneration Project Clinic. This class is strongly recommended for participation in the Employment Law Clinic and the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic. It is also open to all rising 3Ls, irrespective of participation in any clinic. This class teaches trial preparation, trial advocacy, and strategy through a variety of teaching techniques, including lectures and demonstrations, but primarily through simulated trial exercises. Topics include opening statements, witness preparation, direct and cross examination, expert witnesses, objections at trial, and closing argument. Practicing lawyers and judges are enlisted to provide students with demonstrations and critiques from varied perspectives. The class concludes with a simulated jury trial presided over by sitting state and federal court judges. Open to 3L J.D. students only. The faculty strongly recommend that students take Evidence prior to enrolling in this course. Completion of this class partially satisfies one of the requirements for admission to the trial bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Students who have taken Trial Advocacy (LAWS 67603) or Trial Practice: Strategy and Advocacy (LAWS 91702) may not take this class.

This class is offered for approximately 5-6 hours/day before the beginning of the Autumn Quarter. The Autumn 2019 Workshop is scheduled from 9/16 through 9/27, and the final trial is scheduled for Saturday, September 28. The student's grade is based on a compilation of daily performance evaluations. For more information regarding Intensive Trial Practice Workshop, please email Professor Futterman at futterman@uchicago.edu, or Professor Conyers at hconyers@uchicago.edu

Previously:

  • Autumn 2021: Herschella Conyers, Craig Futterman, Erica Zunkel, Judith P Miller, and Jorge Alonso
  • Autumn 2019: Herschella Conyers, Craig Futterman, and Erica Zunkel
  • Autumn 2018: Herschella Conyers, Craig Futterman, Erica Zunkel, and Jorge Alonso
  • Autumn 2017: Herschella Conyers, Randolph Stone, and Craig Futterman

Jenner & Block Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic

The Jenner & Block Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic represents parties and amici curiae in cases before the United States Supreme Court and other appellate courts. Students work on all aspects of the clinic's cases -- from formulating case strategy; to researching and writing merits briefs, amicus curiae briefs, and petitions for certiorari; to preparing for oral arguments. Students also conduct research on cases that may be suitable to bring to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the clinic's focus is the U.S. Supreme Court, the clinic may also handle cases in the United States Courts of Appeals and the Illinois Supreme Court.

The clinic is supervised by Associate Clinical Professor Sarah Konsky, Professor David Strauss, and members of the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice group at Jenner & Block. U.S. Supreme Court: Theory and Practice (LAWS 50311) is required as either a pre-requisite or co-requisite for 2L and 3L students participating in the clinic. Students who have successfully completed a course covering content comparable to the U.S. Supreme Court: Theory and Practice seminar may seek consent from Professor Konsky to waive the co-requisite requirement. Academic credit for the clinic varies and is awarded according to the Law School's general criteria for clinical courses as described in the Law School Announcements and by the approval of the clinical faculty. Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Winter 2022: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Autumn 2021: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Spring 2021: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Winter 2021: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Autumn 2020: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Spring 2020: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Winter 2020: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Autumn 2019: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Winter 2019: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Autumn 2018: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Spring 2018: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Winter 2018: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky
  • Autumn 2017: David A. Strauss, Sarah M. Konsky

Kirkland & Ellis Corporate Lab Clinic

The Kirkland & Ellis Lab provides students with a forum for working closely with legal and business teams at top-tier multinational companies, leading nonprofits, and entrepreneurial startups. The primary goal of the Lab is for students to learn practical legal skills, both substantively, in terms of the corporate "building blocks" necessary to understand complex transactions and agreements, and professionally, in terms of implementing such knowledge efficiently and meaningfully within the context of a wide array of careers as lawyers and business leaders. This class mirrors the real world work experience of both litigators and corporate lawyers: students will receive hands-on substantive and client-development experience and will be expected to manage and meet expectations and deadlines while exercising a high level of professionalism. Clients will include Abercrombie & Fitch, Accenture, Baxter Healthcare, Booth School of Business New Venture Challenge (Spring Quarter), GE Healthcare, Honeywell, IBM, John Deere, Microsoft, Nike, Northern Trust, Schreiber Foods, and Verizon Communications. Corporate Lab students also will have the opportunity, should they wish, to negotiate a simulated cross-border transaction opposite students of a leading foreign law school as part of the negotiation workshop component of the Corporate Lab (Autumn Quarter). Please note: (i) students are expected to remain in the Corporate Lab for a minimum of two consecutive quarters, (ii) students may not take the Corporate Lab for more than nine credits, and (iii) this offering will not count toward seminar restrictions. Student grades will be based upon participation in the classroom, appropriate attention to client services, collaborative efforts within a team environment, and quality of work product. For additional information, see the Corporate Lab website at http://www.law.uchicago.edu/corporatelab. (Reduced 2-credit option available with instructor permission.)

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: David Zarfes, Josh Avratin, and Sean Z. Kramer
  • Winter 2022: David Zarfes, Josh Avratin, and Sean Z. Kramer
  • Autumn 2021: David Zarfes, Josh Avratin, and Sean Z. Kramer
  • Spring 2021: David Zarfes, Josh Avratin, and Sean Z. Kramer
  • Winter 2021: David Zarfes, Josh Avratin, and Sean Z. Kramer
  • Autumn 2020: David Zarfes, Josh Avratin, and Sean Z. Kramer
  • Spring 2020: David Zarfes, Sean Z. Kramer, and Josh Avratin
  • Winter 2020: David Zarfes, Sean Z. Kramer, and Josh Avratin
  • Autumn 2019: David Zarfes, Sean Z. Kramer, and Josh Avratin

Poverty and Housing Law Clinic

This clinic, conducted over two sequential quarters, exposes students to the practice of poverty law by giving them the opportunity to work on housing cases at Legal Aid Chicago, the Midwest's largest provider of free civil legal services to people who are living in poverty or otherwise vulnerable. Students may be be asked to attend administrative grievance hearings, represent tenants facing unwarranted evictions, and prevent landlords from performing lockouts or refusing to make necessary repairs. All students will be expected to interview clients, prepare written discovery, conduct research, and draft motions. In addition to working 12 hours a week at LAF, students will attend a weekly two-hour class to learn about subsidized housing programs, eviction actions, housing discrimination, representing tenants with disabilities, the intersection between domestic violence and housing, and the extensive and often misunderstood connection between criminal law and housing. A 10 page paper is required. Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Lawrence Wood
  • Winter 2022: Lawrence Wood
  • Spring 2021: Lawrence Wood
  • Winter 2021: Lawrence Wood
  • Spring 2020: Lawrence Wood
  • Winter 2020: Lawrence Wood
  • Spring 2019: Lawrence Wood
  • Winter 2019: Lawrence Wood

Prosecution and Defense Clinic

The Prosecution and Defense Clinic provides students with an opportunity to learn about the criminal justice system through: (1) a 2-quarter seminar taught by a former Assistant United States Attorney and a career defense lawyer; and, (2) a clinical placement in either a prosecutor's office or public defender's office. The course will familiarize students with the legal procedures and issues which arise in a typical criminal case as well as ethical and other social justice issues encountered by all criminal justice attorneys and courts. The clinic provides students with a unique combination of substantive criminal law and procedure, ethics, trial practice, and hands-on experience through a clinical placement.Each student in the clinic will be responsible for securing a field placement and participating in a pre-screened externship program with a federal or state prosecutor or defender office for the winter and spring quarters. Examples include the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois or the Public Defender's office in any northern Illinois county. Students will comply with the clinical placement's requirements regarding hours and assignments, and may be expected to research substantive criminal law issues, draft affirmative and responsive pleadings and memos, interview witnesses and clients, assist lawyers with court hearings and where permitted (and with an appropriate 711 license), appear in court under the supervision of practicing attorneys. Other components of each student's grade are: seminar classroom participation; trial practice exercises; journal entries; and, a 10-page practice paper or research paper. There is no final exam (in either quarter) and students will earn up to seven credits for the course, depending on the placement. Because of the practical component, the class size will be limited to twelve 2L or 3L students.

Previously:

  • Winter 2022: Lisa M. Noller and Molly Armour
  • Spring 2020: Lisa M. Noller and Molly Armour
  • Winter 2020: Lisa M. Noller and Molly Armour
  • Spring 2018: Lisa M. Noller and Molly Armour
  • Winter 2018: Lisa M. Noller and Molly Armour

Trial Advocacy

This course teaches students the basics of trial advocacy, including formulating a theory of the case, delivering opening and closing statements, conducting direct and cross examinations, introducing exhibits, making and responding to evidentiary objections, navigating technology in the courtroom, and handling experts. The faculty consists of clinical faculty, sitting judges, and trial lawyers from the community who have extensive litigation experience. Students will learn by doing. Each week, faculty will give mini-lectures and then students will perform trial exercises in small groups with faculty supervisors. Each student's performance will be critiqued by a faculty member.

This course is open to 3L students only. The required pre-requisites/co-requisites are Evidence AND first priority is given to students enrolled in the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic, the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project, the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, the Employment Law Clinic, and the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic. Participation may be considered in final grading.

Previously:

  • Spring 2022: Jay Cohen
  • Spring 2021: Erica Zunkel, Jorge Alonso, Craig Futterman, Herschella Conyers, and Judith P. Miller
  • Spring 2019: Jay Cohen
  • Spring 2018: Jay Cohen