Center for the Bill of Rights Litigation Clinic partners with the Pittsburgh Branch of the NAACP to enhance citizen complaint process. More information
Nearly 4,000 square feet
of space on the sixth floor of Fisher Hall houses
the Law School’s Clinical Legal Education
Programs. The marble walls, wood furnishings
and client-friendly, professional meeting rooms
replicate a corporate setting, promoting a
tradition of respect for the practice of law. Housing clinical programs in a facility separate
from the Law School provides a physical and
emotional break from textbook study, reminding
students that they are changing out of traditional
student roles into budding lawyer roles, putting
legal skills into practice. The Practicum's
student offices are located on the first floor
of the library in Hanley Hall.
Clinic offices
are just two blocks away from downtown Pittsburgh,
the Allegheny County Courthouse, Prothonotary,
Recorder of Deeds and hundreds of law firms.
This proximity and access strengthens students’ ability
to experience legal practice firsthand. It is
common for clinic students to walk to hearings
or to file documents between, before or after
classes.
The Law School operates four
in-house, live-client clinics: the award-winning
Economic and Community Development Law Clinic
(ECD Law Clinic), the Civil and Family Justice
Law Clinic, the Tax Practicum. and the Securities
Arbitration Practicum. These opportunities expose
students to many aspects of practice, including
legal research and writing, document preparation,
legal filings, trials, hearings, depositions,
client counseling, title searching and conveyancing,
zoning and environmental regulation, and law
office management. The year-long clinical programs
require students to complete 10 hours of field
work and two hours of classroom
presentations or workshops a week, combining
academic and skills training.
The goals of the Law School’s
clinical and practicum programs are threefold.
They serve the community by providing
good counsel; they train students in the actual
practice of law; and they promote the rewards
of public service. These rewards are infectious;
students typically carry an inclination for pro
bono work into their legal careers.
For a law school founded on
the premise Salus Populi Suprema Lex, “The
Welfare of the People is the Highest Law,”
educating attorneys in the time-honored tradition
of pro bono service is a natural and critical
part of the Law School experience.
Full-time and adjunct faculty
and supervising attorneys instruct and guide
students enrolled in clinicals and practicums.
An impressive list of alumni and other attorneys
share their experiences and expertise as guest
lecturers throughout the year.
Teamwork is an important element
of clinical legal education. Practicing law is
often a collaborative process involving other
lawyers, consultants and support staff. The clinical
experience underscores this by placing students
in an environment where cooperation is a necessity.
Clinics stress the importance of time management
and dependability to students who come to realize
that the rights and welfare of clients are at
stake.
