Legal Clinics, Yes or No?

[Faeelin]

So, I applied to a few legal clinics for my my 2nd year, and I got into the civil litigation clinic for the Eastern District of New York. But I've had some professors say don't bother with the clinic, since you can always get practical experience after you graduate, and can only take classes while you're in law school. So I thought I'd open the floor to the board's attorneys.

[The Brain]

I can recommend some Stockholm clinics.

[garbon]

I can recommend some Stockholm clinics.

Get thee to a clinic, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?

[Savonarola]

I can recommend some Stockholm clinics.

He wants to be a lawyer, not a woman. 

[Malthus]

It all depends on what you want to do. Legal clinics are, if nothing else, an introduction to litigation type practice - one thing is sure - you will find out if you like it or not.

To my mind at least, the value of law classes is highly over-rated, particularly by law professors, but I know not everyone agrees with me on that.

[ulmont]

So, I applied to a few legal clinics for my my 2nd year, and I got into the civil litigation clinic for the Eastern District of New York. But I've had some professors say don't bother with the clinic, since you can always get practical experience after you graduate, and can only take classes while you're in law school. So I thought I'd open the floor to the board's attorneys.

Your professors are insane.  You'll find out if you like litigation or not, and get a leg up in case you end up solo.

[crazy canuck]

At UBC there were two types of clinics.  One was in the form of a course that a student could take for credit - which substantially reduced the course work in that year and the other one was a volunteer credit that was run by a non profit.  I took the route of doing a full course load and volunteering at a clinic and I guess I am a bit biased toward that.

The clinic for credit always struck me as the equivalent of basket weaving while the volunteer clinics show a drive to really get involved in the law since you are doing it on your own time.

As an aside one thing that you should definitely try to do are the competitive moots.  If you can make a moot team that will set you apart.  If you can do well in the moot competition you will make yourself much more attractive to employers.

[crazy canuck]

You'll find out if you like litigation or not, and get a leg up in case you end up solo.

I disagree.  He will get a very skewed view of ligitation since the matters he can deal with in a clinic enviornment as a law student are very limited.  Plus the type of client that attends those clinics is limited.

He will get no exposure to commericial litigation, for example.

[ulmont]

I disagree.  He will get a very skewed view of ligitation since the matters he can deal with in a clinic enviornment as a law student are very limited.  Plus the type of client that attends those clinics is limited.

He will get no exposure to commericial litigation, for example.

Yeah, but a lot closer to solo life I would think.

[Malthus]

I second the call for mooting (though I always felt like an Ent doing that  ).

What I did, and what proved of particular value, was work as a research assistant to a professor, both during summers and in my copious free time ( ) during the school year.

I highly recommend that if you want a job - the experience is second to none, you get paid, you may get a publication credit (I did), and these guys have lots of helpful contacts & can write killer recommendation letters which, if you survive the initial screen, may help you get a position.

Assuming you end up working for a non-asshole of course. 

[crazy canuck]

Yeah, but a lot closer to solo life I would think.

If he is aiming to be a sole practioner then he has a lot more to worry about then what courses to take.  I honestly dont know how those guys can do it.

[katmai]

Yeah, but a lot closer to solo life I would think.

If he is aiming to be a sole practioner then he has a lot more to worry about then what courses to take.  I honestly dont know how those guys can do it.

Where is Scips anyways?

[The Brain]

Yeah, but a lot closer to solo life I would think.

sole practioner

Mart?

[Scipio]

Yeah, but a lot closer to solo life I would think.

If he is aiming to be a sole practioner then he has a lot more to worry about then what courses to take.  I honestly dont know how those guys can do it.

Where is Scips anyways?

Plugging away.  Got a big bad faith suit against Citifinancial Auto about to hit.

[The Minsky Moment]

It might help if you could give more specifics on the clinic.

My off the cuff would be yes - do it.  If it is a good clinic and you get a good and interested contact, you can really learn some useful things and get a taste for what real practice is like.   

I second Malthus' view that classwork (in comparison) is not really that helpful a prep for private practice.  The 1L core is decent background and there are a couple more classes that are useful to take -  Evidence, Fed Courts, Corps, and Secured Transactions/Commercial Law leap to mind but even these are not really essential.  The rest is mostly of academic interest.  I did not take classes at law school in most the specific practice areas I primarily function in today.