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Prof. Kim McLaurin,
4 credits day; 4 credits evening. Students in this clinic will learn a wide range of lawyering
skills, with a heavy focus on developing and maintaining a professional relationship with
adolescent clients and their families. They will learn how to use a variety of advocacy tools on
behalf of their individual clients and similarly situated children. Among the litigation skills
students will learn include interviewing clients and witnesses, conducting full investigations,
engaging in motion and discovery practice, and negotiating pleas. In working on the cases,
students will learn about the social work and mental health fields, and how to collaborate
effectively with professionals from these disciplines. Students will work closely with the clinic‘s
Social Work Supervisor and with social work students from local social work schools. JDC
students may also work with students from the Education Advocacy Clinic on
suspension/expulsion or special education cases involving shared clients. Students will submit
reflective journal entries on a weekly basis. JDC students will also be required to keep either
Tuesday or Wednesday free until 4 p.m. for court appearances. Dependent upon case demands
more time may be necessary; therefore, students are encouraged to keep both Tuesdays and
Wednesdays free until 4 p.m., and as many other mornings as free as possible. Although
Evidence is the only prerequisite course, completion of Trial Practice, Children and the Law, and
Criminal Procedure are recommended.
This is a full-year clinic offered for 8 credits
(4 credits/semester) and students will receive a letter grade. Students in the Juvenile Defender
Clinic will advocate on behalf of children in the juvenile justice system. The primary mode of
advocacy will be providing direct representation to individual children charged with delinquency
offenses in Juvenile Court. Clinic students will handle all aspects of delinquency cases from
arraignment through trial, which may include bail hearings, pre-trial suppression hearings,
probation violation hearings, and jury and bench trials Most cases will be done in the Boston
Juvenile Court, but students may also spend time in other courts, such as Dorchester Juvenile
Court. Students may also represent clients in related proceedings, such CHINS cases, care and
protection cases, and administrative proceedings with the Department of Youth Services or the
Department of Children and Families. The clinic also employs an experienced staff attorney who
will work with students on a number of juvenile justice policy projects, as well as on their cases
in court. Students will be the lead attorney on most of their cases, with close supervision from
the faculty. Students may also have the opportunity to ―second seat‖ the clinic‘s staff attorney on
more serious cases in which our clients have been indicted and face adult prison time.
Prerequisite: Evidence; Trial Practice, Children and the Law, and Criminal Procedure
recommended.
Elective Course
Labor and Employment Arbitration
Prof. Marc D. Greenbaum,