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Clinical Programs
Our nationally ranked clinical law program offers students opportunities to learn about the
practice of law while providing essential services to a population largely underserved by the
legal profession. Clinic student attorneys become members of Suffolk’s in-house law firms for a
full academic year. Students benefit from the instruction of faculty members who are
themselves dedicated and experienced legal practitioners. For many, participation in a clinic is
the turning point in their education when they realize what it means to represent people who
need their help and to serve in the public interest.
Students in the
full-year, in-house clinics and the Prosecutors Program
are certified to
practice law under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03, which allows them to represent clients
and the Commonwealth without compensation in both civil and criminal cases. Clinics enable
tomorrow’s legal professionals to acquire—and practice—the skills and knowledge they need to
serve clients and the public in a productive, responsible, and successful way.
GENERAL CLINIC REQUIREMENTS
1. Only students who will be in their final year of law school are eligible for the Defenders and
the Prosecutors Program. For all other full-year in-house clinics, students in their last two years
of law school are eligible, although students in their final year will be given preference
2. Admission to a clinic is through a lottery selection process, although individual clinics may
give preference to students with relevant foreign language fluency or those who have completed
other relevant courses. In order to drop a clinic once a student has registered, the student must
obtain the permission of the Clinical Professor teaching the clinic. After add/drop ends, the
names of enrolled students are submitted to the Dean's Office by the Clinical Programs Office
to be certified for student practice under S.J.C. Rule 3:03.
3. Students must commit themselves to serve in the full-year clinics for both semesters; partial
credit is not available for a student who withdraws after one semester. A grade and credit are
given at the end of the academic year.
4. No student may be enrolled in more than one clinical program in any semester or receive
more than 12 fieldwork credits (which includes credits for any externship fieldwork) during his
or her law school career. A student with questions about this limitation, or who seeks to obtain a
waiver, should write to the Director of Experiential Programs.
5. Students should not take more than 16 total credits (an overload) during any semester in
which they participate in a clinic. The Deans’ Office will presumptively reject overload
petitions of clinical students.
Please review the additional requirements applicable to specific clinics.
To view all clinics click
HERE