This seminar is the co-requisite course for the Civil Rights and Federal Practice Clinic and examines the practice, procedure, and ethics of pre-trial advocacy in the area of civil litigation. Topics include client interviewing, case planning, drafting pleadings and discovery requests, taking and defending depositions, motion practice, expert witnesses, and jury selection.

This course is the civil advocacy component in which students, under supervision, represent clients primarily in the areas of fair housing, equal employment opportunity, and civil rights/liberties. Students may draft motions, pleadings, discovery requests, and briefs; conduct depositions; argue motions; negotiate settlements and/or try cases in state and federal court. Student attorneys have professional responsibility for clients and handle all aspects of the case from the initial client interview through fact investigation and discovery, then to trial, adjudication, or settlement. To be taken in conjunction with Federal Pretrial Practice. Students are selected on the basis of an application and personal interview. Full year only, 3 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring. Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.

Students in the Immigrants' Rights Law Clinic represent detainees, migrant workers, children and other immigrants with critical legal needs working through the U.S. Immigration system. Working alongside licensed attorneys, students work on behalf of clients and community groups in a variety of settings--immigration agencies and courts, state and federal courts, as well as work-shops in detention centers and/or community centers.

The course is an experiential, yearlong law clinic integrating lawyering theory, skills and doctrine in the context of representing noncitizens, including detainees, migrant workers, and children. Students will be assigned to work in pairs and groups, under Professor Yanik (yearlong) and Prof. Hlass (Fall semester), completing work on behalf of clients and community groups in a variety of settings—immigration agencies and courts, state and federal courts, as well as workshops in detention centers and/or community centers. Students will learn the substantive immigration and federal practice law, as well as ethics and professionalism, as they develop lawyering skills including: critical interviewing, investigating facts, researching and analyzing relevant law, case planning, developing a theory of the case, creative problem-solving, strategic decision-making, collaborating, legal storytelling, critical lawyering and consequences of bias in legal systems, legal writing, oral advocacy, and motion practice.

The course will examine domestic violence in the criminal justice system and in family law, with a special focus on practical legal skills. Topics include domestic violence as a violation of law, civil rights, international human rights and as a tort, and the role of domestic violence in divorce law and custody. While examining the issue systematically, students will also learn important practice skills through simulated role plays and demonstrations. Students will take a mock deposition, perform cross-examinations, and oral arguments.

The Domestic Violence Clinic provides legal services to victims of domestic abuse, relationship violence, stalking, or sexual assault. Legal services will address the variety of legal problems which may arise as a consequence of domestic violence, including emergency assistance in obtaining protective orders, and extending to representation in family law cases; including child custody and support; problems with housing, unemployment, or denial of access to financial resources such as bank accounts or other community property. The Domestic Violence Clinic is offered in the fall for three credits and in the spring for three credits. Enrollment is limited to twelve students. Students are selected on the basis of an application and personal interview. Students must meet all eligibility requirements of the Louisiana student practice rule. Prerequisites: Legal Profession and Evidence. Co-requisite: Litigation Skills for DV Clinic Students. Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.

This seminar is an in-depth study of selected aspects of criminal practice, both skills and substantive. Topics covered include: client counseling, investigation and discovery, drafting and arguing motions, competency to stand trial, the insanity defense, expert witnesses, case strategy, state and federal post-conviction proceedings. This course is geared towards those considering careers in criminal law, whether as prosecutors or defense attorneys. Enrollment is limited to students participating in the Criminal Justice Clinic. A rule penalizing students for lack of preparation and/or excessive absenteeism will be invoked. Fall semester only.

This course is the criminal litigation and advocacy component in which students, under supervision, represent indigent criminal defendants in all phases of a criminal case: pretrial motions and trials; parole hearings; state post-conviction relief; appeals to the LA Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal and the LA Supreme Court; and federal habeas corpus petitions in the federal district court, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, and United States Supreme Court. Additionally, students engage in non-litigation advocacy on behalf of clinic clients such as testifying before the state legislature, meeting with community organizations, and partaking in community legal education. This course is geared towards those considering careers in criminal law, either as prosecutors or defense attorneys. To be taken in conjunction with Criminal Practice Seminar. Students are selected on the basis of an application and personal interview. Full year only, 3 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring. A rule penalizing students for lack of preparation and/or excessive absenteeism will be invoked. Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.

The Tulane Environmental Law Clinic (TELC) provides legal services to local, regional, and national groups, as well as individuals, on a wide range of environmental and public participation issues. Under the supervision of the Clinic’s staff attorneys, students in the Clinic take the lead in representing clients in pleadings and oral arguments before local governmental bodies, state and federal agencies, and state and federal courts. Among the issues TELC student attorneys address are issues faced by fence line environmental justice communities impacted by facilities which pollute their land, air and water and pose risks from accidental releases; Atchafalaya Basin residents and fishermen who seek to preserve their way of life and the wetlands they rely on; clients concerned with preserving fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species; and regional and national groups addressing local environmental issues which reverberate nationwide. TELC is open to 3Ls, 2Ls (during the spring semester only), and LLMs with JD degrees from U.S. law schools. 2L and 3L students are required to enroll for two semesters; LLMs are limited to one semester in TELC. Under student-practice rules, 3Ls and LLMs may sign pleadings and appear in court under the guidance of TELC’s supervising attorneys. Professor Jordan plans to invoke a rule penalizing students for excessive absenteeism. 3 credits each semester. Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.

This seminar studies the special problems involved in the representation of children and their parents.  Topics reviewed include discovery practices in criminal and civil cases, evidence, constitutional criminal procedure, expert witnesses, child custody and child support, and pre-trial motions appropriate for litigation in juvenile court. Enrollment is limited to students participating in the Juvenile Litigation Clinic. Professor Katner plans to invoke a rule penalizing students for lack of preparation and/or excessive absenteeism.

In the Juvenile Clinic 10 students represent indigent clients in juvenile delinquency cases, and children in need of care cases.  Students work under the direction of the supervising attorney, but the students are primarily responsible for all client and witness interviews, pre-trial hearings, trials and appeals.  The course must be taken in conjunction with the Juvenile Advocacy Seminar. The course lasts the entire year and carries 3 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring. Students are selected during the spring of their second year based upon written applications and personal interviews with the supervising attorney. Professor Katner plans to invoke a rule penalizing students for lack of preparation and/or excessive absenteeism. Course may be repeated 2 times for credit.

This clinical course is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression, increasing government transparency, and supporting the essential work of news gatherers. The work includes impact litigation and direct legal services. Student attorneys have professional responsibility for clients and handle all aspects of their cases. To be taken in conjunction with the First Amendment Advocacy Seminar. Students are select on the basis of an application and personal interview. Full year only, 3 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring.

This seminar is the co-requisite course for the First Amendment Clinic and examines the practice, procedure and ethics of pre-trial advocacy in the area of First Amendment. 3 credits.

Legislative and Administrative Advocacy examines how bills become law and how agency rules are promulgated. Each student will research and draft a proposed bill or agency regulation on behalf of a client group, present it in a mock hearing, and write a research paper. Grades are based in equal proportions on the draft of an instrument, mock hearing, and research paper; there is no examination. Class meetings will cover legislative and administrative enactment and promulgation procedures, research methodologies, drafting techniques, constitutional restrictions, and public access to information. This clinical course is open for enrollment by second and third year students. Professors plane to invoke a rule penalizing students for lack of preparation and/or excessive absenteeism.

Students will work on multiple legislative and administrative instruments at various stages of development, including bills appropriate for introduction into the spring legislative session, rules intended for promulgation by agencies, city ordinances, research memoranda, one-page informational sheets, proposed amendments, fiscal notes, and fiscal and economic impact statements. Classroom meetings will include presentations by faculty and by personnel from collateral agencies with expertise in legislative and administrative advocacy. Direct faculty instruction will also be provided through meetings and tutorials, individually and in small groups, where drafts of instruments will be reviewed and critiqued, feedback will be provided on written memoranda, strategic considerations will be discussed, and students will engage in critical reflection on their field experiences. Students will devise implementation strategies based on economic analysis and feasibility of proposed instruments. They will attend meetings of selected public bodies and prepare a written reflection on what they observed. Grades will be based on written memoranda and drafts, timeliness of the work, supervisory and client feedback, and diligence. In order to apply for entry into the clinic, students must have taken the fall semester course in Legislative & Administrative Advocacy; enrollment is subject to professor approval.

This course is intended to prepare and train students in advocacy skills for litigation. It is graded on a pass/D/fail basis, with top 10% of class receiving “honors” designation. The principal method of instruction is “Learning By Doing.” The students participate in intensive role playing of simulated trial problems and receive feedback from faculty members. Subjects covered during the course are: opening statements; direct and cross examination; exhibits and demonstrative evidence; impeachment and rehabilitation; examination of expert witnesses; closing arguments; and trial notebook. Asynchronous lectures on the skill of the week are provided, and members of the faculty give demonstration performances. Each student performance is recorded at least once as part of the weekly faculty feedback and self-evaluation component. The faculty includes experienced trial lawyers and judges, who rotate through each section so that students will be exposed to a variety of views and ideas. Each student tries a trial at the conclusion of the course. The course has a limited enrollment. It is strongly recommended that you take Evidence prior to enrolling in Trial Advocacy, but co-enrollment is permitted.