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.

Professors supervise students in representing clients in fair housing, employment discrimination, and other civil rights matters, with an emphasis on federal court practice. Students handle all aspects of clinic litigation and may: conduct client interviews; draft case plans, pleadings, discovery requests, and briefs; take and defend depositions; argue motions and appeals; and participate in settlement conferences and trials.

Students in the Immigrant 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 workshops in detention centers and/or community centers. The Clinic must be taken in conjunction with Immigrant Rights Seminar. The Clinic is a full-year clinic only, with 3 credits awarded in the fall and 3 awarded credits in the spring.

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 (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 operates as a law firm that provides legal services to survivors of gender-based violence. In this year-long clinic course, student-attorneys represent their clients in state court hearings involving protective orders, child custody, support, and divorce; they also represent criminalized survivors incarcerated for reasons associated with gender-based violence and trafficking, mostly in hearings before the pardon and parole board and in post-conviction cases. Student-attorneys will receive supervision and feedback while handling all stages of a client case -from client interviewing, drafting pleadings, case planning, investigation, discovery, motions argument, trial, and hearings. During weekly case rounds, student-attorneys gather for case discussion, strategy, and feedback. This course is taken in conjunction with its co-requisite course, Litigation Skills for Clinic Students.

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, and state and federal post-conviction proceedings. The capstone project involves a partnership with the Tulane Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry, in which students consult with a forensic psychiatry fellow, prepare them to testify, and then direct and cross a fellow during a mock competency to stand trial hearing held at the courthouse. 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.

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’s (TELC’s) purpose is to train law students in the practical aspects of representing clients on environmental issues. We emphasize client contact, strategic thinking, thorough investigation and research, persuasive writing, oral communication, ethics, and professionalism. TELC student attorneys are responsible for advancing client interests in disputes across a wide range of environmental issues. Student attorneys typically investigate facts, research and draft pleadings or administrative comments, argue motions, negotiate settlements, and/or present evidence at public and administrative hearings.

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.

This course is the juvenile delinquency practice component in which students represent indigent clients from the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court under the direction of Prof. Katner. Student-attorneys have professional responsibility for clients and handle all aspects of cases from initial client interviews through trial, sentencing and appeals. This course is to be taken in conjunction with the Juvenile Law Advocacy Seminar. Students are selected following individualized applications and personal interviews. This is a full year course only, with students earning 3 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring.

Third year law students will represent clients in matters involving First Amendment claims or defenses, with an emphasis on federal court litigation. Priority areas of focus may include protecting the right of dissent and defending the freedom of the press; the clinic will not address religious freedoms outside of the context of free speech. Students may be responsible for conducting fact investigation, client intake and case planning for requests for assistance received by the clinic. If a matter moves to litigation, students will be responsible for drafting pleadings, conducting discovery, arguing matters before courts, engaging in settlement negotiations and conducting trial. If a matter is better suited for non-litigation efforts students will engage in non-litigation advocacy such as report writing and the creation of educational materials for policymakers and members of the public. All work is done under the supervision of the Clinic Director, and with support of legal fellows. The clinic is a one year course. In the fall semester clinic students are required to concurrently take the First Amendment Clinic Seminar.

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.

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.