Course Catalog

Interdisciplinary Problem Solving is a course offered at the Law School through the Problem Solving Initiative (PSI). (https://michigan.law.umich.edu/problem-solving-initiative) Through a team-based, experiential, and interdisciplinary learning model, small groups of U-M graduate and professional students work with faculty to explore and offer solutions to emerging, complex problems.

• Type: Problem Solving Initiative

This two-credit seminar will focus on the law, policy, and practice of internal investigations. Students primarily will read and do a close study of prominent internal investigation reports, including, among others, those involving Enron, Penn State, General Motors, the University of Rochester, and Ohio State. The course will depend on active and substantive class participation and discussion. Students will prepare a number of short papers; and grades will be based on the quality of papers and class participation.

• Type: Seminar

This class offers a general introduction to the international legal system. We will explore how international law is made through treaties, custom, and other processes; the roles of different actors (e.g., states, NGOs, international organizations, and corporations) in making and applying international law; how violations of international law are identified and remedied by international institutions or actors; and how international law intersects with domestic legal systems, like the one in the United States. The class will cover a range of substantive areas of law, including human rights, the use of force, economic relations, and regulation of the global commons (with some variations across sections). Each topic will be discussed through examination of a real ongoing or recent incident, controversy, or conflict. Students will be encouraged to think about how law can be made, enforced, and interpreted in an environment lacking a single legislature, executive, or judiciary. This course will prove highly useful to preparing students for more specialized courses in international law.

• Type: Upper Class

This foundational course provides a comprehensive analysis of the definition of refugee status set by the UN Refugee Convention, adopted by the United States and 146 other states. Drawing on comparative jurisprudence, the course situates U.S. refugee law in its global context and equips students to undertake both sophisticated policy analysis and complex litigation in the field. The course promotes an understanding of refugee law as a mode of human rights protection, the viability of which requires striking a balance between the needs of the victims of human rights abuse and the legitimate aspirations of the countries to which they flee.

• Type: Upper Class

This course is a comprehensive introduction to the international legal framework for the regulation of international trade in goods and services. This course will include: an introduction to the economics and politics of trade; an examination of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its dispute settlement machinery, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the General Agreement on Trade in Services GATS); the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and related instruments; and discussions of trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, conflicts between trade policy and other concerns (such as human rights, environment and development), and the recent proliferation of bilaterial and regional trade agreements.

• Type: Upper Class

The International Transactions Clinic (ITC) does good by doing deals. The ITC concentrates on teaching students skills that are critically important to their professional development as they enter into practice areas that involve international transactions. The transactional work of the ITC is focused on negotiating and documenting cross-border deals, particularly in emerging markets. This includes developing drafting and negotiation skills as applied to cross-border transactions, exposure to ethical issues that arise in the international commercial context, structuring and documenting investments in enterprises that primarily work in emerging markets, and an understanding of international economic and financial policy. The ITC is a full-year clinic with four credits in the Fall semester and four credits in the Winter semester. Both terms are letter graded.
Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the ITC for at least two semesters so as to allow them to provide legal support in the negotiation and documentation of multiple international transactions. To the greatest extent possible, students will have significant client exposure in the course of working on transactions, although in some cases due to the international context of these transactions such client exposure may be "virtual" making use of email, skype, and other means of electronic communication. The ITC also makes use of practicing attorneys to help supervise the work of its student clinicians. These practicing attorneys also may be physically remote from the students.
The ITC clientele is very diverse. It ranges from not-for-profit organizations to for-profit organizations, from start-ups to well-established businesses, and from social enterprises to impact investors. What all of the ITC clients hold in common, however, is an international focus and a passion to change the world for the better. This diversity also means, however, that not every project of the ITC will meet the New York bar pro bono requirement. Students wanting to satisfy that requirement through their participation in the ITC should make that preference known to the ITC Director before first client assignments are made in the fall.
The Clinic fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation, but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement.
The Clinic can either fulfill the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation or the credits can count toward the Experiential Learning requirement, but not both.
The Clinic fulfills the International or Comparative Law Distribution Requirement for graduation.

• Type: Clinic

This course introduces the student to certain fundamental cases in Constitutional law, to the questions they raise, and to the modes of thought and criticism appropriate to this field. There is necessarily a large historical component to the work, for the Constitution has acquired its meaning over time. Major questions include: What is the justification for judicial review? What are appropriate occasions and standards for the exercise of this power? How has the power actually been used throughout our history? These questions are considered in the context of doctrinal fields chosen for variety of issues and to allow consideration of historical development over the full life of the Constitution. These fields include: the scope of federal powers; preemption; state regulation of interstate commerce (in some sections); powers of the President; relations between branches of the federal government; basic principles of racial equal protection; Congressional enforcement power under the Reconstruction Amendments; and justiciability.

• Type: First Year Required

Perhaps contrary to a significant portion of the legal profession, legal concepts relating to outer space have a long history, are robust and growing. Even when space exploration and operations were exclusively the domain of nation states, a multitude of international treaties, conventions and other agreements governed activities in space. As the private sector is increasingly playing a supporting and, in some cases, a leading player in the development of space, the applicability and interpretation of those international treaties are under review and stress. National security and economic considerations are now increasingly emphasized over peaceful exploration for scientific purposes. And, a growing number of nation states have developed laws and policies relating to the private sector in space.
This course provides an introduction and overview of space law, international and domestic. After reviewing what "space" means physically and legally, we proceed to examines the origins and development of international space law in international treaties and agreements and the purported underlying policy consensus relating to peaceful exploration for the benefit of all humankind. Much of the class then focuses on the recent decades of space activity and the more-recent nature of international space law and the fast-developing national laws competitively supporting and governing the increasing private-sector participation in space. Critical legal and policy issues are considered relating to space-based natural resources extraction and ownership on the Moon, planets and asteroids, human settlements, in-space manufacturing, space debris and other environmental concerns. Near the end of the semester, we will review legal issues relating to the U.S. Space Force and the Artemis Accords. Finally, we will discuss the growing market for "space lawyers." We expect to have a few guest speakers, either in-person or online

• Type: Seminar

In the Juvenile Justice Clinic, students will represent minors charged with violations of the criminal law and status offenses in Michigan's family courts. While primarily a litigation clinic, students may from time-to-time handle appellate matters and may be involved in public policy issues such as analyzing proposed legislation.
In the course of clinic, students will develop litigation skills including case investigation, trial preparation, and presenting evidence and argument in the courtroom. Casework, which is supervised by a clinical professor, may involve client interviewing and counseling, legal research and motion drafting, negotiation with prosecuting authorities, and courtroom presentation of the case. In addition to trial advocacy and casework, classroom sessions will also focus on legal ethics, the basics of child development and other topics. The Juvenile Justice Clinic meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. JJC is a 7 credit course of which all credits are graded.
The Clinic seminar fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation, but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement.

• Type: Clinic

In the Juvenile Justice Clinic, students will represent minors charged with violations of the criminal law and status offenses in Michigan's family courts. While primarily a litigation clinic, students may from time-to-time handle appellate matters and may be involved in public policy issues such as analyzing proposed legislation.
In the course of clinic, students will develop litigation skills including case investigation, trial preparation, and presenting evidence and argument in the courtroom. Casework, which is supervised by a clinical professor, may involve client interviewing and counseling, legal research and motion drafting, negotiation with prosecuting authorities, and courtroom presentation of the case. In addition to trial advocacy and casework, classroom sessions will also focus on legal ethics, the basics of child development and other topics. The Juvenile Justice Clinic meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. JJC is a 7 credit course of which all credits are graded.
The Clinic seminar fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation, but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement.

• Type: Clinic

This seminar will examine the socio-political and legal background on the formation of the International Criminal Court, as well as some of the rationales that many African nations were: among the first to become States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; the first governments to make referrals to the ICC for investigation and possible prosecution; and the first to withdraw from the Treaty. Students will gain an understanding of the types of crimes tried by the Court, read multiple actual case studies, evaluate different arguments, and analyze Court decisions. Students will be expected to write short reaction and thematic papers, work on one or more group projects, and write a longer paper focusing on one or more politico-diplomatic or legal challenges: governments who lack trust in the ICC; the nature and/or power of individual defendants; security of witnesses; evidence; and/or ramifications at the national or regional level of decisions made by the judges.

• Type: Seminar

Law & Economic Development: India
This seminar examines the relationship between law and economic development by focusing on one of the largest and fastest growing economies: India. The seminar begins with a brief and general discussion of the role of the law in economic development and canvasses some influential and important theories. We then provide a thumbnail sketch of India and the Indian legal system. We explore the structure of the Indian Constitution - the world's largest written Constitution - and how the Indian judiciary manages to balance two competing and often opposing images: being one of the most active and independent judiciaries while also being slow, overburdened and occasionally corrupt. Following this the seminar examines specific areas of law and legal reforms in the India that have a significant impact on economic development. These include reforms to intellectual property, labor law, corporate law and financial markets laws, property, infrastructure policy, foreign investment, competition policy, and the role of the public sector. The seminar delves into how these reforms influence economic development and what implications they have for the sectors and regions of the Indian economy. From here the seminar briefly examines some of the experiences in other countries to tease out whether the "emerging" world presents interesting insights into the theories on law and economic development. We then conclude with a discussion of how the experiences in India help to enrich our understanding of the role of law in economic development. The readings for the sessions will span across theoretical, historical, empirical and "black letter" law.
This seminar will involve students from both the University of Michigan Law School as well as law students from India. The course will involve live videoconferencing every session.
Students are required to write five (5) memos during the semester examining the readings for 5 different sessions or, in lieu of that and with the prior approval of Professor Khanna, to write a paper examining in depth a topic of relevance to this seminar. Regardless of which option (memos or paper) is chosen, excellent class participation will count towards the final grade.

• Type: Seminar

Law Firm Careers in an Evolving Profession
This seminar will expose and sensitize students to the myriad real-world considerations that will affect their legal careers in the private practice of law. It will focus on current developments within the legal profession, various law practice management issues, and will explore whether the profession is undergoing transformational change as law firms increasingly adopt business models. During the first two weeks of class students will articulate what they hope to learn about the legal profession and for the remainder of the semester, work closely with their instructor to ensure that learning. Students will read "The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law" and course materials posted on Canvas. Leaders within the legal profession will appear as guest lecturers.

• Type: Seminar

This course is for those curious about the place of "the rural" in American law and politics. Perhaps you've noticed the buzz and backlash surrounding books like JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. Maybe you've read about the opioid epidemic in rural communities or are interested in voting access for rural Native people. This course will push students to think seriously about how law shapes rural communities and how rural geography in turn shapes legal and policy implementation. The course will survey a broad range of legal subfields and expose students to historical and contemporary legal problems specific to rural communities in the United States by using legal, political, and historical sources. We will cover topics such as rural legal aid, environmental protection, American Indian law, farmworkers rights, rural technology, education policy, land use, water law, and even criminal prosecution. In the process we'll consider changing legal definitions of the rural, consider how each of the topics covered are intertwined, and rethink the place of rural communities in American law and policy. Students will leave the course with the ability to reassess the relationship between legal principles learned in other courses and the spaces and places in which those laws and legal decisions are implemented.

• Type: Seminar

This seminar will explore scholarly literature covering a range of issues in the law of American federalism. We will study both theoretical material relating to the design of federal systems and specific issues relating to the allocation of power between the federal government and the states in this country. We will attempt to develop a sophisticated understanding of the merits and demerits of different approaches toward dividing power between the federal and state governments and to apply insights from the relevant theoretical literature to specific doctrinal problems.

• Type: Seminar

Professor Clark's section: This will for the most part be a traditional course in legal ethics and professional responsibility. We will focus on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, along with other sources of law governing lawyers. Our primary aim will be to identify and analyze ethical issues that arise in the practice of law, including: confidentiality, competence, conflicts of interest, lawyer advertising, multi-jurisdictional practice, litigation ethics, negotiation ethics, and issues arising in the representation of entities. In the process, we will also consider broader questions about what sort of lawyers we want to be and how that might fit into our lives. Those broader questions, valuable for their own sake, will also help us think more clearly about the pragmatic principles and rules we need to know as we prepare to practice law.
Professor Hirshon's section: This course trains students to recognize those ethical dilemmas they will most likely encounter in their practices. The primary focus of the course will be on the private practice of law.
During my thirty years of practice and 13 years of law firm management, I witnessed a lot of behavior. Not all of it was good and not all of it comported with the applicable rules of professional conduct. Students will discuss these "situations" and hopefully learn a bit about themselves. Additionally, students will learn how the model rules are enacted, enforced and sometimes broken ... and the concomitant consequences. The main objectives of the course are to help students identify conduct that might amount to violations of ethical rules and to create a forum for discussion of the type of ethical issues lawyers confront. Guest lecturers will provide their insights into the ethical practice of law. Furthermore, the class, depending upon its size, will engage in role playing and the analysis of films and advertising clips.
Professor Niehoff's section: This course seeks to help you identify, analyze, and think critically about the legal ethics issues that arise in the practice of law. We begin with a discussion of normative ethics and legal ethics generally, and then move to more specific issues like competency, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, representing individuals with diminished capacity, representing entities, litigation ethics, negotiation ethics, ethical issues that arise in specific career settings like law firms and prosecutors' offices, lawyer advertising, and pro bono. We also discuss enforcement mechanisms like disciplinary bodies and malpractice actions. The class typically includes some small group role-playing exercises, the use of film clips, and guest lecturers.

• Type: Upper Class

This two-credit course will explore fundamental legal principles governing economic development in Indian country.
Indian tribes are governments. They engage in economic development to generate governmental revenues to support the governmental services they provide to their citizenries. Because many tribes lack tax bases, tribes own and operate business enterprises, including gaming enterprises, to generate these revenues. This course explores the law of tribal economic development in three basic parts: (1) Tribes as Economic Regulators, (2) Tribes as Economic Actors, and (3) Tribal Gaming.
Part I will exam the fundamental principles of federal Indian law that ground the regulatory authority that Indian tribes exercise over economic development within their territories. This authority includes the power to govern labor and employment relations, license corporations under tribal law, regulate the exploitation of natural resources, and general regulation of economic activity within Indian country. A central focus will be on the law governing tribal powers over non-tribal citizens and corporations who enter Indian country for economic gain.
Part II will exam the law governing tribes as economic actors. What tribal entities have sovereign immunity from suit? Do state or federal courts have jurisdiction over contract actions against these entities arising in Indian country? Do tribal courts have jurisdiction over such actions? What law governs such actions? These are matters of practical importance for banks and other institutions dealing with Indian tribes engaged in economic development.
Part III will cover the basic law of Indian gaming. We will start with a review of the Supreme Court's 1987 landmark decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, establishing, in essence, that Indian tribes have inherent authority to generate governmental revenues through gaming within their jurisdictional territories, and that states generally lack authority to regulate that activity. In the wake of Cabazon, Congress enacted the sweeping Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) to preempt the field and give states a measure of regulatory authority over casino-style gaming within Indian country by requiring tribes and states to enter into compacts to regulate such gaming. This part of the course will review that history and the essential aspects of IGRA.
Students will read the case law that undergirds the subject matter of each part. They will also read the IGRA and related regulatory materials covering the key aspects of Indian gaming.
Students will be graded on the basis of a mid-term take home exam, a final take home exam or paper, and class participation.

• Type: Seminar

Legal Practice Skills II, a full-semester course, continues the skills- and client-based focus of the first-semester Legal Practice courses. Among other things, one goal of LP Skills II is shifting students into the role of an advocate. As was the case in the first semester, the timing and range of specific skills covered in the course differs from professor to professor. For example, students may develop skills in advocacy and persuasive argument through instruction in pre-trial procedures, pleadings, and drafting pre-trial motions. They then have one or more chances to argue on behalf of a client before a judge or panel of judges. Students may also be introduced to transactional practice and skills, such as learning how to negotiate with other parties in a transactional setting followed by drafting agreements to memorialize the results of those negotiations. As the course progresses, students are repeatedly reminded of how their professional and ethical obligations affect the choices they make when representing clients. Students receive frequent guidance on their assignments via formative feedback from their professors, as well as numerous opportunities for student-driven self-evaluation.

• Type: First Year Required

This course will help forward-looking law students become familiar with the wide variety of technologies used in and changing the practice of law today and understand the expectations clients, firms, law departments, and other legal organizations have about the technological literacy required for future legal leaders. Law firms face pressure from clients to innovate, embrace technology, and deliver greater value. Corporate legal departments are investing in technology and legal operations, engaging alternative legal service providers, and increasing their capabilities to deliver legal services internally. At the same time, technology used by non-traditional legal businesses is changing and automating tasks previously performed by lawyers. It is a time of challenge and opportunity, often described by the term "NewLaw." This course will focus on the major legal technology concepts and approaches that lawyers currently face in the practice of law and will increasingly need to understand thrive in the new era of legal services. It is NOT a class that will train students on the use of specific technologies or require a technology background. After establishing a foundation of legal-service delivery knowledge, we will focus on innovation and technology tools, from basics to the newest and most advanced technologies being used in the practice of law. We will explore how lawyers engage in substantive practice with these tools, what clients want their lawyers to know about technology, and how technology and innovation hold great promise for increasing access to legal services. We will cover the ethical requirement of technology competency and then move forward into technology literacy and the role technology literacy will play in shaping the leaders in the legal profession. Students will complete two major papers of the topic of their choice (a first draft and then a final version) and a short class presentation. Upon completing this course, students will have the understanding, knowledge, and skills to actively participate in technology and innovation initiatives and become leaders in law firms, legal departments, legal organizations, and the legal profession.

• Type: Practice Simulation

In the modern regulatory state, the rules that most profoundly shape private conduct come not from the common law but, instead, from legislatures and agencies. This class will explore the lawmaking function of these institutions and the virtues and vices of administrative governance. Among other things, the class will cover: the nature of the legislative process; statutory interpretation; the justifications for regulatory intervention; regulatory tools and strategies; the allocation of authority between legislatures and agencies; the varied forms of agency decision-making; and judicial review of agency decisions. In offering a survey of public law, the course will introduce students to the essentials of both statutory interpretation and administrative law.

• Type: Upper Class

This course explores the development of the Civilian legal tradition -- one of the world's major legal traditions today -- with a particular focus on its early history and its later uses in early modern and modern contexts. Working with a reverse chronology, the first third of the course analyses how the Civil Law tradition was shaped and molded by European lawyers and jurists during the 'long' nineteenth century. We then move back in time to survey the roles played by arguments from Roman civil law in early modern colonial expansion, with a specific focus on the establishment of Spanish and Portuguese rule in the Americas. In the second half of the course we move back in time again in order to analyze the making of Roman law itself, providing an overview of fundamental Roman legal concepts and critically questioning the extent to which the Civil Law tradition -- which we examined in the first half of the course -- was built upon ancient Roman legal ideas and sources. Through lectures, as well as discussion of key primary sources and secondary materials, the course will introduce the following key topics: the sources and methods of the (Roman) Civil law tradition, including case law, equity and the role played by legal experts ('jurists') in scientific legal development; the rise of codes, codification and the interpretation of statute law; the distinction between private and public law; the concept of jurisdiction; how legal concepts such as contracts, torts etc. change and develop through time; and the uses to which Roman legal arguments have been put in order to justify colonial conquest, both ancient and modern. No prior study of history or the civilian legal tradition is required.

• Type: Upper Class

The Public Defender Training Institute is an intensive immersion into the world of indigent defense designed to train aspiring public defenders. This second half of the course is only open to students who have enrolled in and completed participation in Part I. In this second semester, students learn about plea bargaining, evidence, motions practice, jury selection, and trial advocacy (openings, direct examinations, cross examinations, closings, and sentencing hearings).

• Type: Practice Simulation

Instructor: Professor Debra A. Pinals, M.D.
Course Summary: In this course, students will become oriented to common crossroads where law and psychiatry intersect. The course will begin with an overview of mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities from legal and clinical perspectives. A review of case law and legislation pertaining to civil commitment, the right to treatment, the right to refuse treatment, and guardianship will help students gain an understanding of the legal regulation of psychiatric practice. Risk assessment, confidentiality and the duty to protect third parties and related tort claims will be covered. Students will explore mental health assessments and expert witness testimony pertaining to criminal law in areas such as competence to stand trial, competence to proceed pro se, criminal responsibility, and sex offenders. Finally, students will have an opportunity to learn about public systems attempt to address mental health treatment needs in psychiatric hospitals, jails and prisons and other venues such as treatment courts and other models have been developed to limit the redirect individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders from incarceration. The course will provide a forum to review federal legislation, government agencies, and litigation and how they come together to help shape services in public systems. The course will rely on assigned readings, short lectures, video material, and classroom prompts to stimulate discussion. There will be at least one field trip as part of the course. Short written or activity-related assignments, classroom participation and a final brief paper will be the basis for final grades.

• Type: Seminar

This course explores the legal and business aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions, with consideration of corporate takeovers more generally (including proxy fights). The course emphasizes the practical "nuts-and-bolts" of these transactions with respect to both public companies and private companies, as well as from the perspectives of both buyers and sellers. The ultimate objective is to prepare students for deal work by unpacking the jargon and educating them on fundamental transactional inputs, the deal process itself, and the common points of friction and negotiation between the parties.

• Type: Upper Class

Founded in 2009, the Michigan Innocence Clinic was the first innocence clinic in the country to focus exclusively on non-DNA cases. In the clinic's 12-year history, it has successfully freed 26 clients who had been wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit.
Students registered in the clinic investigate and litigate cases on behalf of inmates who are actually innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted. Students work on all aspects of the cases, including researching claims of innocence and the law pertaining to them, investigating new evidence, writing and editing court briefs and motions, and participating in courtroom activities when there are hearings scheduled in their cases. The Clinic also features a seminar component, where students explore in class the legal and policy issues underlying wrongful convictions. There are no exams or papers, and students are graded on their preparedness and contribution to class, the progress they make in their casework, and the quality of the work product they produce.
This is a full-year clinic with seven credits per semester and it meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. All credits are mandatory graded and ineligible for letter grade conversion to pass ("P") election. The Innocence Clinic spans fall and winter semesters of one academic year. Students may register during winter of 1L or 2L year for enrollment during 2L or 3L year, respectively.
The Innocence Clinic's docket spans both state and federal courts and is quite diverse and novel. No two cases are the same, and non-DNA innocence litigation continues to be a fascinating challenge within the field of criminal litigation. Students work with supervising attorneys to craft legal strategies and explore evidentiary avenues that would have been unimaginable even for experienced criminal litigators just a few years ago. Students interested in criminal law/procedure, appellate practice, brief writing, public interest work, innocence litigation, or courtroom advocacy would be especially suitable for the Innocence Clinic. That said, there are no specific prerequisites (outside of the regular first-year courses), and no prior specialized knowledge of criminal defense or innocence litigation is required or expected.

• Type: Clinic

Founded in 2009, the Michigan Innocence Clinic was the first innocence clinic in the country to focus exclusively on non-DNA cases. In the clinic's 12-year history, it has successfully freed 26 clients who had been wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit.
Students registered in the clinic investigate and litigate cases on behalf of inmates who are actually innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted. Students work on all aspects of the cases, including researching claims of innocence and the law pertaining to them, investigating new evidence, writing and editing court briefs and motions, and participating in courtroom activities when there are hearings scheduled in their cases. The Clinic also features a seminar component, where students explore in class the legal and policy issues underlying wrongful convictions. There are no exams or papers, and students are graded on their preparedness and contribution to class, the progress they make in their casework, and the quality of the work product they produce.
This is a full-year clinic with seven credits per semester and it meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. All credits are mandatory graded and ineligible for letter grade conversion to pass ("P") election. The Innocence Clinic spans fall and winter semesters of one academic year. Students may register during winter of 1L or 2L year for enrollment during 2L or 3L year, respectively.
The Innocence Clinic's docket spans both state and federal courts and is quite diverse and novel. No two cases are the same, and non-DNA innocence litigation continues to be a fascinating challenge within the field of criminal litigation. Students work with supervising attorneys to craft legal strategies and explore evidentiary avenues that would have been unimaginable even for experienced criminal litigators just a few years ago. Students interested in criminal law/procedure, appellate practice, brief writing, public interest work, innocence litigation, or courtroom advocacy would be especially suitable for the Innocence Clinic. That said, there are no specific prerequisites (outside of the regular first-year courses), and no prior specialized knowledge of criminal defense or innocence litigation is required or expected.

• Type: Clinic