Learn to litigate while serving those who have served our country in the Veterans Legal Clinic. VLC students first chair their cases, engaging in all aspects of litigation, including:
* interviewing clients
* drafting pleadings
* writing and arguing motions
* negotiating with opposing attorneys
* handling evidentiary hearings and trials.
The VLC is a general civil litigation clinic in which students regularly get into court to represent veterans in all kinds of civil litigation matters, including:
* contract disputes
* family law
* landlord-tenant cases
* consumer actions
* civil rights cases.
Students are taught by seasoned litigators who meet frequently with students to discuss strategy and who give detailed feedback on written work and all other aspects of representation. Yet students are given significant autonomy and empowered to make strategic decisions in their cases. At the end of the semester, students will be prepared to handle any kind of litigation case and will understand how to successfully manage a case from intake to resolution.
Students also participate in the VLC seminar, which teaches students the skills they need to provide top-notch representation to their veteran clients. Seminar sessions focus on skills like interviewing, negotiation, discovery, motion practice, evidence, and trial skills. Students also act as the attorneys in an in-class mock trial of a current or past VLC case. Students participate in case rounds, during which they work with each other to solve problems in their cases, and throughout the semester students in the VLC seminar are asked to reflect on their and their classmates’ work, the role they play as attorneys in their clients’ lives and society generally, and their ethical and moral obligations. Students will leave the VLC seminar as competent, confident, and reflective legal advocates.