Public Service Through The Clinical Courses

New England offers a rich variety of clinical courses. At the core of the clinical program are clinics through which students perform public service legal work as they earn course credit. In the Public Interest Law Clinic and Lawyering Process, students serve as lead counsel, representing indigent clients in civil cases either at NESL's Clinic Law Office (CLO) or another legal services office, such as Great Boston Legal Services. Students working at the CLO work under the supervision of full-time faculty members experienced in legal services work. All students in the Public Interest Law Clinic take an accompanying seminar focused entirely on Public Interest Law.

The Family Law Clinic and Immigration Clinic are other clinics in which most placements involve the representation of indigent litigants. In the Criminal Procedure II Clinic, students have the opportunity to represent indigent litigants in criminal cases. Many of the other clinics place students in government settings.

Students often use a combination of clinics, volunteer work and summer jobs to gain public interest experience while in law school. See Student Profiles

The New England clinics not only offer core opportunities to students dedicated to performing public service work or pursuing public interest careers, but they also provide an orientation to pro bono work. For a discussion of our data revealing the connection between clinics and pro bono work, see Clinics: A Path to Pro Bono. For a listing and description of each of the clinical courses at New England, see Clinical Programs.