2 or 3 Credits (Clinic)
Students spend 10 (2-credit) or 15 (3-credit) hours per week in this clinical component, focused exclusively on practicing law in the state of Massachusetts.
Experience
Initially students are placed in the Suffolk County Superior Court Clerk's Office assisting the clerks. After approximately three weeks, students are assigned to Superior Court judges in Suffolk County, where they work as law interns for the remainder of the semester. Since law students work with judges, all fieldwork for their clinic must be scheduled Monday through Friday, between 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., in blocks of time no smaller than 3 hours and no longer than 7 hours. Students submit weekly journals, describing and reflecting on their experiences in the field, and meet in a series of seminars with the course instructor and/or the Clinical Director to explore the relationship between the principles covered in the substantive class and their fieldwork.
Students gain very practical legal knowledge specific to practicing in the state of Massachusetts. This course also satisfies New England Law’s Experiential Education Requirement.
“The experience of working at Suffolk Superior Court was truly a great one for me. I had an inside view of what goes on in a court and got to follow the process from the start…to the verdict. It was an eye-opening and amazing learning experience.” —Lesly Suriel-Guerrero ’18