Civil Practice Clinic
Founded:
1978
The Civil Practice Clinic is Penn Law’s primary litigation clinic where students are certified by state and federal courts to provide legal representation to indigent clients in civil matters. Students enrolled in the course become part of a teaching law firm, the Penn Legal Assistance Office, where they interview and counsel clients, develop case strategies, draft pleadings, engage in discovery, negotiate with opposing parties and provide representation in court proceedings and administrative hearings. Under close faculty supervision, students are assigned their own individual cases involving a broad range of legal problems.
Recent cases have included:
- Housing
- Social Security disability
- Civil forfeiture
- Education
- Health law
- Child custody and support
- Civil rights and employment discrimination
- Prisoner's rights
- Consumer law
- Identity theft
Students work independently or may be teamed with other students on larger and more complex cases.
In the classroom component of the course, students participate in twice weekly in seminars that utilize readings, film, exercises, and videotaped simulations to explore lawyering theory and that are designed to improve their overall advocacy skills. In smaller groups, students meet to discuss case-driven issues of litigation strategy, case development and professional responsibility.
Every student is assigned to an individual faculty supervisor who possesses substantial litigation experience and who provides one-to-one supervision and constructive feedback on student progress. In this way, students develop competence in essential lawyering skills while becoming ethical, reflective practitioners. Skills and insights gained in this lawyering course serve students well throughout their professional careers, whether or not they become litigators. And, at the same time, students perform a vital public service to the community by providing access to justice for individuals who need, but cannot afford, legal representation.
Highlights:
- An early prisoner’s rights victory by students in the Clinic spawned a 1981 University of Pennsylvania Law Review comment on the entitlement of clinical programs to recoverattorney’s fees in successful civil rights cases.
- On the eve of picking a federal jury in an Americans with Disabilities Act case, a team of students negotiated a significant settlement that provided a vital, financial safety-net for a disabled client.
- In a broad range of civil cases – from child custody and support to landlord-tenant and civil forfeiture, from social security disability and unemployment compensation to prisoner’s rights and consumer fraud – students have achieved highly successful results for clients who desperately needed legal help.
Civil Practice Clinic
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies
3400 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215.898.8427
Fax: 215.573.6783
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