Supreme Court Clinic - Course Description

Professors S. Bibas and S. Kinnaird
Yearlong: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 3 credits per semester, Mon. 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Pre- or co-requisite: Supreme Court Practice and Process seminar, LAW 947-001, 3 credits, Fall 2009 Tue. 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Clinic enrollment limited to eight students

This year-long clinic will give students intensive, hands-on experience litigating cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. It is distinct from the pre- or co-requisite seminar, Supreme Court Practice and Process, LAW 947-001, which introduces students to the law, politics, and lawyering of the Supreme Court as an institution through a wide array of cases, briefs, and visiting speakers. The clinic, in contrast, will focus on the practical side of identifying and litigating real pending cases. In conjunction with the instructors and Supreme Court lawyers at a major Washington law firm, students will research and identify promising cases for Supreme Court review and take part in strategy sessions and conference calls, learning first-hand the tactical considerations that shape litigating positions and stances. They will then research and write first drafts of certiorari petitions, sections of merits briefs for the parties, and briefs amicus curiae at the certiorari and merits stages. Through intensive research, writing, editing, and rewriting, students will hone their legal-writing skills. Though students cannot argue these cases or sign briefs, their names will appear in appendices or footnotes to the briefs thanking them for their contributions. Students will travel to Washington D.C. several times each semester to meet with experienced litigators and watch moot courts and oral arguments in the cases on which they have worked. Students may take the seminar without taking the clinic, but if they wish to enroll in the clinic they must previously have taken or apply to take the seminar at the same time. They must be prepared to commit an average of at least ten hours per week to the clinic throughout the entire academic year, though the load will probably be lighter right around the final examinations period.