Student Enrollment Process for Clinical Education
Externships
Simulated Trial Competition
Clerk of Court Tour

Student Enrollment Process for Clinical Education

Under the authority of Rule XX of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, eligible third-year students are allowed to represent indigent persons under the supervision of a licensed attorney. Students in the program must be enrolled in one of the six Clinical Education courses. The course includes three hours per week of classroom instruction, involving lectures, case management strategies, analytical skill exercises, and simulated trials. The students must be seniors who are in good academic standing with the Law Center. Enrollment into the clinic is open in the fall and spring semesters to the first 50 eligible seniors on a “first come, first served” basis. Students enrolled in the clinic receive three hours of credit per semester for a total of six credit hours for the year.
 

Externships

Law Center externships provide students with the unique opportunity for practical experience, as well as tutelage by a sitting judge. Student externs are not paid for their time, but value the one-on-one supervision with attorneys in the various offices. Ten or more students each semester join the two-part externship component of the clinical education program, which carries three hours of course credit

Externs begin the externships by attending extensive in-house skills sessions in the clinical classroom component. Students are instructed in motion practice, as well as preparing depositions, opening statements, and petitions. Although students take a specific course in professional responsibility, ethics and professionalism are emphasized in the skills sessions.

Students may be placed as externs with local government agencies. The agencies include the First Circuit Court of Appeal, East Baton Rouge Parish Public Defender’s Office, the District Attorney’s office, U.S. Bankruptcy Court-Middle District, and the Baton Rouge City Prosecutor’s Office. Externs are officially certified by the Louisiana Supreme Court and sworn in as student attorneys by local judges. The student externs practice under the supervision of that agency-supervising attorney. Evaluations by these supervising attorneys reflect that students are well prepared, eager to learn more of the practice, and committed to public service. Students are able to view actual court proceedings, as well as attorneys preparing for trials. If their extern responsibilities permit, extern students are allowed to accept assigned cases through one of the established clinics.
 

Simulated Trial Competition

Students-attorneys in all clinics were primarily exposed to criminal litigation, which is very different from civil practice and case development. Due to the nature of litigation and the courts’ full dockets, student-attorneys may have only one or two trials. To provide more trial experience, the program incorporated the use of simulated trials.

In an Annual Simulated Trial Competition, third-year students test their trial skills before a panel of judges. Working in groups of four, student-attorneys conduct simulated civil trials in the fall semester, which are judged by local members of the bar. The students prepare their cases and case briefs as a team. Each group is required to participate in two trials, with group members alternating in the roles of lawyer and witness. Students are judged and graded strictly on lawyering skills, which include opening statements, direct and cross-examination, qualifying witnesses, introducing evidence into the record, use of exhibits, effective use of objections and closing arguments. All rules pertaining to the simulated jurisdiction are to be followed, essentially putting the students in a real courtroom setting.

Students who participate in this competition find that it is not only hard work, but an exciting opportunity to explore the requisite preparation that attorneys make every day in handling a case for their clients.
 

East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court’s Office Tour

One of the primary reasons the Southern University Law Center’s Clinic is so committed to developing and maintaining a high quality, comprehensive clinical education programs is because an unusually large amount of our graduates go directly into private or small firm practices. It is important that our student-attorneys be familiar with the inner workings of the Clerk of Court’s office. Therefore, at the beginning of the fall semester all student-attorneys are provided a complete tour of the clerk of court’s office for the Nineteenth Judicial District Court.