2022-2023 Registration Guide

CLINICS AND EXTERNSHIPS

Clinical Programs Our nationally ranked Clinical Programs are the flagship component of our experiential offerings, immersing students in practice and offering students opportunities to learn about the practice of law while providing essential services to populations traditionally underserved by the legal profession. Clinic student attorneys become members of Suffolk’s in-house law firms for a full academic year. Students benefit from the instruction of faculty members who are themselves dedicated and experienced legal practitioners. For many, participation in a clinic is the turning point in their education when they realize what it means to represent people who need their help and to serve in the public interest. Students in the in-house clinics and the Prosecutors Program are also certified to practice law under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03, which allows them to represent clients and the Commonwealth without compensation in both civil and criminal cases. Clinics enable tomorrow’s legal professionals to acquire — and practice — the skills and knowledge they need to serve clients and the public in a productive, responsible, and successful way. Our in-house clinics vary widely in subject matter. Students can choose to apply to a clinic that specializes in criminal, civil, administrative, or policy work. Each student interested in an in-house clinical experience or the Prosecutors Program will complete a Clinical Common Application and will be asked to list their first choice and an alternate placement. Each of the in-house clinics trains students to be practice-ready by teaching key legal skills in the context of a real-world client/problem; asking students to consistently reflect on their performance; and documenting improvements in skills over time. This reflective process allows students to move from learning the law to doing the law and doing it well. By the end of the year, students in every clinic have interviewed and counseled clients, engaged in strategic decision making and advocated for their clients’ interests. It’s what makes clinic alumni consistently say that their clinic was the best experience they had in law school.

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