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I just noticed this on the TLS profile of Michigan:

"Michigan court rules allow students to argue motions in court and provide direct representation to clients (with supervision of an attorney) after completing their first year of law school. Most other states require two years of law school, which means that students at Michigan have an extra year to participate in clinics (and, indeed, some students do take more than one)."

Clinics are one of the things I am looking forward to most in law school, so I'm curious as to what other states allow you to participate after 1L.

Anyone have any information on this?

Drake University in Des Moines allows two years of clinics but I probably wouldn't go there. Since such things are govered by court rules, the University of Iowa might also but I haven't checked.

sach1282 wrote:I just noticed this on the TLS profile of Michigan:

"Michigan court rules allow students to argue motions in court and provide direct representation to clients (with supervision of an attorney) after completing their first year of law school. Most other states require two years of law school, which means that students at Michigan have an extra year to participate in clinics (and, indeed, some students do take more than one)."

Clinics are one of the things I am looking forward to most in law school, so I'm curious as to what other states allow you to participate after 1L.

Anyone have any information on this?

I think this is a misunderstanding. Many law schools let 2Ls participate in clinics. What that quote is talking about is direct representation in court; most states have laws that only let 3Ls do such direct representation, and only under certain conditions, which limits your ability to do clinics with courtroom activity until 3L.

There are a lot of possibilities for clinics that don't require you to be in a courtroom, though. As a 2L, you could work for criminal or civil litigators doing research and writing, or you could work in an administrative law setting (where courtroom rules don't apply and you can represent people without being an attorney), or you could do something else entirely. I did a great clinic last year, as a 2L, where I didn't get to appear in court, but I did get to write several briefs that were actually filed.

You can do a lot as a 2L. You can't represent someone in a courtroom, but there's plenty of other useful things you can do, and they'll all teach you something.

Most of the clinics at SMU require you to have taken Evidence first.

Pretty sure 2L's can be lead in the courtroom for some clinics at UT. So I guess Texas allows 2L's to directly represent clients. (I could be wrong though.)

Pennsylvania allows it after you take Evidence and Professional Responsibility, which means halfway through the second year of law school at earliest.

Berkeley allows students to do the Community Law Clinic and the Death Penalty clinic for up to 2 years. They also just starting allowing everyone to enroll in the human rights law clinic for more than one semester too. I don't know about the tech law one.

Clinics are generally a LOT of work though. Doing clinic work for 2 years would be tough to pull off with other responsibilities. It's worth it sometimes but I think most people just wouldn't want to do it for 2 years unless it's their passion.

In CA if you take Civ Pro (1L) and Evidence then you can make court appearances.

I took Evidence over the summer and made court appearances on behalf of clients at a Public Defender's office. I'm also taking a criminal practice clinic next semester.

I'm a 2L

I remember hearing that Michigan and like one other state are the only ones that allow 2Ls to appear in court. So, even if you do a clinic 2L at most schools you wouldn't be able to do much.