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I'm registered to be in the civil litigation clinic next semester, and I'm wondering whether or not I should stay in it. On one hand, it's a chance to get to do real lawyer stuff and maybe help someone who otherwise wouldn't have a lawyer. On the other hand, it seems like doing a clinic is probably a lot of work, and I'm a pretty apathetic 3L.

How much of a time commitment is it to do really do a clinic the right way, and if you SA'd in a litigation practice, how much better of an experience was the clinic than that?

My clinic was so much work. And then I didn't even get a good grade. I kind of liked the experience, but it was way too much work.

TTH wrote:I'm registered to be in the civil litigation clinic next semester, and I'm wondering whether or not I should stay in it. On one hand, it's a chance to get to do real lawyer stuff and maybe help someone who otherwise wouldn't have a lawyer. On the other hand, it seems like doing a clinic is probably a lot of work, and I'm a pretty apathetic 3L.

How much of a time commitment is it to do really do a clinic the right way, and if you SA'd in a litigation practice, how much better of an experience was the clinic than that?

Time commitment can vary, but I think most will require 10-20 hours per week.

As an SA nearly all the litigation work I did was researching specific issues and writing memos. In a civil clinic I actually got to do things like client interviews and drafting motions and briefs, and get more of the "whole" lawyer experience. I had much more responsibility in the clinic, too; by the end of the semester there were a couple of cases where I had put together everything and all the attorney had to do was go to court. (Whether this happens to you will depend on how overloaded your supervising attorney is; for this clinic I was assigned to a legal aid office that was just swamped.)

I'd seriously recommend clinical work, it's both more interesting and more educational than any 3L class.

It's a time commitment, but it's way more interesting than shitty doctrinal classes. Might as well try to get some real experience.