Columbus School of Law

Clinics, Externships and Simulation Courses

A pioneer in clinical education with programs dating back over 30 years, CUA's well-established clinical programs draw on a rich history, while preparing students for law practice in the 21st Century.

The clinical curriculum offers eight programs that provide a variety of clinical experiences suited to most students' personal learning objectives. Six programs emphasize case planning and strategy, trial or administrative advocacy, and work with clients in real situations. These programs are Advocacy for the Elderly, the Families and the Law Clinic, and the General Practice Clinic offered by Columbus Community Legal Services; Innocence Project Clinic; Criminal Prosecution Clinic; and D.C. Law Students in Court, civil and criminal divisions.

Students learn practical trial techniques, refine research and writing skills, and develop other important lawyering skills, such as counseling, interviewing, negotiating, and mediating. Students also have opportunities to wrestle with the ethical issues that confront lawyers and to examine such critical issues as racism, sexism, and class bias in the context of the legal system as well as power imbalances and negotiator styles in alternative dispute resolution.

In each of the three Columbus Community Legal Services clinics, students have primary responsibility for their clients' cases. The students may draft pleadings, deal with opposing counsel, argue motions, conduct hearings before local and federal agencies, conduct trials in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and present appeals to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The clinics' supervising attorneys interact daily with students and closely monitor case strategy and development. A supervising attorney also accompanies each student to all court appearances. In the Innonence Project Clinic, students reinvestigate the cases of inmates who have been convicted of violent crimes and sentenced to long prision terms, but who maintain their actual innocence.  

The other two programs are the Securities and Exchange Commission Student Observer Program and the Legal Externship Program in which students with special interests can set up individual placements.

In addition to the "live client" programs, the law school offers excellent simulation courses in appellate advocacy, educational law practice, interviewing, counseling and negotiation skills, mediation and arbitration skills, trial advocacy, trial practice and trial skills.