Units/Requirements

(Note: A more thorough discussion of the requirements is contained in the Clinic's Training Manual)

This is a six-unit course (four if it is the student's second in-house clinic). Like all clinical courses, it requires 50 hours of work per unit, or approximately 20 hours per week, including preparation for and participation in a two-hour weekly classroom session. Because the work is both demanding and engaging, we recommend that students arrange their schedules so as to minimize competing demands on their time.

Once a week, while people represented by lawyers proceed with their removal hearings, students and the Clinic's director meet with people appearing unrepresented at such hearings (Each student goes to court approximately every other week.). Those determined to fall below certain income levels receive free consultations with law students under the director's supervision, while those above the established levels are given referral lists to local attorneys. Students schedule follow-up appointments at the Clinic to continue consultations and provide assistance with applications and, occasionally, pro se motions or briefs.

Each student spends approximately three hours per week either observing proceedings and assisting respondents at immigration court or working with pro se respondents at the Clinic's office. The rest of the time is spent in or preparing for class or working on individual cases.

Each student is also required to represent at least one client in an individual "merits" hearing in a removal case. The student conducts all necessary legal and factual research, gathers documents of filing prior to the hearing, prepares witnesses to testify in court, and represents the client at the hearing.  (Note: In some cases, two students are assigned to represent one client.).

Each student must complete at least one major legal research and writing assignment requiring approximately 40 hours of work. In some cases, completion of a brief in connection with the student's individual removal case may satisfy this requirement. In others, completion of a pro se brief or motion will satisfy the requirement.  All written work is reviewed by the Clinic's director prior to filing. Several revisions of written work are normally required before a document is
approved for filing.

Students also prepare for and attend regularly scheduled individual conferences with the Clinic's director once a week.  The purpose of these conferences is to develop and review case action plans; ensure thorough preparation and evaluation of all options in a case; and examine ethical, moral, cultural, and legal issues that arise in the course of working on a case.

The classroom component is partly a skills seminar (covering topics such as interviewing, brief writing, and preparing for trial) and partly a seminar in advanced topics in immigration law.  Issues students confront in their casework are integrated into the classroom discussions so that students may learn from each others' experiences and explore legal and practical issues in context.