Legal Clinics
Capital Law School was one of the first law schools in the country to establish a legal clinic for indigent clients. Today, the clinic is the setting for a variety of civil and criminal matters. Capital's Clinical Program enables advanced students to experience, before graduating, the true-to-life excitement and challenge of legal practice.
Capital University Law School’s Legal Clinic provides no-cost legal services to a variety of individuals who would otherwise be unable to afford legal representation. The Clinic also provides students with the opportunity to develop and enhance their client counseling skills and professional ethics by representing indigent clients under the careful supervision of law professors and staff attorneys.
In addition to providing a valuable service to the community, students experience directly the excitement of legal practice. There is no more exhilarating feeling than standing up in court before a judge to advocate for your client.
Contact Us
Office Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Phone: 614-236-6245
Fax: 614-236-6970
Capital University Law School's Legal Clinic is a supportive, supervised environment that provides a unique opportunity for hands-on learning, students perform as attorneys representing actual clients in a wide variety of legal proceedings. Through various cases, they develop essential lawyering skills such as interviewing, negotiation, client counseling, fact investigation, conducting legal research, drafting legal documents, conducting direct and cross-examination, oral advocacy, case management, and theory and strategy development. The real-world backdrop of the clinical program not only fosters the development of lawyering skills, it also promotes a fuller understanding of substantive areas of law.
Students are assigned cases in the following areas:
Students are assigned cases in which they represent indigent clients accused of a variety of criminal offenses. By working on behalf of clients on misdemeanor charges brought in the Franklin County Municipal Court, students get a firsthand look at the court system. Complex strategy and client counseling issues are among the challenges encountered. From the initial appearance at arraignments through final case disposition, Students speak in court on behalf of clients charged with misdemeanors, as well as probation violations.
Students may choose to prosecute misdemeanor cases in mayors’ courts. This involves appearing in mayor’s court and working with the city prosecutor or village solicitor in resolving various complaints. This entails plea negotiations as well as trials.
Students provide representation to people facing eviction, needing assistance to assert their right to habitable housing, assistance in recovering their security deposit or defending damage suits. They have the primary responsibility for negotiating with either the opposing party or their counsel and representing their client in the eviction hearing.
Legal Intern’s License
This course is available to third-year law students, and second-year law students in their second semester who have taken 670 (Evidence) and 690 (Professional Responsibility). Students must also satisfy the other requirements for the Supreme Court of Ohio's Legal Intern License, outlined in Rule II of the Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio. With a Legal Intern’s license, students are permitted to represent clients in civil matters and criminal misdemeanor cases, all under the supervision of a licensed attorney.
To apply for an Intern’s License, students should visit the Instructions to Applicants for Certification as Legal Interns page on the Supreme Court of Ohio's website.
Questions regarding the procedure for obtaining an Intern’s License, or general questions regarding the Legal Clinic can be addressed to any of the Clinic Faculty or Staff.
Legal Clinic Staff
Melanie Williamson
Professor of Clinical Studies and Director, Legal Clinic
mwilliamson@law.capital.edu
Haley Pohlman
Professor of Clinical Studies & Associate Director, Legal Clinic
hpohlman@law.capital.edu
Miquela Draughn
Legal Administrative Assistant
mdraughn@law.capital.edu
Mediation Clinic
Mediation clinic is a clinical experience for students who have completed the Mediation class. Students will mediate disputes in a variety of settings including Small Claims Court and the Municipal Court. Additionally, students will mediate disputes referred directly to the clinic. Students must have completed the first year evening courses and Mediation before enrolling in this 3 credit-hour clinic.
In addition to some classroom work involving general skills training in the techniques needed to conduct a mediation, students will spend a majority of the time conducting actual mediations at the Franklin County Municipal Court and the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Domestic Relations Division, Juvenile Branch. Types of mediation cases could include:
- Conciliation Program - Mediations of civil disputes that have not yet been filed as actual law suits.
- Small Claims Court Mediations involve disputes of $3,000.00 or less. Most trials are scheduled before a Magistrate within 4 to 6 weeks of filing. Attorneys may or may not be involved in these lawsuits.
- Court Referred Mediations are cases that are referred by any of the 16 Judges of the Franklin County Municipal Court. Most of these cases have attorneys representing one or both sides. These disputes could involve matters ranging from 0 - $15,000.00.
- Rent Escrow Mediations occur when a tenant officially places rent in escrow. The first step in the process of having the rent released is a mediation that is scheduled between the landlord and the tenant.
- Juvenile Victim-Offender Mediation Program is a diversion program in Juvenile Court for first and second time juvenile offenders. This programs allows the victim and juvenile offender to meet in a face-to-face meeting with the assistance of a trained, neutral mediator. The parties work together to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the dispute; solutions could range from clarifications of misunderstandings, apologies, or agreements that compensate the victim for harm incurred by the offender. A co-mediator model is used.
- Private mediations are mediations that become available through private, non-court affiliated requests.
For more information about Mediation Clinic, contact Professor Terry Wheeler at 614-221-0944.