Office Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Phone: 614-236-6245 Fax: 614-236-6970
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. The comprehensive nature of the clinic immerses each student in the
human drama inherent in actual client representation.
Intent on fostering an appreciation of the vital intersection of law and
complex human problems, Capital University Law School’s Legal Clinic gives
students the experience, tools, and outlook they need to construct and implement
creative, practical solutions to tomorrow’s legal questions. In 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. Recently, two students drafted briefs and successfully argued cases
before the Tenth District Court of Appeals on an environmental case and a
misdemeanor traffic case.
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. By tackling the multiple issues raised in each case,
Interns learn that the boundaries that compartmentalize law courses fade in
actual practice.
Students are assigned cases in the following
areas:
Criminal Defense: 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.
Criminal Prosecution: 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.
Domestic Relations: Students are assigned to represent
clients in both divorce and dissolution actions. Typically a student is able to
work on a domestic case from the initial interview to the final hearing before a
judge in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic
Relations.
Tenant Rights & Issues: 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.
Wills and Related Documents: Students are assigned cases
dealing with simple estate planning. In this area, students interview clients
and based upon the information obtained, and the wishes of the clients, prepare
Wills, Living Wills, Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care, and General
Durable Powers of Attorney.
General Civil Matters: Students are assigned to represent
clients in civil matters including foreclosures, consumer complaints, defense of
personal injury suits and various other civil matters. In these cases, Interns
will represent the client in both Municipal Court as well as the Franklin County
Court of Common Pleas.
Family Advocacy:
Students work with victims of domestic violence who are seeking Civil
Protection Orders, or with contested custody cases.
Course of Study
The Legal Clinic is a course offered to third-year day and fourth-year
evening students.
Legal Clinic can be taken in the fall and spring semesters
for three (3) credit hours each semester. Clinic students should expect to be
assigned a case in each of the practice areas, i.e. criminal, domestic, landlord
tenant, wills and civil matters. Students are given access to the Legal Clinic
24 hours a day and are permitted to work on their cases in the Clinic or at
home.
Legal Intern’s License
Rule II of the Supreme Court Rules
for the Government of the Bar of Ohio allows law students, who are in good
standing and have completed two-thirds of their required hours to graduate (58
hours) to obtain a Legal Intern’s license for the limited practice of law. 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 can pick up an application from
the Registrar’s Office or from the Legal Clinic. Send the completed application
to the Ohio Supreme Court along with a bank check or money order for $25.00. An
Intern’s License will be issued by the Court and sent to the Legal Clinic.
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.