The School of Law offers students practical experience and training through a variety of clinical programs, including the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) and the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC).
Clinic academic units
Students can earn clinic academic credit through a combination of class lecture hours and actual hours working on cases. One unit of credit is awarded for each 50 hours of work. Law Clinic units are not categorized as internship or externship units. Because of the time commitment involved, it is recommended that students not enroll in clinics if they are taking other classes that total 12 or more units.
Enrolling in a clinic
To enroll in the NCIP, students should register for the course through E-campus on their assigned date and time. There is no additional application required. To enroll in a KGACLC course, students should register through E-Campus at their assigned time for the course in which they wish to enroll, and then complete the application form.
The Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP)
NCIP (505) is a law school clinical program that gives law students the unique educational opportunity to investigate possible wrongful convictions and represent imprisoned clients with viable claims of actual innocence. Over the past decade, more than 150 innocent people have been freed from prisons in the United States, based on DNA evidence and due to the work of law schools, journalists, public and private defenders, and others. Of those exonerated, at least 10 were on death row. NCIP students have personally been involved in California cases that resulted in exonerations.
Supervised by experienced legal and forensic staff, NCIP law students evaluate innocence claims by reviewing case histories, appellate briefs, transcripts, medical records, and other documents. They participate directly in the investigation process by interviewing prisoners, witnesses, crime lab personnel, law enforcement, defense attorneys, and prosecutors to help prove claims of innocence. Beyond investigating their cases and interviewing witnesses, NCIP students draft legal documents such as motions; declarations; briefs; legal memoranda; and letters to attorneys, clients, and others. Students also attend and participate in court proceedings.
NCIP students begin the semester with an intensive two-day training session known as “NCIP Boot Camp” and then attend classes twice a week. Classes focus on post-conviction law and issues relevant to wrongful conviction, and often include a topical guest or subject relevant to wrongful convictions. Students read about, and then discuss in great detail, topics such as federal and state habeas corpus procedures, post-conviction DNA testing laws, investigation techniques, witness interview strategies, the science of DNA testing, and the causes of and possible remedies for wrongful convictions. At the same time, students advance their own cases, applying the skills learned in class. Students give in-class presentations on their cases at class sessions known as “case rounds,” where they receive valuable feedback from faculty and fellow students.
Students who have completed one semester of the NCIP (505) are eligible to enroll in Advanced NCIP (515). Advanced NCIP classes provide opportunities to research and discuss in-depth the specific issues relevant to promising cases. Students read about and attend guest lectures on specific disciplines related to wrongful convictions. Advanced NCIP students engage in more specialized writing projects such as motions for post-conviction DNA testing and petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Advanced NCIP students continue to advance their individual cases, allowing them to develop the cases more fully and employ what they have already learned. In addition, students frequently have the opportunity to tour a local crime lab and/or coroner’s office and conduct legal interviews with prison inmates. Finally, Advanced NCIP students may also review other California cases that have resulted in exonerations and develop strategies to advocate for reforms of our criminal justice system in order to prevent wrongful convictions in the future.
The first 3 units of credit in the NCIP (505) course are awarded letter grades, and the first 3 units of credit in NCIP Advanced Practice Clinic (515) are awarded letter grades; any units earned thereafter in NCIP (505) or NCIP Advanced Practice Clinic (515) are graded on a CR/NC basis.
For more information
- School of Law, Northern California Innocence Project: law.scu.edu/ncip
- Loyola Hall
- ncip@scu.edu or 408-554-1945
Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC)
The Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC) is the School of Law’s civil clinical course (Law 463, 464, 468, 469, 481, and 511). The off-campus clinic provides opportunities for law students to master lawyering skills while directly serving the community in the following four areas of clinical specialization.
a. Skills areas
- Consumer law. Students handle cases involving auto fraud, unfair credit and debt collection practices, door-to-door and telemarketing sales abuses, and other unfair business practices. Returning students generally have a caseload that includes both individual cases and one or more class action cases. At advice clinics, students counsel clients in all aspects of consumer law and debtors’ rights.
- Workers’ compensation. Students represent low-wage workers seeking workers’ compensation benefits and other remedies in administrative agency hearings and in court. At advice clinics, students counsel clients on a variety of workers’ compensation issues.
- Workers’ rights. Students represent low-wage workers seeking unpaid overtime, minimum wages, unemployment benefits, and other work-related remedies in administrative hearings. At advice clinics, students counsel clients on all aspects of employment law.
- Immigration. Students represent low-income clients in political asylum cases and in deportation proceedings, including cancellation of removal and deportation waivers. Students assist immigrant victims of domestic violence with self-petitions for lawful residency and assist abandoned immigrant children in obtaining residency. At advice clinics, students counsel individuals in all aspects of immigration law.
b. Required skills training
All students enrolled in either the 3-6 unit KGACLC Community Law Practice course or an advice clinic course must attend an intensive skills training program usually held all day Saturday during the first week of the semester. During the training, students study and practice interviewing, consulting with, and advising clients, working with interpreters, and other skills necessary for client representation. The program also includes substantive training in the particular area in which the student will be working.
Following the intensive training, students in the 3-6 unit course are required to attend two 75-minute class sessions each week for most of the semester. The first of these weekly sessions is a lecture to help students develop litigation skills. All students receive training in fact development, ethical considerations, and negotiations. In addition, litigation students are trained in discovery and trial techniques. The second of the weekly sessions is a case review in which students discuss issues arising from the cases they are handling with the rest of the class. Typical topics include resolving ethical dilemmas, counseling clients about sensitive or difficult matters, and handling difficult opposing attorneys.
c. Credit
Students earn from 3 to 6 clinical units in the KGACLC practice course (1 unit for each 50 hours of work). Students who have completed one semester of a clinical course like the KGACLC community law practice may take a subsequent semester of the same or different clinical course for up to six additional units if the faculty member teaching the course determines that (a) there is good academic reason for the additional clinical experience, and (b) that the student’s progress in substantive courses will not be impaired.
The first 3 units of credit in the Clinical Skills I course are awarded letter grades, while the first 2 units of credit in the Clinical Skills II course are awarded letter grades; any units earned thereafter in Clinical Skills I or II are graded on a CR/NC basis only.
Students interested in working at any of the Advice Clinics must enroll in a separate 1- or 2-unit course and complete the interviewing training. The Workers’ Rights clinic has an additional substantive class component allowing students to earn up to 2 units of credit for the course. The clinics without the additional substantive class component are worth 1 unit.
There are limited opportunities for first year students to volunteer to do community presentations under the supervision of an attorney.
d. Certification
Certification is recommended, but not required, for students working in KGACLC programs, preferably before the beginning of a students’ clinical work so as to minimize case handling delays. Certified students are able to represent clients in the same capacity as would a lawyer, under the supervision of experienced practitioners. For certification, students must have completed or currently be enrolled in Pleading and Civil Procedure (114) and Evidence (320).
Certification forms are available from the State Bar of California at: www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10169&id. Forms should be submitted to the Law Records office for signature.
e. Registration
Students must fill out an application and register for KGACLC courses through the E-campus system. Forms are available at law.scu.edu/law/resources/law-clinic-application.cfm. Submit completed applications to KGACLC. KGACLC courses have limited enrollment, therefore, students should plan the registration process early, before the end of the prior semester. The courses are offered every semester, but during summer sessions the practice areas are limited. Because of the time commitment involved, it is recommended that students not enroll in this course if they are taking other classes which total 12 or more units.
For more Information
- School of Law, Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center, law.scu.edu/kgaclc
- 1030 The Alameda, San Jose (approximately two miles from campus. Bus transportation is readily available.)
- Executive Director: Professor Angelo Ancheta, 408-288-7030
- Supervising Faculty/Attorneys: Margarita Alvarez, Scott Maurer, Lynette Parker
- Legal Assistants/Paralegals/Staff: Dianne Blakely, Reuben Castillo, Irene Cermeno, Marisol Escalera, Sophia Hinojosa, Sergio Lopez, Mariela Rodriguez, Margarita Sandoval