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Special Interest Areas
Clinical Programs
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 (505), students should register for the course through E-campus on their assigned date and time. Participation in Advanced NCIP (515) requires faculty approval.
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.
Northern California Innocence Project
General Description
The Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) is a law school clinical program providing a unique educational opportunity for law students to investigate and litigate possible wrongful convictions. NCIP also works to promote legal reforms aimed at remedying the systemic problems within our criminal justice system that lead to wrongful convictions.
Supervised by experienced legal and forensic staff, NCIP law students evaluate innocence claims by reviewing case histories, appellate briefs, transcripts, and other records. They participate directly in the investigation process by interviewing prisoners, witnesses, crime lab personnel, law enforcement, defense attorneys, and prosecutors. As part of their case work, NCIP students draft legal documents including motions, declarations, briefs, legal memoranda, and letters to attorneys, clients, and case rounds memos. Students also attend and participate in court proceedings.
Training and Education
All NCIP students are required to attend an intensive two day training session known as “NCIP Boot Camp” near the beginning of the semester. Students attend classes twice weekly which focus on post-conviction law and issues relevant to wrongful conviction. Class topics include federal and state habeas corpus procedures, post-conviction DNA testing, investigation techniques, witness interview strategies, the science of DNA testing, and the causes and possible remedies for wrongful convictions. Students engage in more specialized writing projects such as motions for post-conviction DNA testing and petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Students also may have an opportunity to tour a local crime lab or coroner’s office and conduct legal interviews with prison inmates.
Advanced Practice Clinic
Students who have completed one NCIP (505) semester are encouraged to enroll in Advanced NCIP (515) which provides the opportunity for them to continue to advance their individual cases and to research and discuss in-depth the specific issues relevant to promising cases. Participation in Advanced NCIP requires faculty approval.
Credit
Students may earn 3-12 units of academic credit for their work with NCIP. Students must have faculty approval to receive more than 6 units of credit. Only the first 3 units of credit for each NCIP course, Basic (505) and Advanced (515), are graded. Any units earned beyond 3 in each of the classes are graded Credit/No Credit only. For every 50 hours of participation in the program, including casework and class attendance, a student earns one credit. NCIP meets the Professional Skills Requirement and is a Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate course.
For more information
Northern California Innocence Project
900 Lafayette St (Commerce Plaza Building)
Suite 105
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 three 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’ 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 Civil Clinical Skills 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 Civil Clinical Skills 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 Student Services 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/records/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-Depositar, Reuben Castillo, Irene Cermeno, Marisol Escalera, Sophia Hinojosa, Sergio Lopez, Mariela Rodriguez, Margarita Sandoval
