CLINIC OVERVIEW

The Lewis & Clark Legal Clinic is a civil practice clinic for the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, providing students with practical “hands-on” experience in developing lawyering skills.

Student participants assist in the representation of clients and learn the basic lawyering skills of client counseling; fact investigation; problem solving; drafting documents; negotiating; office practice; and administrative, trial, and appellate advocacy.  The Clinic accepts for representation only those cases which maximize the students’ opportunities to learn and develop practical lawyering skills.  All students act under the direct supervision of the clinical faculty, all of whom are attorneys.   

The Clinic generally represents low-income individuals experiencing a variety of civil and administrative law problems.  These legal problems include, but are not limited to:  residential evictions, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, child support modifications, domestic violence cases, and tax controversies with the Internal Revenue Service.

CLIENT ELIGIBILITY

All client appointments are made in advance, and the Clinic does not accept walk-in clients or intake by email.  The Clinic typically accepts appointments only during the academic semesters which are:

• Fall: August 30-December 1;
• Spring: January 15-April 15; and
• Summer: To be determined.

Appointments are generally made during academic semesters and are subject to the workload of the student interns.  As a general rule, the Clinic stops taking new cases approximately two weeks before the end of each semester.  During the summer semester, services may be limited as to case type and number of clients.

CLIENT FEES & ATTORNEY FEES

The Clinic does not charge clients for representation.  Clients are personally responsible for all costs of litigation, including but not limited to filing and service fees, discovery costs, and attorney fees awarded to the opposing party as the result of litigation.