Putting Theory into Practice at Richmond Law
Lawyers are expected not only to know the law but also be able to use it and Richmond offers a rich array of opportunities for students to refine their lawyering skills and then put those skills into action.
In-house Clinics. Students represent clients directly in a law office atmosphere under the supervision and mentorship of a full-time clinical faculty member. Children's Defense Clinic. The Children's Defense Clinic is a litigation-oriented clinic that focuses primarily on the representation of indigent children who are before the court on misdemeanor and/or felony delinquency charges and families seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) for children who have escaped violence and abuse in Central America. Clinic students serve as defense counsel for youth accused of delinquency offenses or as guardians ad litem on cases that involve issues such as abuse and neglect, education rights, or child sex trafficking. In SIJS cases, the students provide pro bono representation to guardians on custody determinations in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in conjunction with their requests for SIJS determination. Institute for Actual Innocence. Through the Institute for Actual Innocence, Richmond Law students take a leading role in screening, investigating, and litigating felony cases in which there is credible evidence of the convicted person’s innocence. Students investigate cases and seek the necessary evidence to pursue exonerations arising from post-conviction statutes called “writs of actual innocence.” The Clinic also assists convicted individuals in the federal system seeking clemency relief granted through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. The work of the Clinic lead to the exoneration of one man and to the grant of a presidential clemency petition for another prisoner. Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic. In the Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic, students work directly with individuals, entrepreneurs, and existing small businesses and non-profit organizations with transactional matters. Students work with clients at every stage in the life cycle of a business, from providing initial legal advice to an individual with a business idea, to winding down an entity, and every stage in between. Their work touches on a wide variety of legal practice areas, driven by client needs: business associations, labor and employment, tax, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, software, internet, privacy and publicity rights, real estate, and many other regulations. For example, students may help a client choose and register a business entity, draft an operating agreement, conduct a trademark clearance search for the client’s name, file an application for a trademark registration, draft an independent contractor agreement, draft an IP rights assignment agreement, apply for copyright registration, draft and negotiate a software development agreement, and more. Jeanette Lipman Family Law Clinic. The Jeanette Lipman Family Law Clinic is a litigationoriented Clinic that provides representation to indigent families in Central Virginia on every kind of contested domestic relations matter. This includes custody, divorce, child support, spousal support, equitable distribution, domestic violence, adoption, and child dependency cases. The Clinic also represents clients on ancillary matters such as housing, consumer debt, estates, guardianship, taxes, and public and veterans benefits. The Clinic provides holistic services to all clients through a collaboration with tenured faculty from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Social Work and Department of Psychology.
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Clinical Placements Civil Placements. In civil placements, students work with government and non-profit or public interest lawyers. They may engage in civil litigation, public policy, transactional or regulatory work, or legislative advocacy. Criminal Placements. In criminal placements, third year students work with state and federal prosecutors and public defenders. Students have an opportunity to develop a wide range of skill sets, including fact investigation, interviewing, research and writing, trial strategy, and trial advocacy. Under Virginia’s third year practice rules, students are allowed to try cases under the supervision of a licensed attorney and can expect to be in the courtroom regularly. In-House Counsel Placements. Students in in-house counsel placements work with national and international corporations. These placements afford students to learn about the role of in-house counsel and to gain exposure to wide range of legal business issues. Students work with clients, attend meetings, review and draft documents, and develop problem-solving skills. Judicial Placements. In judicial placements, students have an opportunity to serve as a student law clerk for a state or federal judge. Placements are available at both the trial and appellate levels. Students learn about the role of the judge, the role of a law clerk, and judicial decisionmaking. Litigation Placements. The litigation section includes judicial trial court placements along with civil and criminal litigation placements. The accompanying seminar is taught by a judge and focuses on topics and skills related to this area of practice as well as professionalism and maintaining a sense of life balance. London Clinical Placement Program. In the four-week London Clinical Placement Program (LCPP), students assume the role of a lawyer in one of the world’s most vibrant cities. Placement opportunities include positions with barristers, solicitors, legal aide centers, and members of Parliament. Students become immersed in Britain’s legal culture and perform varied, substantive work. Often, there is direct client contact. Students also learn about the U.K.’s legal system and laws as well as those of other countries, particularly the E.U. and the U.S. D.C. Externship Program. Supervised externship (field placement) in a federal agency or nonprofit organization in Washington, DC and weekly seminar. Students must work an average of 35 hours per week for 15 weeks at their field placement and a weekly seminar. Previous externship placements include the Federal Communications Commission, the Justice Department, the Department of Energy, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the DC Office of the Attorney General, and the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
Practicum courses that involve students doing projects for businesses, non-profits, government entities or NGOs. 3
Housing Law Practicum. This experiential course allows students to apply the legal principles of housing law by spending at least thirty hours assisting clients with housing matters. Students will be placed with either Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME) or the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) where they will apply their classroom knowledge of housing law, under the supervision of an experienced attorney, to serve low-income residents who are experiencing housing problems. International Business Practice. This course offers a hands-on opportunity to develop strategies for Virginia companies seeking to expand their businesses in foreign markets. Students meet with a Virginia business client to define the scope of their project, identify legal issues, research foreign and domestic laws, develop legal strategies, and then present their findings to the client’s executives and senior management. Law students team with MBA students from a participating business school to prepare international business plans and then co-present their work to the client. The teams prepare and deliver comprehensive presentations of their strategies and the legal issues they have identified as the capstone to their work. International Law Practicum. Students in this course do legal research and analysis on cuttingedge, contemporary international law issues and provide advice as requested by international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. At the end of the semester, students present the outcome of the research projects to requesting parties in Washington, DC and/or New York. Public Policy Research and Drafting. This course combines both advanced legal research and writing instruction with a client-based experience and provides students with an opportunity to explore advanced legal research in the public policy field, develop their writing skills in the context of creating an issue paper, and engage in client relations with nonprofit organizations from the greater Richmond community. The Prosecution Project. This is policy-focused practicum course that offers students the opportunity to explore and develop "best practices" for prosecution. Working in supervised teams, students will study issues such as: How does a local prosecutor best conduct a grand jury investigation of a police shooting? What can prosecutors do to avoid wrongful conviction? What should prosecutors say to the media? When might a prosecutor offer a plea to a life sentence in a capital case? Class meetings will include visiting prosecutors, police and judges. Student teams will produce papers for presentation to the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys or the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Department of Justice, or for publication in media of interest to prosecutors. Immigration Rights Practicum. This course gives students hands-on experience in immigration law through a combination of doctrinal teaching and representation of actual clients in immigration court. Students learn to analyze and respond to an immigration consultation, effectively represent clients in removal proceedings, understand issues at the intersection of federal immigration law and local law enforcement, and protect the constitutional rights of immigrants.
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Skills courses that simulate actual practice and focus on putting legal knowledge into action. Advanced Trial Practice. This course builds on the skills covered in Trial Practice or Lawyering Skills by using more complex civil and criminal problems and files developed by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy for training the more experienced trial advocate. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of a case theory and the choosing of an appropriate case theme for the more complex case. Covers use of demonstrative evidence, including photographs, charts, white boards, overheads, videos, and computer simulations. While both civil and criminal problems will be used in the class, special emphasis is placed upon civil litigation and trying a complex civil case. Alternative Dispute Resolution. This course explore the process of mediation as an alternative to litigation. Topics will include mediation history and theory, general conflict resolution techniques, specific mediation techniques, including identifying interests, reframing, building successes, dealing with emotions, caucusing, brainstorming, evaluating options and consequences, and reality testing. Skills in these techniques will be developed through role-play. ADR in the Workplace. This course explores mediation and arbitration in both union and nonunion workplaces. Students participate in simulations of both processes and also write a post-hearing arbitration brief. Appellate Advocacy. This course introduces second-year students to essential lawyering skills of litigating in, drafting briefs for, and arguing before appellate courts. The Art of Argument. In this course, students explore the rhetorical roots of argument, the “five types of argument� described by Wilson Huhn, and the psychology of persuasion. Using client hypotheticals, they develop the skills needed to craft and refine persuasive arguments in written and oral form. Each student writes a persuasive brief and conducts an oral argument. Business Litigation Practicum. This is litigation-oriented course focusing on analytical and drafting skills within the context of a complex corporate fraud case. Analysis of an actual corporate fraud lawsuit through the lens of various substantive and procedural rules, including pleading requirements, causation, damages, class certification, discovery, and settlement. Focuses on application of legal rules and legal strategy, rather than simply legal doctrine, although doctrines from the federal securities laws, state corporate law, civil procedure, federal jurisdiction, and other areas of the law will be discussed. Requirements also include drafting a complaint and motion to dismiss. Business Planning. This course focuses on the role of the lawyer in business formation and financing; choice of business entity; choice of jurisdiction in which to organize; LLC operating agreements; selected issues under federal securities law; equity-based compensation; intellectual property protection; the venture capital industry; and preferred stock investments (including dividend and liquidation preferences, conversion, redemption, anti-dilution protection, voting rights agreements, and investor rights agreements). Students draft memoranda and deal documents with a focus on developing a practical understanding of the law and extreme precision when working with complicated deal documents. For the homework and major 5
assignments, we will operate as a notional law firm (students acting as associates and Professor Fisher as a partner), representing a start-up high technology business. Civil Litigation. This course prepares students to (1) interview the client, (2) conduct informal fact investigation, (3) choose the proper forum, (4) draft, file and serve a complaint, (5) respond to a complaint with an answer or motion to dismiss, (6) seek or resist discovery, whether informally or through motion practice, (7) evaluate opportunities for summary judgment, (8) obtain post-judgment judicial relief in the trial court, (9) evaluate the prospects of reversal through appeal, and (10) collect money owed on judgments. The course strongly emphasizes the practical over the theoretical, and breadth of knowledge over depth of knowledge Capital Murder Litigation. This course involves students in the hands-on aspects of death penalty trials, including constitutional and statutory challenges, punishable offenses, mitigation, and jury selection. Computer Law. This course focuses on developing and refining practical skills in transactional drafting in the context of legal arrangements that govern most digital goods-based businesses (such as computer software and information technology companies) and related transactions. The drafting assignments involve issues of contract law, intellectual property law, and privacy in the context of digital goods. These assignments will include license drafting, Digital Millennium Copyright Act safe harbor compliance, and privacy policies. Contract Drafting. This course focuses on the application of contract law principles to the drafting of contracts through weekly written exercises, drafting assignments, and negotiations. Students learn to draft accurate contracts and to effectively review contracts drafted by others. Environmental Lawyering. In-depth exposure to the practice of environmental law through casestudies, simulations, and practice problems with practice in client counseling, regulatory interpretation, drafting, negotiation, enforcement actions, litigation settlement, and legal ethics in environmental law. Class sessions will be devoted to simulations and discussions of written assignments. Case studies and problems are drawn primarily from the areas of air pollution control, endangered species, and hazardous waste regulation, with more limited coverage of other fields of environmental law. Innovative Technologies in Law Practice. This course explores new and emerging technologies that are transforming the practice of law and considers the role of technology as a driver of change in the legal industry. It surveys topics including automated document assembly, expert systems, e-discovery and predictive coding, virtual law firms, and online dispute resolution, among others. Students will work in teams to develop business plans for law practices that are designed to leverage innovative technologies, and present their business plans to the class. Intellectual Property Drafting. This course focuses on developing and refining practical skills, including conducting intellectual property audits, filing domestic and Madrid Protocol applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, trademark examination rules and procedures, conducting opposition proceedings, copyright filings, franchising issues, developing and implementing trade secrets policies and programs for businesses, licensing, and ethics. 6
Intellectual Property Litigation Practicum. This course provides an exposure to intellectual property litigation practice through simulation. Skills will include interviewing and counseling client; recognizing causes of action, potential counter-claims, and defenses; figuring out jurisdiction and venue issues; preparing discovery; and drafting pre-trial motions. Interviewing and Counseling. This course provides in-depth analysis of pretrial lawyering skills using interdisciplinary materials and explores interpersonal relationships, focusing on role of attorney in relation to client, the legal system (including other attorneys), and society. Classroom discussion and development of own skills through weekly audio- and video-taped simulations. Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiation. This course sheds light on the relationships between attorney and client, attorney and witness, and attorney and opposing counsel, and it teaches skills that are essential in virtually all areas of the practice of law. Students work on interviewing skills, explore the role of the attorney as counselor, learn about theories of decisionmaking and negotiation, and learn how to identify client values. Guest speakers bring their expertise to a variety of discussions, including client intake, interviewing different types of witnesses, and the attorney-adjuster relationship. Legislative Advocacy. This course provides students the opportunity to develop the practical knowledge base and skills to be able to represent clients and themselves in legislative and regulatory processes. The context for classes will be Virginia state government. Classes will consist of a combination of lectures by the professor and guests as well as participatory exercises such as role plays. Skills to be taught within the public policy context will include listening, negotiation, legislative drafting, lobbying and testifying before committees. Negotiation. This course introduces the theory and practice of negotiations. Game theory, economic model bargaining, social-psychological theories and the problem-solving negotiation theory are each studied. Explores the different negotiation styles, techniques of preparation and information gathering, persuasion and the process of exchange in bargaining. Both dispute resolution and transactional negotiations are reviewed. Patent Preparation & Prosecution. This course explores the art of drafting a patent application and the subsequent prosecution of the application through the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). It covers not only the intricacies of PTO Rules, but also the strategy and reasoning behind various drafting techniques. Directed to students who plan to become patent practitioners as well as those who are simply interested in the process. Poverty Law Practicum. This course uses fieldwork and community engagement to explore the legal and policy responses to poverty in the United States and to shed light on how the law shapes the lives of poor people and communities. With a special focus upon the Greater Richmond area, it examines the extent of poverty, the root causes, and the historical development of social welfare policy. It also focuses on the rights-based aspect of poverty law and various policies that attempt to ameliorate poverty.
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Pre-Trial Litigation Skills. This course focuses on critical pretrial tools and provides practical experience with using these tools. Course requires drafting a variety of pretrial documents that are frequently used in litigation, such as a complaint, and a pretrial motion. Also provides practice of such skills as interviewing clients and negotiating settlements. Role of Lawyer in Mediation. This course covers the role of the lawyer in mediation and is designed to provide students with skills necessary to effectively represent their client in the mediation process. Will explore differences between interest-based and positional negotiation. Stages of the mediation process and the role of the mediator will be reviewed. Additional areas that will be addressed include the attorney's ethical obligation to inform clients about dispute resolution options, factors that should be considered in assessing whether a case is appropriate for mediation, preparing for mediation, collaborative problem-solving, and effective strategies in representing clients in the mediation process. Students will engage in a series of mock mediations to develop their advocacy skills and will be introduced to various applications of mediation by the courts, state agencies and private entities. Spanish Legal Skills. Each session of this course is conducted entirely in Spanish and consists of a combination of an academic presentation and a practical exercise exposing students to the practicalities of dealing with Spanish-speaking clients. Topics include immigration law, family law, labor law, contract law, criminal law, and the cultural differences of the Spanish-speaking population. Students are assessed on a weekly basis by completing exercises, such as: drafting memos and writing short essays and client letters in Spanish; preparing presentations for Hispanic audiences attending the pro bono legal clinics at the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and a final project. Students have the opportunity to participate in the pro bono legal clinics offered by the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with the support of leading law firms from Richmond twice a month and may work alongside attorneys interviewing Hispanic clients seeking legal advice. Technology Practicum: Collaborative Family Law. This course introduces students to the design and use of technological solutions to issues that arise in the emerging practice area of collaborative law--an alternative dispute resolution method that uses a team approach in resolving family law disputes. The class will cover principles of collaborative law and its use as a dispute resolution framework for family law matters. The course also includes a significant technology-based experiential component, in which students work in teams to create applications that provide guidance on particular legal issues to people, including veterans, who may wish to use collaborative law in resolving family law disputes. The course will involve classroom sessions along with group work outside of class and field research to identify issues to be addressed by team-created applications. Wills Drafting. This course provides students with the substantive law background necessary for the drafting of wills and trusts. Students have an opportunity to draft dispositive provisions of wills, including bequests, marital deduction provisions, exemption trusts, and trusts for the benefit of minors and beneficiaries with special needs. They also draft administrative provisions of wills, including tax allocation clauses. Drafting exercises include the drafting of inter vivos trust provisions, such as revocable living trusts, life insurance trusts, and charitable trusts.
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Workers Compensation. In this course, students both gain a substantive overview of the law governing workers’ compensation and complete projects geared toward learning how to handle workers’ compensation cases—from the investigation and filing of a claim through hearing and appeal.
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