Delaware Law School Experiential Learning Guide

GRADUATE PRACTICE READY Powerhouse experiential learning courses

delawarelaw.widener.edu

DEVELOP REAL-WORLD SKILLS Through Widener University Delaware Law’s experiential learning courses, tackle real cases for real clients. Get involved and make a difference, under the guidance and mentorship of experienced legal professionals.

SHAPE YOUR IDENTITY

AS A LAWYER

50K

STUDENT CASE HOURS AT THE DELAWARE CIVIL LAW CLINIC SINCE 1988

150+ EXTERNSHIP PLACEMENTS

8K

CLIENTS SERVED BY THE DELAWARE CIVIL LAW CLINIC

250+

CASES LITIGATED BY STUDENT ATTORNEYS IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES CLINIC

18M

IN DISABILITY BENEFITS RECOVERED BY VETERANS LAW CLINIC STUDENTS AND ATTORNEY VOLUNTEERS

Statistics compiled in spring 2023.

LEGAL CLINICS Delaware Civil Law Clinic • Apply practical legal skills including interviewing, counseling, negotiating, and trial advocacy in the representation of clients in family court.

• Represent survivors of domestic violence seeking civil protective orders and take part in cases regarding child custody and visitation matters involving intimate partner violence.

• Assist the elderly and terminally ill by drafting wills, power of attorney documents, and health care directives.

Contact: Professor Cathy Zwolak Kilian All requests for legal assistance, call DVLS at 302-478-8680 or visit delegalhelplink.org

Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic • The world’s fourth-longest-running environmental clinic represents clients confronting environmental threats in their communities through litigation, policy advocacy, and education.

• Clinic matters involve representation in federal and state trial and appellate courts and before state and local administrative boards.

• Develop an insider perspective on how representations work and learn critical litigation skills during classroom exercises in case strategy, drafting, and depositions.

Contact: Professor Sarah Everhart

Innocence Project Delaware Clinic

Veterans Law Clinic

Dignity Rights Advocacy Clinic

Dignity Rights Representation Clinic

Wills for Seniors Clinic

• Third- and fourth-year law students work under the supervision of the IPD legal team to help the wrongfully convicted.

• Screen cases, investigate facts stemming from decades ago, perform post-conviction legal analyses, and learn firsthand the dedication and perseverance required to further this important work.

• Provide free legal representation to low-income, disabled veterans and their dependents for appeals to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

• Take on cases regarding disability compensation, need-based pension, Section 1151 claims (malpractice-type claims against the VA), VA overpayment waivers, and survivor benefits.

• Handle dischargeupgrade applications and prepare simple wills, advanced health care directives, and durable powers of attorney.

• In this online clinic, learn the essentials of dignity law as it has developed in the United States and around the world and see how courts are reshaping the law to protect the essential dignity in each person.

• Cases concern everything from elections to environment, criminal law and culture, information and identity, and more.

• Partner with the Delaware Law Related Education Center, a nonprofit supported by the Delaware Supreme Court to diversify the legal profession and to expand awareness of the law to young people across the state.

• Develop a set of dignitybased teaching materials to be used as part of the state’s civics and social science curriculum.

• Internationally recognized concepts of dignity rights protect the full range of the human experience, including rights to freedom of conscience and political participation, rights to equality and equal treatment, rights to live with dignity, and rights to express one’s own identity and have agency over one’s own life course.

• Examine the dignity interests involved in matters pending with the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware and apply those concepts through the lens of American jurisprudence.

• Clinical work includes investigation through interviews and freedom-ofinformation act requests, drafting formal and informal discovery, and advancing dignity-based legal arguments through written and oral advocacy.

• Limited to eveningdivision students, the clinic provides people in underserved populations with pro bono estate planning assistance that includes wills, advanced directives, and durable powers of attorney.

• Interview clients about their estates, draft estate planning documents that reflect clients’ preferences, and educate them about the process.

• Weekly seminar offers training in client interviewing; education on working with vulnerable populations; and discussion of substantive, procedural and ethical problems encountered in clinical work.

Contact: Professor Erin Daly

Contact: Professor Dwayne Bensing

Contact: Professor Jacki Chacona

Contact: Professor Jessica Auletta

Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Clinic • Students are certified by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to represent indigent clients charged with misdemeanor crimes in Chester County, PA. • Play a leading role in securing the best possible outcome for clients: conduct interviews and investigations, negotiate with prosecutors, and defend clients before judges at hearings.

• Ideal for students interested in criminal law or exploring whether litigation suits their interests.

Contact: Professor Romie Griesmer

Contact: Professor Jennifer Morrell dlvlc@widener.edu 302-477-2090

EXTERNSHIP PROGRAMS The Josiah Oliver Wolcott Fellowship • The only fellowship program in American legal education that offers students an opportunity to serve as a clerk for the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery • Awarded to a select group of top-preforming students each year, this prestigious fellowship also provides academic credit and a scholarship grant (6 credits per semester for a full academic year)

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS

The Honorable Scott W. Reid Federal Court Fellowship

Public Interest Externship Program

Judicial Externship Program

Placements include:

Placements include:

• Awarded to one student each year, this prestigious fellowship places them in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

• Opportunities for criminal practice experience in prosecution and public defense offices

• The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals

• Legal office of Local 1776 Food & Commercial Workers • Legal offices of immigration agencies

• Specialty courts such as the Delaware Court of Chancery and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court

• Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

• Summer placements around the world

• The Fellow works closely with U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott W. Reid, participating in a variety of federal proceedings, and tasked to perform many duties required of judicial law clerks • The Fellow receives experiential and academic credit (up to 6 credits per semester for a full academic year)

• Medical Legal Partnership • Eviction Defense Project

• State trial courts in four states in the region

Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program • Exchange ideas and perceptions about crime, justice, the criminal justice system, corrections, and imprisonment with incarcerated students.

• The relationships that develop between the students are key to the reimagining of our system, a core goal of the program.

Contact: Professor Romie Griesmer

Public Interest Resource Center • Engage in volunteer (pro bono) legal public service work.

(Participants do not earn academic credit.)

• Build legal skills while giving back to the community.

• Earn the Pro Bono Distinction award at graduation.

• PIRC does not provide direct legal services.

Contact: Professor Cathy Zwolak Kilian

GET IN

TOUCH.

Dana Harrington Conner Associate Dean of Experiential Learning

SEEKING LEGAL HELP? Call DVLS at 302-478-8680 or visit www.dvls.org.

4601 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE, 19803-0474 delawarelaw.widener.edu