The direct representation clinic, open to third-year law students, is an in-house legal clinic dedicated to providing holistic legal representation for children in delinquency and status offense proceedings.  Student attorneys represent child clients in juvenile court and provide legal advocacy in the areas of school discipline, special education, mental health, and public benefits, when such advocacy is derivative of a client’s juvenile court case.  Students may also engage in research and participate in the development of public policy related to juvenile justice issues.

AFY, an Equal Justice Works project housed at the JDC, seeks systemic reform in Georgia through the provision holistic appellate representation of youthful offenders in our juvenile and criminal justice systems.  Second- and third-year students may work on cases involving (i) direct appeals from juvenile delinquency hearings, (ii) post-conviction relief for youth tried in the adult system due to Georgia’s automatic transfer provisions and / or (iii) school disciplinary suspensions or expulsions arising from delinquent or criminal activity.