Clinics
Barton Child Law & Policy Clinic
Established in 2000 in partnership with the Barton Foundation, the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic at Emory University offers students practical experiences in child advocacy work. The Clinic was established to provide research-based information, training, and policy analysis to practitioners and policy-makers charged with protecting Georgias children. Students from a variety of disciplines refine their advocacy and research skills while evaluating and shaping policies impacting abused and neglected children in Georgia. Students experience the many facets of advocacy as they work closely with child welfare professionals, community leaders, attorneys, judges, grassroots community groups, members of the press, and elected officials. The Clinic does not represent individual clients, so students work on policy issues rather than cases. Requests for assistance come from the groups listed above, as well as those working in the Clinic and the Clinics Advisory Board. The work ranges from researching legislation in other states and drafting model statutes for Georgia, to working with a statistician from the School of Public Health to evaluate the effects of social service agency policies, to presenting information about community resources at a neighborhood association meeting. To apply click here.
Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic
The Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic gives law students the opportunity to represent clients in delinquency and status offense proceedings in Georgia’s juvenile courts. Pursuant to Georgia’s third-year practice rule, under the supervision of the clinic’s managing attorney the students are responsible for handling all aspects of client representation. As such, students establish an attorney-client relationship with their client, direct case strategy determinations, investigate allegations, interview witnesses, negotiate dispositions, prepare and litigate motions, and try cases. Additionally, the juvenile defender clinic is committed to a holistic approach to representing its young clients. Accordingly, students provide legal advocacy in the areas of school discipline, special education, mental health and public benefits. Students may also participate in policy work related to juvenile justice issues. To apply click here.
Indigent Criminal Defense Clinic
Indigent Criminal Defense Clinic is a three-credit semester long clinic where student-attorneys handle actual misdemeanor cases from arraignment to final disposition. ICDC offers student-attorneys the opportunity to function as the client’s lawyer. While student-attorneys consult and benefit from the supervision of the clinic director; they are responsible for establishing a trusting and effective attorney/client relationship, developing case strategy, conducting investigation and discovery, and general case decision-making. Student-attorneys have the opportunity to litigate motions, conduct evidentiary hearings, negotiate dispositions, and try cases. Selected student-attorneys may continue in the clinic for a second semester with the Director’s approval.
Turner Environmental Law Clinic
Established in 1998 with a Turner Foundation grant, the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law offers a practical clinical education to the aspiring environmental attorney. By providing free legal assistance to individuals, community groups, and nonprofit organizations that seek to protect and restore the natural environment for the benefit of the public, the Clinic trains law students to be effective environmental attorneys with high ethical standards and a sensitivity to the natural environment. The Clinic provides intellectually stimulating, professionally challenging, and personally rewarding instruction by granting students a real world look at the practice of environmental law. In addition to performing common law school tasks, such as writing legal memoranda, briefs, and pleadings, students in the Clinic participate in client meetings, depositions, negotiations, and the development of case strategy. Students also work on legislative and policy issues, on both the local and the state level. Professional responsibility and ethics become first hand knowledge as students interact on a regular basis with clients, community groups, government personnel, and opposing counsel. To apply click here.