Experiential Requirement

This externship focuses on the criminal justice system, throught placements with prosecutors' offices as well as defense offices. The field placement is complemented by an academic component, including several class meetings on campus and/or via videoconferencing. For specific details, please see the Externship Office staff and course syllabus.

Constitutional Criminal Procedure and Advocacy is an introductory course in Criminal Procedure that focuses entirely upon issues raised by pretrial law enforcement investigatory practices, the validity of which is measured principally by certain provisions of the Constitution of the United States, including the amendments thereto. The principal topics covered in this course are search and seizure, confessions, right to counsel, and the exclusionary rules.

This course examines processes for resolving civil disputes other than by court adjudication. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) introduces students to: (1) negotiation, mediation, arbitration and hybrid ADR processes; (2) legal, ethical and practical application issues presented by these processes; (3) ADR and dispute settlement confidentiality issues: and (4) the intersection of ADR processes and the judicial system. The course features a substantial skills development component.

Depositions; Presentation of Expert Witnesses Demand for Physical and Mental Examinations would be covered. In addition, a Discussion of the Objections, Sanctions, Protective Orders, and Motions to Compel, to restrict or force compliance with the discovery statutes. This would consist of 14 hours, 1 unit, course broken down over 4 days, at 3.5 hours per session.

The Removal Defense Clinic is designed to train students to represent low-income immigrants in immigration removal proceedings before the Executive Office of Immigration Review, including matters before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services where applicable. The clinic will focus its removal practice to cases in immigration court that involve the following forms of immigration relief: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Asylum, Withholding of Removal, Relief Under the Convention Against Torture, and Cancellation of Removal.

The Entertainment Law Firm Externship exposes students to various aspects of entertainment law through select field placements at law firms. Students who have demonstrated exceptional competency and interest in media and entertainment law are selected by the Biederman Entertainment and Media Law Institute for the Entertainment Law Firm Externship. The field placement is complimented by an academic component, including several class meetings on campus and/or via videoconferencing.

The Family Law Clinic provides pro bono advice, counsel and representation to clients of the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law (the "Center") in a variety of family law matters, including but not limited to domestic violence, division of property, visitation, custody, parentage, and child support matters. Students in this Clinic will learn lawyering skills and provide high quality legal assistance to a vulnerable and underserved population in a community-based learning environment.

Appellate Process and Brief Drafting provides students with additional instruction in appellate writing, strategy, and practice. Topics will include standing to appeal, the timing of an appeal, the extent of appellate review, and tips for effective appellate advocacy. Students will answer hypothetical fact patterns to test their understanding of these concepts. Students will also analyze various appellate briefs and opinions to further their understanding of what constitutes effective written appellate advocacy.

The Community Lawyering Clinic is a five-unit, graded semester course. There are no course prerequisites and no final examination. Interested students must submit an application and resume to Professor Julia Vazquez via the online student portal. Enrollment in the Clinic is limited. The Community Lawyering Clinic provides Southwestern Law Students ("students") with the opportunity to learn lawyering skills and provide high quality legal assistance to a vulnerable and underserved population in a community based learning environment.

This course is an overview of commonly used agreements in entertainment transactions and how those deals are negotiated and drafted. Students study characteristics of optimal contract language and the construction of written agreements that best reflect the intent of their signatories and impact beneficiaries and how entertainment-related contracts can be informed by various categories of law such as copyright, labor, tort, contract, international law, and collective bargaining agreements.