The Domestic Violence Clinic is a one semester, four credit hour course in which students provide legal assistance to clients who experience interpersonal violence. Students work under the supervision of clinical faculty and perform all of the traditional functions of a civil attorney, including interviewing and counseling clients, conducting legal research, developing case theories, engaging in discovery and motion practice, negotiating with opposing counsel, drafting pleadings and other legal documents, presenting oral arguments in court, and taking appropriate cases to trial and appeal, if warranted. Readings, classroom lectures, simulations and videos complement live civil practice. Students are required to spend 10 hours per week in the clinic office, in addition to two classroom sessions per week.
Course Material:
Texts, Fall 2009:
Advanced Domestic Violence Clinic, LAWN 9950 001 - No text required
Domestic Violence Clinic, LAWN 9940 001 -Domestic Violence and the Law: Theory and Practice Schneider, Hanna, Greenberg & Dalton, 2nd Edition, 2008 ISBN - 9781599410289, WEST Law
Domestic Violence Seminar, LAWP 9000 003 - Domestic Violence and the Law: Theory and Practice Schneider, Hanna, Greenberg & Dalton, 2nd Edition, 2008 ISBN - 9781599410289, WEST Law
First Assignments:
Tuesday, August 25 – Introduction, Overview and Foundations
Andrea Dworkin, What Battery Really Is, Letters from a War Zone, 329-334 (1989).
Text, pp. 4-37.Thursday, August 27 – Clinic Orientation and Initial Case Assignments
Shattered Lives II: Report of 2007 Domestic Violence-Related Fatalities in Lucas County, Ohio
