Washburn Law Clinic
"The Clinic is by far the single greatest educational experience of my law school career. Even before I graduated, I had the legal experience that not many law school graduates can claim — I had successfully completed a jury trial, a bench trial, successfully negotiated diversions, worked out numerous plea deals, taken depositions, filed complex motions, argued for those motions, and handled matters in district court." — Tai Vokins, Class of 2008
Although many schools boast clinical programs, the Washburn Law Clinic differs from most programs. Many schools' clinical programs are just externships. While Washburn Law has a vibrant externship program as well, our live-client clinic offers an expanded practical experience.
There is no substitute for hands-on or practical experience. That’s why for nearly 40 years, the Washburn Law Clinic has made it possible for our students to practice law before they graduate. Our clinic interns, under the close supervision of faculty, represent real clients in matters of criminal law, family law, juvenile law, tribal law, civil law, appellate defense practice, and transactional law. Many schools’ clinical programs are just externships. While Washburn Law has a strong externship program as well, our clinic offers an expanded practical experience.
The Law Clinic operates as a working law firm, staffed by upper-level law students and full-time faculty members trained in clinical education. To ensure that interns obtain the maximum benefit from their clinical experience, the Law Clinic intentionally keeps its student-faculty ratio low. In addition, the clinic has a graduate student in residence from Washburn University’s School of Social Work. The collaboration with a social worker brings an interdisciplinary perspective that teaches interns how to work with allied professionals and best meet their clients’ needs.
Making a Difference
Students enrolled in the Law Clinic are granted special permission from the Kansas Supreme Court to practice law and represent individuals who otherwise could not afford legal counsel. By applying their legal skills, clinic interns also provide a valuable public service. Litigation clinic interns counsel clients, investigate case-related facts, draft pleadings, argue motions, negotiate with opposing counsel, and appear at hearings and trials. In the Small Business and Transactional Law Clinic (Transactional Clinic), upper-level law students provide business and legal assistance to small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Topeka and surrounding areas. Transactional Clinic interns develop skills in business counseling and transactional law. They provide counsel on choosing type of business entity and form of organization; structuring the formation, operation, and governance of small businesses and nonprofits; and contract negotiations and drafting.
Hands-on Skills
Clinic interns also attend clinical skills seminars, which use discussion, simulation, and lecture to augment their hands-on learning experience. These seminars, which are team-taught by clinic faculty, emphasize professional ethics, client interviewing and counseling, strategic planning, and negotiating skills. Students then apply these skills to their real-life cases and projects in the Law Clinic.
Thanks to the clinic’s learn-by-doing approach, Washburn Law students already have some experience under their belts before they graduate. They know the challenge of arguing a complex legal issue to a judge or making a closing argument to a jury. They have experienced deposing an expert witness or cross-examining a hostile witness during trial and the satisfaction of representing and counseling real clients in the service of justice.
