Clinic Applications Overview
Introduction
All of our clinical courses combine work in the field with seminars and simulation exercises in which students' performances of various lawyers' activities are videotaped for critical review. Through these complementary activities, students develop systematic methods of learning from experience, as well as gain insight into a lawyer's functioning as advocate and counselor, investigator, negotiator, and planner. Legal ethics and professional responsibility in the practice of law are emphasized throughout these courses.
Some clinics are year-long, while some are offered for a single semester. The registration process for clinics differs from that of other law school courses in that one must pass through the application process first. Students may not be registered in a clinic without first applying for and being accepted into it by the instructor. Applications for all clinics - no matter when they are offered - are accepted only once per year. Students may apply to a maximum of three year-long clinics and a maximum of three semester-long clinics, for a total of six clinics. Students interested in the clinics outlined here should submit their application(s) online using the Clinic Application and Matching System (CAMS)
The deadline for JDs to submit application(s) is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 30, 2012. For those clinics which accept applications from LL.M.s, the deadlines for LL.M.s are later. See Application Instructions for details.
Guidelines for Clinical Courses
The faculty has promulgated the following guidelines for clinical and advocacy courses, in part to comply with New York Court of Appeals rules concerning the admission of attorneys:
• The clinical program strives to ensure that every student has an opportunity to take a clinic in their second or third year. Accordingly, when placing students in clinics, the clinical program will take into account whether the student is a 2L or 3L and whether s/he has previously had a clinic. Rising 3Ls who have not previously had a clinic will be accorded higher priority than other applicants. Rising 3Ls who took a year-long clinic or two semester-long clinics while in their second year of law school will be accorded lower priority than other applicants when being considered for another clinic in their third year of law school. The clinical program cannot ensure access to a particular clinic and so the clinical program's ability to place a student in a clinic will depend in part on the number of clinics to which the student applies. A student who applies to three or more clinics will have a better chance of getting into a clinic than students who apply only to a single clinic or two clinics.
• Matriculated students will be given priority over non-matriculated students for all clinical and advocacy courses.
• No student may register for more than one clinic in a term.
• Most of the courses described here offer a combination of academic credits and clinical credits. For purposes of the 83-credit requirement for graduation, all of a clinic's academic credits qualify and can be counted towards the 83 credits; up to 12 clinical credits can be devoted to the 83 credits needed for graduation. (Students are permitted to take more than 12 clinical credits, but the excess number above 12 will not count towards the graduation requirement.) For purposes of the Law School's rule that no more than 20 "non-classroom credits" can be allocated towards the graduation requirement, a clinic's "academic credits" qualify as "classroom credits" while the clinical credits are treated as "non-classroom credits." The “Adjunct Faculty Credit Cap,” which limits the number of adjunct-course credits that may count toward students’ degree requirements, does not apply to clinics taught by adjunct faculty. Questions about these requirements can be sent to Vice Dean Randy Hertz, at randy.hertz@nyu.edu.
• Clinical courses will in most cases require substantial amounts of time outside of usual course hours and at varying times. Students with substantial commitments to journals, outside activities, work or other responsibilities should satisfy themselves through discussion with the respective teachers that they will definitely have sufficient time for a clinical or advocacy program.
Important Dates for Clinic Applications
| Date | Item |
| February 24, 2012 | Clinic packet issued at 1PM. |
| March 2 | Clinic Fair held at Furman Hall, 3-5 PM |
| March 19 - 30 | Clinic Application Period. Application materials should be submitted online using CAMS. All materials are due by 5 PM on March 30. |
| March 19 - April 19 | Interviews conducted (for clinics that require them). |
| April 20 | Preferences must be submitted on CAMS by 5 PM. |
| May 9 | Students notified by e-mail whether or not they have been accepted into a clinic. |
| May 17 | Confirmation of students' intent to register must be received by 5 PM. |
http://www.law.nyu.edu//academics/clinics/applications/index.htm