One-Semester Clinics
To apply for all clinics, please use the Clinic Application and Matching System (CAMS).
New York University School of Law offers the following semester-long clinics. Please select from the links at the left to learn more about each clinic.
Brennan Center Public Policy Advocacy Clinic
This clinic studies public policy advocacy in the context of the Brennan Center's work. Strategies and skills the clinic focuses on include: conducting policy analysis and research; engaging in coalition building and organizing; collecting and analyzing opinion data; drafting and negotiating laws and rules; conducting lobbying; developing public education plans and using media effectively; fundraising; and running a nonprofit organization. All students will do fieldwork at the Brennan Center, in one of the Center's main program areas: Democracy (campaign finance reform, elections and voting rights, fair courts, and responsive government) and Justice (access to justice, economic justice, criminal justice, and liberty and national security). (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Business Law Transactions Clinic
Students in the Business Law Transactions Clinic will provide legal services to senior leaders of operating nonprofit organizations with budgets of approximately $300,000 and larger, on matters relating to nonprofit organizations’ business needs, including contracts and corporate governance work. The students’ work will include planning transactions and drafting contracts, memoranda of understanding, leases, promissory notes, employment agreements and other operating agreements; advising executives and boards on governance and disclosure practices; reviewing and preparing bylaws, conflict-of-interest, investment, social media and other board policies and materials, and employee manuals, committee charters; and developing analytical, planning, editorial and counseling skills in the context of client projects and reality-grounded class work; planning transactions; drafting contracts and other operating agreements; and preparing work plan and other project documents. We have a weekly two-hour seminar, which will focus on the business lawyer’s multiple roles in supporting the clinic’s field work. We also meet regularly throughout the semester on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM and additional times during the week as the client work requires. Taught by adjunct professors Stephanie Abramson and Sean Delany. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Children's Rights Clinic
This course will examine the legal and ethical issues, and the unique skills involved, in representing adolescent clients, The seminar focuses in particular on child welfare proceedings. Students will do their fieldwork in one of 3 different organizations that specialize in representing youth in civil matters of various sorts: Advocates for Children, The Door, and The Juvenile Rights Practice of the Legal Aid Society. Taught by adjunct professor Jacqueline Deane. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Community Development and Economic Justice Clinic
The focus of this clinic is the provision of legal services to grass-roots organizations that engage in a variety of community development, economic justice and social justice efforts. Students will perform fieldwork with attorneys from the Community Development Project (CDP) of the Urban Justice Center, and provide legal services to CDP’s clients throughout New York City. Taught by Professor Paula Galowitz and adjunct professor Nicole Hallett, an attorney from the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center. (Offered Spring 2014)
Comparative Criminal Justice Clinic: Focus on Domestic Violence
(Not offered 2013-14)
This clinic offers students the opportunity (1) to compare and contrast different nations’ uses of criminal prosecution to combat domestic violence, (2) to develop a critical analysis of the advantages and limitations of various criminal justice strategies, and (3) to work directly with clients in New York City, both complainants and defendants, who are involved in ongoing criminal cases. Taught by Professors Holly Maguigan and Shamita Das Dasgupta.
Constitutional Transitions Clinic and Colloquium: The Middle East Revolutions (for LL.M.s)
The Constitutional Transitions Clinic and Colloquium: The Middle East Revolutions is a joint project of Constitutional Transitions and the Cairo office of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an intergovernmental organization that supports sustainable democracy worldwide, with 27 member states. IDEA’s mission is to support sustainable democratic change by providing comparative knowledge, and assisting in democratic reform, and influencing policies and politics. Taught by Professor Sujit Choudhry. (Offered Fall 2013)
Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic
Students in the clinic, which is operated in conjunction with the Office of the Appellate Defender, represent criminal defendants in appeals of their felony convictions in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. There may also be opportunities for students to challenge convictions by means of a motion to vacate the conviction in New York County and Bronx County Supreme Courts. Taught by adjunct professors Eunice Lee and Rosemary Herbert. (Offered Spring 2014)
Environmental Law Clinic
Students work out of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national, non-profit legal and scientific organization, assisting attorneys in bringing public interest environmental litigation. The students also join in a weekly seminar at which current environmental policy issues, environmental litigation and legal advocacy strategies are discussed. Taught by adjunct professors Eric A. Goldstein and Nancy S. Marks. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Equal Justice and Defender Clinic
This clinic, taught by Professors Bryan Stevenson and Randy Susskind, provides representation to death row prisoners in Alabama postconviction proceedings, juveniles sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and assists in the development and implementation of impact litigation through the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Students take the clinic for 14 credits and spend a substantial portion of the semester in Alabama conducting research, case investigation, developing mitigation, interviewing clients, witnesses, jurors and family members, and preparing legal pleadings which are filed in state and federal court. (Offered Fall 2013)
Global Justice Clinic
The Global Justice Clinic explores how human rights law can be brought to bear on situations of global injustice. Working on cases and projects that involve cross-border human rights violations, the deleterious impacts of extraterritorial activities by state and non-state actors, and emerging problems that require close collaboration between actors at the local and international levels, students engage in human rights advocacy in domestic and international settings. Fieldwork consists of projects undertaken for or in collaboration with individual clients, human rights organizations in the United States and abroad, and intergovernmental human rights experts and bodies (including the United Nations). Fieldwork focuses on issues related to global injustice such as: economic and social rights; human rights, national security, and counter-terrorism; transnational corporate accountability; weapons development; and the human rights of marginalized groups. These projects give students an opportunity to assist in formulating policy, research, and legal responses to cross-border human rights problems. Taught by Professor Meg Satterthwaite. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Government Civil Litigation Clinic - Eastern District of New York
Students will work closely with Civil Division Assistant United States Attorneys in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. The U.S. Attorney's Office (EDNY) is committed to providing meaningful opportunities to students to gain experience with and exposure to federal civil litigation by and on behalf of the United States and its agencies in a broad range of affirmative and defensive cases seeking monetary and/or injunctive relief. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Government Civil Litigation Clinic - Southern District of New York
Students are placed in the Civil Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where they work closely with Assistant United States Attorneys representing the federal government on a wide range of defensive and affirmative civil litigation matters, including civil rights, employment discrimination, fraud, environmental, tax/bankruptcy, and tort cases. Taught by an adjunct professor from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Immigrant Defense Clinic
Students will work at the Legal Aid Society's Immigration Law Unit, which specializes in the intersection between criminal and immigration law. The Unit staff handles a wide range of cases in which detained and non-detained non-citizens contest removal/deportation from the United States because of criminal convictions or immigration violations, and apply for various forms of relief including cancellation of removal and asylum. Taught by adjunct professors Yvonne Floyd-Mayers and Jojo H. Annobil. (Offered Spring 2014)
International Environmental Law Clinic
Students research and draft laws and regulations, legal and policy positions, and analysis on international and comparative environmental law issues. Clients include public interest environmental groups in the US and abroad, UN and other international organizations, and developing country governments. Taught by Professors Richard Stewart and Bryce Rudyk. (Offered Spring 2014)
International Organizations Clinic
The challenges of global governance are increasingly addressed by regulatory regimes established or overseen by international organizations. These organizations vary significantly in their size, focus, approach, and the powers they exercise. The academic dimension of this clinic aims to introduce students to a range of legal, political and regulatory theories that help us to understand the role and functioning of these organizations and to appreciate the relevance of inter-disciplinary perspectives to law in global settings. Core lawyering skills (legal research, the ability to integrate factual and legal knowledge, analytical and reasoning skills, and the exercise of judgment) matter a great deal in the practice of international law. The practical dimension of the clinic will give students an opportunity to work firsthand on, and in, these organizations, many of which are based in New York City. Taught by Professors Gráinne de Búrca and Angelina Fisher. (Offered Fall 2013)
The Legal Ethics Bureau at NYU Law School
Student projects will include: (a) ethics counseling to NYU’s own clinics and projects, to national and state public interest organizations, and to private lawyers handling public interest cases in which lawyer regulatory issues arise; (b) preparing research memos that will provide assistance to lawyers who are litigating claims of (e.g.) ineffective assistance of counsel in capital cases, prosecutorial or defense lawyer conflicts, and like issues; (c) assisting bar committees on ethics opinions, on proposed changes to the rules governing lawyers and judges, and on rule of law issues related to the professional responsibility of lawyers and judges worldwide; and, (d) preparing amicus briefs to appellate courts when significant legal ethics issues arise in selected cases, especially in the Supreme Court. Students will work with public interest lawyers in non-profit organizations and in law firms, and with members of professional and judicial ethics committees. Emphasis will be on practical skills including fact-gathering, counseling, and preparing effective oral and written presentations. Taught by adjunct professor Barbara Gillers. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Legislative and Regulatory Process Clinic
This is a new 14-credit clinic for 3Ls, who will spend the fall semester in Washington DC. Students will work four days a week in a federal agency or Congressional office, with classroom instruction on the fifth day. Placements within federal agencies will generally be in the General Counsel’s Office of regulatory agencies or related positions (e.g., the Office of the Administrator of EPA or OIRA); congressional placements will generally be in leadership offices, with committee staffs or non-partisan congressional agencies. The course work will focus on how the political institutions in Washington (Congress and the Executive Branch) interact, and the roles and obligations of lawyers in influencing that process. The clinic will provide practical experience with how lawyers support the development and implementation of public policy by assisting in defining the available options and identifying and resolving issues before they become the subject of legal contention or litigation. It will emphasize what lawyers do and what they need to know in the policy arena in order to provide effective legal counsel. The clinic will provide an understanding of government decision-making that will be important for those students intending to seek positions in the government and it will offer those heading to the private sector greater insight into the workings of government that often significantly affect their clients. Taught by Sally Katzen and Robert Bauer. (Offered Fall 2013)
LGBT Rights Clinic
Students will be given fieldwork placements in local non-profit organizations which represent LGBT individuals. The non-profits hosting students this semester are: Immigration Equality; the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund; the LGBT Project at the New York Legal Assistance Group; Sylvia Rivera Law Project; and Housing Conservation Coordinators. Substantive case work may involve: sexual orientation or gender identity-based asylum claims; discrimination claims; transgender documentation issues (such as correcting gender on a birth certificate); or housing succession claims. Additionally, all students will participate in at least one legal clinic held at the LGBT Community Center by The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Law Association of Greater New York (LeGaL) of New York. A seminar focusing on the unique legal issues faced by LGBT individuals completes the students’ work. Taught by adjunct professor Victoria Neilson. (Offered Spring 2014)
Litigation, Organizing and Systemic Change Clinic
How can institutions be inspired to respond to the needs of diverse communities and how do members of communities make their voices effectively heard? Clearly neither elections nor the free market make this happen in the absence of organized communities deploying a range of tactics and strategies. Social change lawyers need a flexible and deep base of knowledge and skills to support their clients. Students in this clinic will work with Make the Road New York – an ever-growing membership organization of over 12,000 low-income New Yorkers whose mission is to build the power of working class and Latino communities to achieve dignity and justice; and its national partner, The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), which builds organizing power and works to transform the local and state policy landscape through deep, long-term partnerships with leading community-based organizing groups nationwide. Through fieldwork with the two sister organizations, and coursework delving into civil litigation, policy negotiation and organizing, students will learn to envision and implement multidimensional social change strategies involving grassroots organizing, public policy advocacy and strategic litigation. The Fall clinic seminar is entitled LOSC Clinic Seminar: Major Concepts Applied and the co-requisite course is Civil Litigation, a simulation trial course. Co-taught by Professor Sarah E. Burns and adjunct professors Deborah Axt and Andrew Friedman. (Offered Fall 2013)
Mediation Clinic
First instituted in Fall 2004, the Mediation Clinic is designed to train students in the practice of mediation while also orienting students to major issues in the intersection between law and informal dispute resolution. After students participate in an intensive mediation training, they co-mediate in various venues including New York and New Jersey Small Claims courts, employment disputes referred by City agencies and NYU residence-related disputes. Third year students will have the opportunity to co-mediate foreclosure cases administered by the State of New Jersey Office of Dispute Settlement. Students will also be able to observe the mediation of complex state and federal court cases. Students will learn the application of mediation in diverse contexts and to contrast facilitative mediation with evaluative mediation often used to resolve complex commercial disputes. Taught by adjunct professors Ray Kramer and Eric R. Max. (Offered Fall 2013)
Mediation Clinic - Advanced: Dispute System Design
The advanced course is designed primarily to train students in dispute system design and provide experience working with a variety of organizations using mediation or other dispute system services in the New York and New Jersey. Building on core mediator principles and skills developed in the fall Mediation Clinic Seminar, students move from focusing on conflict at an individual dispute level, to examining conflict and varied responses to it at an organizational or institutional level. Fieldwork involves assisting client organizations in assessing, improving, evaluating or implementing mediation or dispute systems services, as well as continuing to mediate in a variety of venues. The Clinic is only open to students who have completed the Fall Mediation Clinic Seminar course in 2012 or 2013, or who have completed the Mediation simulation course, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Negotiation or had similar experiential training approved by the faculty. Taught by adjunct professors Ray Kramer and Daniel M. Weitz. (Offered Spring 2014)
Medical-Legal Advocacy Clinic
(Not offered 2013-14)
This Clinic employs a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to provide legal advocacy in a medical setting for clients referred by medical professionals. The clinic’s fieldwork is in collaboration with will be based at LegalHealth, a project that partners with medical professionals to offer legal clinics in medical facilities that provide free legal services for low-income people with serious health issues and to train health provide free legal services in medical facilities for low-income people with serious health issues and trains health care professionals on the legal issues affecting their patients. The fieldwork has a three-fold approach: direct client representation; education; and identifying and exploring a systemic health care issue. The direct representation part of the fieldwork will be working with LegalHealth in their legal clinics at the hospital site. Taught by Professor Paula Galowitz and adjunct professor Debra J. Wolf, an attorney with LegalHealth.
New York Civil Liberties Clinic
Students in the New York Civil Liberties Clinic spend a semester handling litigation with the New York Civil Liberties Union, including cases involving racial and economic justice, free speech, religious freedom, immigrants’ rights, women’s rights, and the rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people. The cases are all on the docket of adjunct professor Corey Stoughton at the NCYLU who, together with Professor Claudia Angelos of the full-time NYU faculty, supervises all the students’ work. Clinic students are responsible for their cases and clients and for the tasks that the litigation calls for, including making intake decisions, handling clients, case planning and strategy, taking depositions, drafting pleadings, and preparing and arguing motions. The clinic has dedicated workspace at the NYCLU and the students’ work is an important component of the NYCLU’s legal program. A seminar completes the students’ work in the clinic by taking a simulated civil rights case from initial client interview through settlement. (Offered Fall 2013)
Prosecution Clinic - Eastern District of New York
This clinic works out of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, prosecuting defendants in felony cases. Taught by adjunct professors Roger Burlingame and Marshall L. Miller. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Prosecution Clinic - Southern District of New York
Students are placed in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. They work with Assistant United States Attorneys representing the federal government in a wide range of criminal prosecutions, including white collar fraud, international and domestic narcotics trafficking, terrorism, organized crime, and public corruption cases. Taught by an adjunct professor from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Racial Justice Clinic
Students in the Racial Justice Clinic spend a semester working under the supervision of Professor Claudia Angelos and adjunct professor Vanita Gupta on cases brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which handles a broad range of racial justice issues nationwide. The work involves advocacy on issues that affect communities of color, including criminal justice, immigrants’ rights, education, school to prison pipeline, affirmative action, juvenile justice, poverty rights, voting rights, indigent defense, and national security/post-9/11 discrimination. Each clinic student participates fully in the team that is handling one of these cases and may engage in work ranging from initial investigation of a problem through the drafting of pleadings, participation in discovery, hearing preparation and negotiation. The clinic seminar includes a simulation program in pretrial skills and holds discussions of the issues raised by impact civil rights work and racial justice advocacy. (Offered Spring 2014)
Regulatory Policy Clinic
The Regulatory Policy Clinic gives students the opportunity to participate in regulatory proceedings before federal administrative agencies. Working with non-governmental organizations that focus on improving environmental, public health, and consumer protections, students will prepare petitions, draft public comments for informal rulemakings under the Administrative Procedure Act, and participate in administrative law litigation. Professor TBA. (Offered Fall 2013 and Spring 2014)
Tax Clinic
(Not offered 2013-14)
Students in this clinic will work in conjunction with tax lawyers at leading law firms to represent low-income taxpayers in cases before the U.S. Tax Court and in various administrative proceedings before the Internal Revenue Service. The fieldwork will be supplemented with weekly classroom discussions of the students' cases and address the procedural and strategic aspects of federal income tax controversy and litigation practice. Taught by adjunct professor Mark Allison.
Technology Law and Policy Clinic
(Not offered 2013-14)
The Technology Law and Policy Clinic focuses on the representation of individuals, nonprofits, and consumer groups who are engaged with these questions from a public interest point-of-view, including addressing free speech, privacy, public domain, and fair use issues. It involves a mixture of fieldwork and seminar discussion ranging from technology law and policy to the ethical challenges of representing public interest organizations. Taught by Visiting Professor Jason Schultz and adjunct professor Catherine Crump.