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Courses

Indiana Law students can build their own plan of study by taking classes from a number of different areas, or they can choose an area of focus.

B539 Lawyering in the Public Interest

Description This is a skills-based class on lawyering in the public interest to be held in Washington, D.C, for third year students only. The course will focus on the kinds of activities in which lawyers practicing in the area are often engaged. This would include, for example: (1) preparing comments on proposed agency rules; (2) filing petitions and FOIA#s with agencies; (3) preparing analyses of pending legislation for clients; and (4) developing legislative strategies and drafting talking points and proposed amendments to give to Members of Congress or their staffs. While some exercises will be common to all students in the class, an effort will be made to have the students complete each exercise in the context of the organization for which they are working (for example, to focus on a piece of proposed legislation or regulation that would affect that organization). Assuming a large enough cohort in the class, sessions will be arranged to have alumni meet with the students to discuss insights/practice tips they have gained from experience (for example, working issues on the Hill). The objectives for this class are, among others, to: (1) offer a capstone experience for students committed to public interest legal careers; (2) explore the skills relevant to practice in this kind of setting; (3) provide a forum to explore the intellectual and academic links to the students# experiential learning; (4) bridge the transition from law student to practicing lawyer by providing 3Ls with experiential opportunities at the same time they are further honing legal skills they will use immediately as they move into practice; and (5) enhance students# chances at permanent employment in public interest positions. This course combines with clinical/externship experiences at an agency (B538) and an independent research project with a faculty member to add up to a full semester of credit.

Note This course satisfies the professional skills requirement.

Faculty A. Barnes, Hughes