Washburn Law Clinic

The Pathway To Practice

Photograph: Clinic faculty working with students.Law school classes provide an important educational foundation for students preparing to enter the legal profession. Clinical experience provides students the opportunity to apply this classroom knowledge in a professional and practical learning environment by representing real clients in real cases.

Students enrolled in the Washburn Law Clinic are not merely law clerks performing support work. Rather, Law Clinic interns receive special permission from the Kansas Supreme Court to practice law and represent clients in court. This valuable opportunity gives clinic students an advantage in the marketplace because by the time they graduate, they have already acquired real world experience. While Clinic interns are becoming effective lawyers, they are also providing free legal services to members of the community who cannot afford to hire private attorneys.

"During the interview for my current job, my boss pointed out that having clinic experience was important and helpful, and a big reason why she wanted to interview me. I already knew what pleadings should look like, I had been in court before, and I had met with clients and dealt with opposing counsel. The truth is I didn't realize how valuable my clinic experience was until I started working."
Claudia Weaver
Class of 2007,
December 2006 Graduate
Cordell & Cordell, P.C.
Overland Park, Kansas

The Washburn Clinical Program is structured so that students have primary responsibility for their clients' cases. Interns

Students also present appeals to the Kansas Court of Appeals, Kansas Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Clinic faculty members supervise each student individually to ensure that every case activity is thoroughly planned, executed and then evaluated by the student and the faculty supervisor. The faculty also team teach a clinical skills class, using simulation, discussion and lecture to augment the Clinic learning experience. Topics include interviewing and counseling, applicable substantive law and procedures, case planning and strategic decision making, professional ethics and values, and negotiation skills.

The Washburn Law Clinic functions as an in-house general practice law firm, providing representation in practice concentration areas such as Family Law, Juvenile Law, Criminal Law, Native American Law, Civil Law, Appellate Defense, and Transactional Law. Regardless of the subject matter of the clinic cases, the skills that students acquire through their clinical experience are transferable to future practice.

Experiential education at Washburn is supplemented by a rich externship program which offers a wide array of practical learning opportunities. The Clinic experience is further enhanced by two of the School's Centers for Excellence: the Center for Excellence in Advocacy and the Children and Family Law Center. The Clinic plays a vital role in both programs.

Washburn University School of Law
Law Clinic
1700 SW College
Topeka, KS 66621
785-670-1191
clinic [at] washburnlaw.edu