Applying to Criminal Appellate Advocacy Clinic

Criminal Appellate Advocacy (LW 903 — 3 credit hours) is typically offered each semester. Randall Hodgkinson, working in a cooperative agreement between Washburn University School of Law and the Kansas Appellate Defender Office (the appellate public defender office for Kansas), teaches the course. Each student will work, under the supervision of Professor Hodgkinson, on two actual felony criminal appeals assigned to the Kansas Appellate Defender Office. There is a lecture component to this class, although the bulk of the time will be spent by the students going through the records on appeal and preparing his or her clients' briefs that will, under faculty supervision, be filed in the Kansas Court of Appeals.

In the past students have worked on various types of cases: drugs, aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, forgery, and robbery — basically most types of felony cases that are assigned to the Appellate Defender Office. Students have won several cases, obtaining relief for their clients ranging from reduced sentences to new trials to outright reversal of convictions.

If a student is admitted to practice under the student intern rule (Rule 719), he or she can also sign the briefs. Rule 719 admission is not a prerequisite. Because this course deals with real clients and real cases, it is very deadline intensive.

This class is very appropriate for persons who are interested in criminal law (either prosecution or defense) and/or litigation and advocacy in general (trial or appellate). This class does satisfy the upper level writing requirement.

Conflict of Interest

Conflict of interests policies affecting the other clinical practice areas do not apply to the Criminal Appellate Advocacy Clinic because this course operates independently from the other in-house clinics.