Participation in the Fellowship is contingent upon admission to the District of Columbia Bar. Jim Smith, Abbe Smith, and Robert Lominack. New fellows register at the Law Center in mid-August. The first five weeks of the program are devoted to an intense, comprehensive study of criminal law, procedure, evidence, and trial practice. Thereafter, the fellows represent indigent clients in criminal cases in the local courts of the District of Columbia.
Fellows begin with misdemeanor cases and later move on to felony appointments.
All trial work is under close supervision of Professors John Copacino and Abbe Smith, both of whom have substantial experience in the trial of criminal cases. The fellows are supported by a professional investigator and interns in the Clinic's Investigative Internship Program. At the beginning of the second year, the fellows substantially reduce the number of new cases they accept and assume major responsibility for the supervision of students in the Criminal Justice Clinic and the Juvenile Justice Clinic. In these clinics, third-year law students represent defendants in misdemeanor and juvenile proceedings. The fellows also bear some of the responsibility for classroom instruction in the clinics.