When you enroll in one of William Mitchell s eight client-representation clinics, you will represent real people in real cases that affect lives. Clinics offer you the chance to learn and practice the professional techniques and ethical judgment you will need as a lawyer. Clinics allow students to integrate legal theory and lawyering skills with a living, breathing person, in a real-life situation.
Students often think counseling a client requires only knowledge of the law and common sense.
But in the clinics they find that judgment and wise interaction are essential. Intense emotional issues arise, requiring the lawyer to play roles beyond legal expert - counselor, advocate, warrior, concerned citizen, student, teacher, and sometimes friend. And students encounter other realities of lawyering that are difficult to simulate, such as dealing with a crabby or biased judge, or doing the right thing ethically when it may cost them or their client a real loss. The goals of the clinical program are to educate students to be better lawyers, to develop ethical judgment, to have a deeper understanding of the institutions of justice, and to provide community service. William Mitchell students handle more than 400 legal matters a year for clients, most of whom can t afford to pay attorneys.