Court Opinion

ID: 9424927
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:13:12.955099+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:52.850569
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Brennan,
with whom Mr. Justice Douglas and Mr. Justice Stewart join, concurring.
I join the opinion of the Court and add only an observation upon its discussion of legal resources, ante, at 37 n. 7. Law students as well as practicing attorneys may provide an important source of legal representation for the indigent. The Council on Legal Education for Professional Responsibility (CLEPR) informs us that more than 125 of the country’s 147 accredited law schools have established clinical programs in which faculty-supervised students aid clients in a variety of civil and criminal matters.* CLEPR Newsletter, May 1972, p. 2. These programs supplement practice rules enacted in 38 States authorizing students to practice law under prescribed conditions. Ibid. Like the American Bar Association’s Model Student Practice Rule (1969), most of these regulations permit students to make supervised *41court appearances as defense counsel in criminal cases. CLEPR, State Rules Permitting the Student Practice of Law: Comparisons and Comments 13 (1971). Given the huge increase in law school enrollments over the past few years, see Ruud; That Burgeoning Law School Enrollment, 58 A. B. A.J. 146 (1972), I think it plain that law students can be expected to make a significant contribution, quantitatively and qualitatively, to the representation of the poor in many areas, including cases reached by today’s decision.

A total of 57 law schools have also established clinical programs in corrections, where law students, under faculty supervision, aid prisoners in the preparation of petitions for post-conviction relief. CLEPR Newsletter, May 1972, p. 3. See United States v. Simpson,. 141 U. S. App. D. C. 8, 15-16, 436 F. 2d 162, 169-170 (1970).