Clinics—In-House Clinics

Educational Objectives

The following are the primary educational objectives of the Land Use Clinic:

Responsibility. There is perhaps no other single attribute that is more important to the successful practice of law (in whatever form) than responsibility. The lawyer must be willing and able to accept the trust and responsibility that a client bestows. Responsibility demands that the lawyer act with diligence in pursuing the client’s matter; that the lawyer act honestly and with integrity, and that the lawyer fulfill her obligation to keep the client informed of the status of the project. One goal of the Land Use Clinic is to teach students to accept and assume responsibility for matters of importance to real clients. Students must figure out how to balance the demands of their clients’ projects and deadlines against all the other demands on the student’s time. Students must decide how and how often to keep their clients informed of the status of projects and students must appreciate the time constraints and deadlines faced by their clients who are depending on them. Students in the Land Use Clinic will be given significant authority over their assigned projects–they need to exercise that authority responsibly.

Problem-Solving. Clients generally seek legal advice because they have a problem that needs solving or a task that needs to be accomplished. Despite what law school exams might suggest, clients don’t come to lawyers with “legal issues,” they come with problems or tasks. The effective lawyer recognizes that his job is to solve the client’s problem or to complete the task the client has identified. Particularly in the Land Use Clinic, many of the projects will present students with the opportunity to identify and evaluate alternative means to address the client’s concern or accomplish the client’s objective. The clinical setting provides the opportunity for brainstorming and exploration of alternatives that might be difficult within the normal pressures of real practice. This is an opportunity for students to develop good habits for thinking creatively and innovatively. Group project reviews are designed to provide a forum for exploring and testing different approaches and theories.

Organization. Effective and efficient lawyers are well organized. Both for the student’s own sake and for the sake of others working on projects with the student, students will need to organize their efforts and their work product.

Collaboration. In practice, many lawyers work on cases and projects with a team–perhaps a team of lawyers from the same office–each with a different specialty, or they work with other technical experts. Unlike most other law school clinics, nearly all projects in the Land Use Clinic will be handled by a team of students–sometimes all law students and sometimes a combination of law students and graduate students. Learning to coordinate schedules, agree on allocating work, fulfilling assigned responsibilities and communicating with other members of the team are all part of operating successfully in the Land Use Clinic.

Dealing With Non-Lawyers. Before coming to law school, most law students knew little about the law. Now, we find that many third-year law students and young lawyers have difficulty explaining legal concepts to non-lawyers. The Land Use Clinic provides students opportunities to explain sometimes very complex legal doctrines and issues to planners, elected and appointed officials and the general public. Lawyers need to know how to explain these concepts to laypersons clearly and succinctly–without being condescending. This may sound simple–but it is a skill many practicing lawyers still have not mastered.

Doctrine and Institutions. The Land Use Clinic also has as one of its objectives teaching students about land use law and the public institutions that implement land use law. Students who complete the Land Use Clinic (along with the Land Use Planning Law course) should emerge with a solid understanding of land use law. They also should gain a substantial understanding of how elected officials, appointed boards, developers and property owners and the general public interface on land use issues.

Service. Like all of our clinics, the Land Use Clinic has as one of its objectives performing a public service. Students in the clinic will see the extent to which our public institutions assigned responsibility for managing land use are overextended. These institutions, and the lawyers and planners who staff them, are generally overwhelmed with the magnitude of the tasks they face and they are woefully understaffed and underfunded. The Land Use Clinic provides important services that accomplish projects that local governments could not complete without the assistance of the Land Use Clinic.

• preparing a growth policy (comprehensive plan) for a town
• preparing a town’s first zoning ordinance
• revising a town’s subdivision regulations to comply with its growth policy
• developing an airport zoning district for a county
• developing an extensive land use management plan for a 56 mile long highway corridor, including working with the affected county governments and tribal government
• research and advice concerning impact fees
• research and advice concerning transfer of development rights
• preparation of draft legislation for consideration by the Montana Legislature
• revising a county’s subdivision regulations to comport with the county’s new growth policy
• revising a town’s floodplain ordinance
• investigation and research concerning bike trail options for a local government

What Past Students Say About Their Clinical Experience

“[What I like best about the Land Use Clinic] is the direct applied experience. Working with planners from Lake County and the Tribe has given me a flavor of the politics and challenges inherent in those positions. Walking through the mazes of developing land use policies has given me tremendous insight regarding the various constituencies and realities that must be considered in such a project.” Fall 2002.

“[The Land Use Clinic] takes learning out of the theoretical and into the practical.” Fall 2002

“Working with people outside the law school is the most rewarding experience in law school.” Fall 2001.

“Working with people not involved in the study of law provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce the purpose of this clinic. Standard law school classes do not proovide this interaction/feedback from ‘normal’ people.” Fall 2001.

“I think it is practically as well as theoretically one of the more valuable learning experiences I have had. I wish I had more time to spend on it.” Fall 2001.

“Clinic allowed me to apply my freshly developed lawyering skills to a real life application. Clinic was a welcome change from spending 4-5 hours/day in a classroom.” Spring 2001.

“Going into the clinic I had hoped to improve my research skills and assist communities in my home county. The clinic permitted me to accomplish both objectives.” Spring 2001.