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Prosecution Clinics
Missoula County Attorney's Office
County Courthouse
Supervising Attorneys: Jennifer
Clark, Suzy Boylan
Faculty Supervisor:
Professor Peggy Tonon
406.243.5597
peggy.tonon@umontana.edu
Academic Year only – Maximum of 4 students
The Missoula County Attorney's office is located at the County Courthouse. Clinical students assigned to the Missoula County Attorney's Office deal with a variety of criminal and civil matters. The students represent the State of Montana as the prosecutors in traffic and other misdemeanor cases in the Justice Courts or on appeal of these cases in District Court. In these cases, the students make use of the lawyering skills of interviewing and preparing witnesses, building a case file, negotiating case resolutions with other lawyers, law students or pro se defendants, legal writing when responding to motions, and the litigation skills needed in jury and non-jury trials. Students also have the opportunity to assist members of the County Attorney’s staff in felony cases in the District Court by preparing written briefs on motions, handling pre-trial hearings, or sitting second chair at trial. Students also often represent the State in driver’s license suspension cases in District Court. In addition to the litigation experience, students handle the bulk of the questions from the public which are addressed to the County Attorney’s Office in the areas of landlord-tenant and consumer relations.
Although the focus of the clinic is primarily in the area of criminal law, students may have the opportunity to work under the supervision of several attorneys in the office in the areas of public health, mental commitments, juvenile justice, child welfare, or land-use planning. Students must spend time in the County Attorney’s Office above-and beyond their litigation time handling questions from the public. Students will be expected to work the entire school year, with a minimum of 2 credits per semester. Students will also be expected to attend two full days of training prior to the start of the fall semester before beginning work at the clinic.
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