May/June 1999 IN THIS ISSUE: Service Learning Outdoor Studies Journalism Law |
Real Clients, Helping real clients with real problems: That could be the motto of the UM law school’s clinical program, an internship experience students must complete before they can graduate and become practicing lawyers. With help from professors and supervising attorneys on and off campus, third-year law students provide legal assistance to clients in a variety of areas, including civil and criminal defense and prosecution, disability law, Native American rights, environmental and natural resource law, mediation, judicial law and public interest law. Constrained by a lack of time and money and a rigorous class schedule, students work mainly in Missoula and nearby counties. However, some of the clinics have a statewide scope, such as the Criminal Defense Project, the Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, the Office of General Council for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Natural Resource Law Clinic. Practical experience “Clinics are both opportunties for service and a way for students to develop their legal skills,” says Mary Helen McNeal, associate professor and director of the clinical program. “They are opportunities for students to examine the larger role of lawyers in society, as well as an individual lawyer’s role in a particular clinic.” At the Montana Legal Services office in Missoula, for example, up to a dozen law students spend at least 10 hours a week — and often much more — from September to May representing low-income people in civil cases. Interns work one-on-one with clients who cannot afford other representation, helping sort out legal tangles and representing them in administrative court. Many cases involve family law, especially claims of domestic violence or child custody disputes. Students also handle conflicts arising over housing, public benefits, consumer rights and even, as Legal Services managing attorney Klause Sitte says, “cases of classic injustice,” where someone has been grossly mistreated by the system. Sitte has been with Legal Services for 26 years and has mentored several current UM law faculty. His primary goal, he says, is to instill in students a philosophy of pro bono representation for those in need. “Most students won’t go on to be legal service lawyers,” Sitte says, “but when they are called upon to take on such cases from time to time, they will understand the need and do so willingly.” His other goal, of course, is to serve clients, whose cases often are extremely time-consuming. The Legal Services Association is the only organization in the state that serves low-income clients. Ninety-five percent of its funding comes from the national Legal Services Corp., whose budget is set by Congress. Another 4 percent comes from a trust fund administered by the Montana Law Foundation, and about 1 percent comes from individual donations and other sources. Montana has 11 Legal Services offices, but severe federal budget cutbacks in 1996 reduced the number of lawyers and support staff in those offices almost by half. As a result, Sitte says, for every five people who call the office hotline, only two end up as fully represented clients. Twenty-five thousand people in the Missoula area qualify for legal services. While not everyone has legal problems, about 1,500 people call the office every year, and currently 600 open cases are on the books. Student enrichment Sometime at the end of their second year, law students pick three out of a possible 15 clinics. For the most part “the students get very excited” about their work in the real world, says McNeal. “They get experiences they would never have had otherwise.” For Sasha Brownlee, working in the county attorney’s office was by far the best experience of law school. “It was a trial by fire,” she says, but worth it for all the courtroom experience she gained. Brownlee and fellow interns received a short orientation on basic procedures, then were given their own caseload to follow. Her responsibilities included looking over the charges and talking to police officers involved, sending out witness and evidence lists, looking at statutes to determine a plea and going to trial. “I love following a case and finding out what happens,” she says. “It’s great to get out and meet judges, other lawyers and officers. You come to understand the realities of the system.” “Clinics are on-the-job training,” agrees Dave Gordon, an intern in the Indian Law Clinic and a member of the Blackfeet tribe. Located at the law school, people call or drop by the clinic with a wide range of questions concerning Native Americans and the law. The clinic tries to focus on issues of broad import for tribes, such as access to culturally important sites on federal land or natural resource use, but it also advises on individual matters such, as wills and child welfare cases. Over the years Gordon says the clinic has become a clearinghouse of information for tribes. He gets daily calls from tribal judges or other representatives needing help with research or asking for copies of various cases and decisions. He and fellow intern John Harrison also have spent time working through the Native American Law Association on campus to educate the public about the law as it pertains to tribes. “If you want to make a difference, you have to get involved with the system,” Gordon says. “If we are going to preserve traditions and ways of life, we have to be legally trained.” Through participation in clinics dealing with real-world situations, McNeal says law students have a chance to consider the ethical aspects of legal practice in a setting where they still have time to step back and consider the best ways to be a lawyer. “They can ask ‘What is my obligation to my client and to the community as a whole?’” she says. “After all, lawyers should do more than just litigate.” -- Caroline Lupfer Kurtz |
