Supreme Court Clinic

A Supreme Court Clinic is a law school clinic that provides hands-on legal experience in Supreme Court litigation to law students. Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors and experienced Supreme Court litigators and typically represent indigent or non-profit clients in the Supreme Court of the United States. Assistance is provided pro bono.

The Supreme Court Clinic at the Stanford Law School was founded in 2004. By March 2006, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear five cases the clinic helped file and declined to hear three. [cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/education/15stanford.html?ex=1300078800&en=166193a56fba80c8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss | publisher=The New York Times | title=Stanford Law Students Get Early Supreme Court Duty | author=Falcone, Michael | date=March 15 2006 | accessdate=2007-01-25]

The law schools at NYU, Yale, Harvard, UVA, Texas, and Northwestern also have Supreme Court Clinics. The Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at NYU School of Law was formed in Fall 2007. The Supreme Court Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law was formed in Fall 2004; the Yale Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic was formed in Fall 2006; and the University of Virginia Supreme Court Litigation Clinic was formed in Fall 2006. Harvard Law School announced that it will launch a Supreme Court Clinic in Fall 2007. [cite news | url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2007/01/30_ussc.php | title=Harvard Law School to launch Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Clinic]

Supreme Court clinics generally file amicus briefs ("friend of the Court briefs"); petitions for certiorari, which are formal requests to the Court to decide a case; and merits briefs, which are formal legal arguments presented to the Court after it as agreed to take a case. Typically, experienced Supreme Court litigators help run the clinics. It is these litigators who represent the clinics before the Court during oral arguments.

For instance, during OT 2006 the Yale Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic filed a merits brief, five amicus briefs, three petitions for certiorari, and three briefs in opposition to certiorari. The merits brief, filed in February 2007 [cite news | url=http://www.law.yale.edu/news/4113.htm | publisher=Yale Law School Press Release | title=YLS Supreme Court Clinic Submits Merits Brief in Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation Case | date=February 2 2007 | accessdate=2007-04-25] in Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, dealt with taxpayer standing to bring suit against the executive for funding the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

References

External links

* [http://www.yale.edu/supremecourtclinic Yale Law School Supreme Court Clinic]
* [http://www.law.stanford.edu/ Stanford Law School]
* [http://www.utexas.edu/law/ The University of Texas School of Law]