Independent Clinical Work Program

The Independent Clinical Work Program at Harvard Law School offers 2L, 3L, and LLM students the opportunity to design a legal practice experience for clinical credit in special areas of interest that are otherwise not available through clinical courses. Independent Clinicals require a good measure of initiative, creative planning, responsibility and energy. Through an Independent Clinical, you can experience the realities of the work of a lawyer in a variety of legal settings.

To do an Independent Clinical, you must set up a placement with a Supervising Attorney, obtain a Faculty Sponsor, and complete an application with a project proposal. If approved, you will be notified by email and automatically registered by the Office Clinical and Pro Bono Programs (no enrollment through MyPlan is necessary).

Independent Clinical guidelines

• All Independent Clinicals are graded Credit/Fail.
• All Independent Clinical work is limited to two clinical credits. During Fall and Spring semester, two clinical credits represents ten hours per week of work. During Winter Term, students must work full-time for the term (40 hours/week) to receive two clinical credits.
• Independent Clinical projects cannot be conducted at clinical placements available through our clinical curriculum,
• Students should choose a Faculty Sponsor who is well suited for the project, with special expertise in the subject matter and/or familiarity in the forum. If there is a related in-house clinic, students are expected to consult with the director of that clinic about possible sponsorship and development of the Independent Clinical project.
• An HLS faculty member or Clinical Lecturer on Law may sponsor an Independent Clinical. Please note that Lecturers on Law who are not part of a clinical program, Clinical Instructors who are not Lecturers on Law, and Visiting Professors are not eligible to be Faculty Sponsors of Independent Clinical work. Exceptions may be made in subject areas not covered by a clinic or for which there is no permanent faculty member only if discussed in advance with the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs.
• Group projects of more than 3 people are not allowed for independent clinical credit (group projects consisting of students going to the same placement with the same project).  Group projects of 3 or less people must have very strong proposals, and each student must submit a separate proposal indicating their specific plans and how their participation is essential to the project.
• The Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs (OCP), in consultation with related clinic directors, will determine the suitability of a proposed Faculty Sponsor and the potential overlap with an existing clinic. The OCP will also assess the aptness of the proposed supervisor, based on his or her expertise and availability to the student, in order to ensure a valuable clinical experience.
• To apply, students need both a licensed Supervising Attorney and a Faculty Sponsor. Only in exceptional circumstances can a Faculty Sponsor also be the Supervising Attorney
• Students must set up an initial meeting with their Faculty Sponsor, with their Supervising Attorney, and with Elaine McArdle in the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs before finalizing the project and submitting a written proposal.
• An academic paper (at least 15 pages) analyzing the policy and practice of the clinical work must be submitted at the end of the semester. The paper cannot be a work product prepared for the clinical placement.
• Students must send weekly emails to the Faculty Sponsor and Elaine McArdle of the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs with a progress report describing the work he or she did that week and providing feedback on the project. Students must also communicate weekly with their Supervising Attorney.

Placements

Students may work at non-profit organizations, legal services, criminal defense agencies, the judiciary, governmental agencies, or public interest organizations. Projects may include direct client service as well as writing and research. Approval for projects in the private sector will be determined on a case-by-case basis and only if the work will be done pro bono, focusing solely on public interest work. Independent Clinical projects are not available at placements already offered through a clinical course or at an in-house clinic, or in placements that are duplicative of what is offered in our current clinics.

The possibilities for Independent Clinical placements are large in scope. We encourage you to contact Elaine McArdle to discuss and develop project ideas and ask questions about appropriate placements. Resources to find possible placements are:

• HLS Public Service Job Search Database
• OPIA Job Resources
• International Legal Studies
• Sample Independent Clinical Past Placements

Important note: If your project may in any way involve interviews, surveys, or obtaining information about individuals by other means, it may require review by the Harvard University Committee on the Use of Human Subjects (CUHS). This includes research where in-depth data are collected on one or more individuals for the purpose of analysis to yield generalizable knowledge. To help determine if your project may be subject to review, read the information provided on the CUHS website. For questions, contact Elizabeth Bowie of CUHS, ebowie@fas.harvard.edu.

Faculty Sponsors

A Faculty Sponsor is needed for all Independent Clinical projects. The Faculty Sponsor monitors the academic component of your Independent Clinical. You must find a Faculty Sponsor with expertise in the area of law pertaining to your Independent Clinical project. An HLS faculty member or Clinical Lecturer on Law may sponsor an Independent Clinical based on the determination that the project and proposal have educational merit as well as other individual requirements. Please note that Lecturers on Law who are not part of a clinical program and Visiting Professors are not eligible to be Faculty Sponsors of Independent Clinical work. In subject areas not covered by a clinic or a permanent faculty member, exceptions may be made only if discussed in advance with the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs.

In creating your project proposal you should discuss the content of your project and the final paper with your Faculty Sponsor. Although on-site attorneys and your Supervising Attorney often provide direct supervision, you should meet regularly with your Faculty Sponsor to check in on your progress. You are required to send weekly emails to your Faculty Sponsor and Elaine McArdle of the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono programs during your Independent Clinical. The Faculty Sponsor is responsible for submitting the grade at the end of the term.

Supervisors

Students must have a Supervising Attorney who will be responsible for direct supervision throughout the project. Supervisors must be licensed attorneys in their jurisdiction. Supervisors are expected to write a detailed evaluation of student’s work at the end of the semester for submission to the Faculty Sponsor and the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs. Supervisors will receive a Supervisor Handbook from the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs that sets forth the requirements for defining work expectations and goals, conducting regular meetings with students, and evaluating performance. With rare exception, the Faculty Sponsor cannot also be the Supervising Attorney.

Student Responsibilities

A basic premise of clinical legal education is that learning comes about through the self-conscious application of reflection to actual experience. All students doing Independent Clinical work are required to submit the following:

Weekly Progress Reports

You must submit weekly progress reports via email to the Faculty Sponsor and to Elaine McArdle of our office. Emails should report on your work and reflect on your clinical experience. Faculty are not required to respond to the weekly emails, but are encouraged to do so if they think they have useful observations. We will not share emails or final papers with Supervising Attorneys without your permission, although you are free to do so.

Client Confidentiality

Please be sensitive to issues of client confidentiality when submitting weekly emails and final papers. Client names and any other identifying information should be deleted from these documents prior to submission.

Clinical Placement Evaluation

Your experiences and opinions are extremely important to our continuing efforts to improve the quality of clinical legal education at Harvard Law School and to determining the appropriateness and effectiveness of specific placements. Therefore, at the end of the semester we require all students to complete a Placement Evaluation to assess the placement organization, the supervision received, and the value of the clinical experience. You will help us most by being as frank, specific and constructive as possible. Your responses will not affect grading, as the information reported will not be reviewed outside of the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs until after the semester’s grading process has been completed. The clinical evaluations are completed online through the Public Service Job Database (log on using your HLS username and password) -- you will receive an email from our office at the end of the semester with a web link to the clinical evaluation.

Final Paper

An academic paper of approximately 15 pages in length is due at the end of your Independent Clinical to your Faculty Sponsor and to Elaine McArdle. This paper cannot be a work product from the clinical placement, and should be an analysis of the policy and practice of the work in which you were engaged. For example, is the organization effective in its representation and advocacy vis-à-vis its stated policy objectives; is a particular statute designed to have the effects it is having in practice; are there ethical or cross-cultural barriers which affected representation, etc. The final paper can have a reflective component. The final paper (with a Final Report Cover Sheet) must be submitted to your Faculty Sponsor and Elaine McArdle of our office by the applicable deadline. Final papers are due by the following deadlines:

• Fall 2009: December 11, 2009
• Winter 2010: January 29, 2010
• Spring 2010: April 30, 2010

Harvard Law School Independence

Although students enrolled in Independent Clinicals receive academic credit, students must understand that their work does not reflect the judgment or opinions of Harvard Law School and that Harvard Law School is not in a position to direct the project. When representing or communicating with individual clients, students must avoid holding themselves out as representatives of the School. While it may be appropriate to identify yourself as a Harvard student, it is not appropriate to suggest to a client that he or she is being represented by Harvard Law School or Harvard University.

Evaluations and Grading

We encourage students to meet regularly with Supervisors for feedback throughout the semester and to initiate an exit interview at the end of the semester to discuss the Supervisor's evaluation.

Supervisor Evaluations

Supervising Attorneys are required to provide two written evaluations of students' work to assess performance, judgment, progress, etc.: 1) Supervisor Mid-Semester Evaluation; 2) Supervisor Final Evaluation (during winter term, supervisors only have to do the Final Evaluation). Supervisors should submit the evaluations to Elaine McArdle by the appropriate deadline.

Student Evaluations

All students must complete a Clinical Placement Evaluation at the end of the semester. For more information, please see the "Student Responsibilities" section above.

Grading

All Independent Clinicals are graded Credit/Fail. Supervising Attorneys will recommend either a Credit or Fail grade to the Faculty Sponsor, who will also take into account the final paper when assigning the final Credit or Fail grade.

Application

Students must set up individual meetings with their Faculty Sponsor, Supervising Attorney, and with Elaine McArdle in the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs before finalizing the project and submitting an application. Independent Clinical applications require a project proposal and the signatures of the Supervising Attorney and Faculty Sponsor. Incomplete applications or applications with missing signatures will not be processed or approved. The project proposal should be detailed, focused, and realistic, and developed through discussions with a Supervising Attorney at the placement and an HLS Faculty Sponsor. Project proposals should contain the following information:

• Thorough exploration of the nature of the project, including specific responsibilities and projects at the placement.
• A brief description of the placement organization and its mission.
• Explanation of your interest in this subject area.
• Relevance to past or intended academic, professional, clinical and other experiences. How does this Independent Clinical project fit in with your academic and/or career plans? What kind of opportunity does this project represent to you?
• How is the work you are proposing to do different from practice opportunities available in the clinical curriculum?
• Explanation of your decision in a Faculty Sponsor, and how his or her area of expertise will factor into your project.
• Description of the final paper, as determined by you and your Faculty Sponsor.

Applications are due to Elaine McArdle in the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs in Austin Hall 102 by the following deadlines:

• Fall 2009: September 8, 2009
• Winter 2010: October 23, 2009
• Spring 2010: January 15, 2010

Download the 2009/10 Independent Clinical Application

(Harvard Legal Aid Bureau students must also submit the HLAB Supplemental Approval Form.)

Funding (Winter Term Only)

There is a limited amount of funding available for students participating in an Independent Clinical during the winter term to offset the cost of travel and lodging. Students must apply for funding, and travel grants will be allotted in a selective process. If a project is contingent upon funding, students should not make travel or work commitments until they have secured a travel grant. Expenses submitted for funding consideration in the application must be reasonable and necessary for the completion of the project. Students must complete the appropriate funding application and submit it with the Independent or Continuing Clinical application. There are different guidelines and applications for international (International Legal Studies Office) versus domestic travel (Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs). For more information, please see our Winter Term Funding page.

Contact

For questions about independent clinicals, please contact Elaine McArdle of the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs. Students must set up an initial meeting with Elaine before finalizing the project and submitting an application.

Elaine McArdle
emcardle@law.harvard.edu
617-384-9940
Austin 216