Civitas ChildLaw Clinic
The Loyola Civitas ChildLaw Clinic is a pediatric law office where Loyola J.D. and LL.M. students learn the lawyering skills needed to represent children while effectively advocating for the clients they serve. Approximately 14 to 18 students participate each semester.
In virtually all cases, the clinic's clients are children. Students may be involved in child protection or delinquency cases in Juvenile Court, or in Custody and Visitation proceedings in Domestic Relations Court. Students are encouraged to work on cases in at least two of these categories during a semester in the clinic. Students may also represent children in other matters or, in a rare case, an adult in a case involving children.
Students who have completed at least three-fifths of the total hourly credits required for graduation from the law school are eligible for a temporary license to practice under Supreme Court Rule 711.
Students enroll in the clinic for four credits the first semester. Students enrolling in the clinic for a second time will receive three credits. Students enrolling in the clinic for the second time will be required to meet in the seminar portion of the clinic on a bi-weekly basis. (If a student has taken the clinic during the summer term when there was no seminar component, that student must enroll in the four-credit section).
At the clinic, students work closely with a supervising attorney, who is a member of the Loyola Law School faculty. Clinical training emphasizes the development of essential lawyering skills such as client interviewing and counseling, fact development, case planning, negotiation, and oral and written advocacy. In addition, the clinic provides students with the opportunity to reflect on the experience of lawyering and to draw lessons for personal and professional development, and to evaluate and critique the work of legal institutions.
Although the subject matter of the cases and classes focus on children's issues, most of the skills and insights developed in the clinic are applicable to any practice context. To download an application to enroll in the Civitas ChildLaw Clinic, click here (PDF).
Professor Bruce Boyer serves as clinic director.
Professor Stacey Platt serves as associate director.
