Duration: Full year program for students in their final year of law school

Credits: 8 credits (4 credits per semester/3 credits letter graded & 5 credits ungraded)

The Prosecutors Program is open only to students in their final year of law school.  The fieldwork placement is in a District Court where students represent the Commonwealth in criminal cases under the supervision of an Assistant District Attorney.  As student prosecutors, participants learn the multi-faceted role of the District Attorney in the prosecution of criminal cases including handling arraignments and bail/detention hearings, interviewing witnesses, providing discovery, handling pre-trial motions, engaging in plea negotiations, preparing for trial, and arguing disposition.  Students are likely to handle evidentiary hearings on Motions to Suppress and may also handle bench or jury trials during the year.  The classroom component consists of lectures, discussions, and simulations focusing on criminal procedure, evidence, search and seizure, courtroom advocacy, prosecutorial ethics, case preparation, and the exercise of discretion by prosecutors.  Students are required to submit reflective journals and time logs periodically and, at the end of the year, a short paper.  Students must have available one full day per week in the fall semester (8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.) and two full days per week in the spring semester for court appearances and case preparation.  Students’ preferences for court assignments will be solicited, and court assignments will be made at the beginning of the fall semester. 

Evidence is a prerequisite.  Preference will be given to those students who have completed a trial practice course or the equivalent.  Any student accepted into the clinic who has not completed a trial practice course is required to register for one in the fall semester.  Students will not be able to engage in employment in which they handle criminal defense matters during the academic year in which they are enrolled in the clinic.   Also, each District Attorney’s Office will conduct a background check, including a criminal record check, before accepting a student for placement.  If there is anything in your background that might preclude a placement in a District Attorney’s Office, please speak with the Clinical Professor to discuss whether placement is likely to be a problem.

Contact: Contact Professor Diane Juliar at djuliar@suffolk.edu