The Suffolk Law Clinical Programs: A Primer

Suffolk Law currently offers 11 clinical programs (including the clinical internships) to both day and evening students:

Battered Women's Advocacy Program

A one-semester program in which students serve one day per week at a local district court legal services office or at a shelter- or hospital-based social services office.

Civil and Judicial Clinical Internship Program

Students combine doctrinal law classes with different field experiences in a wide range of legal settings, including state and federal courts, nonprofit corporations, legal aid organizations, and private law firms and companies.

Child Advocacy Clinic

A full-year program in which students provide legal representation, counseling, and advocacy on behalf of children and families in civil proceedings; most clients are adolescents who are in foster care or who have recently aged out of state custody.

Educational Advocacy Clinic

Participants in this full-year program advocate on behalf of low-income and indigent children and their parents in school suspension, expulsion, and special education cases in Boston and outlying communities.

Family Advocacy Clinic

In this full-year clinic, students represent individuals in contested family disputes; cases include divorce, paternity, custody, visitation and child support disputes, guardianship and kinship care, and cases protecting the rights of victims of violence.

Housing & Consumer Protection Clinic

A full-year clinic in which student attorneys primarily represent clients in housing cases, handling administrative matters before various housing authorities, housing discrimination matters before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and housing cases in Boston Housing Court and Chelsea District Court.

Immigration Clinic

A full-year clinic in which students advocate on behalf of non-citizens facing deportation from the United States and seeking to redress misconduct by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents performing immigration raids.

Juvenile Justice Center

The center provides representation for children in the juvenile court system, using a multi-disciplinary approach that includes supportive social services and education advocacy. Students in the Juvenile Defenders Clinic represent children charged with delinquency offenses in the Boston Juvenile Court and provide representation in related proceedings, such as probation revocation proceedings, school suspension or expulsion hearings, and special education hearings.