Information for Students
Students report time and again that clinical experiences give meaning and excitement to their law school program. Through the Samuelson Clinic, students have the opportunity to provide legal assistance on important social justice issues related to law and technology such as biotech, copyright, privacy, free speech, electronic voting, patent reform, etc. Students may counsel small or large clients; file amicus briefs; comment on proposed legislation and regulations; produce guidelines on new and emerging technologies; or conduct cutting-edge research, often in conjunction with non-profits, experts, or graduate students from other disciplines on campus. Each project offers different opportunities, and projects change from semester to semester.
Samuelson clinic students also participate in a seminar that joins the theory and practice of law. In the seminar, students learn and discuss underlying legal principles, explore the practice and theory of public interest representation, discuss the ethical issues involved in client representation, and “workshop” their cases with the class. Enrollment in the seminar is limited to participants in the Samuelson Clinic and fulfills Berkeley Law’s professional responsibility course requirement.
Although the Clinic is primarily geared toward law students, graduate students in other disciplines with an interest in law and expertise in technology are often encouraged to apply.
Details & Requirements: Students must enroll concurrently in both the Clinic practice course (4 credits) and the seminar (2 credits). Students must also participate in the All-Clinic Workshop, held each semester on the Friday before the first day of classes.
Students are supervised on their Clinic projects by Clinic faculty and work in teams of two to four students per project. Students commit approximately 16 hours per week to Clinic projects, and this time is spent on team and client meetings, project planning and development, and research and writing. The seminar meets weekly for approximately two hours, and time spent preparing for the seminar is in addition to Clinic work. The seminar is graded Pass/No Pass, and Clinic work is graded on the traditional curved Berkeley Law seminar grading system. All students must have permission of the instructor to enroll in the Clinic and seminar and will be given course control numbers once they are admitted.
Recommendations: Prior or concurrent enrollment in one of Boalt’s intellectual property or privacy law classes is recommended but not required.
Further Information: Please contact Clinic faculty Jason Schultz at jschultz@law.berkeley.edu, Jennifer Urban at jurban@law.berkeley.edu, or Jennifer Lynch at jlynch@law.berkeley.