LAW 640: Community Development Clinic - spring

Prerequisite: 30 units completed; Pre or Corequisite: LAW 525 and LAW 585.

Students, supervised by a law school professor, spend one semester representing entrepreneurs, small businesses and non-profit organizations in the South Coast area of Massachusetts. Work may include drafting corporate documents, preparing state and federal filings, conducting legal audits, researching legal issues, and reviewing contracts. Students may also research new developments in the law and make presentations to the appropriate clients, their boards of directors, and community audiences.   Clinic students attend a weekly two-hour seminar that will provide training in the relevant legal topics, as well as in practical legal skills. Students will reflect on and consider ethical and other issues arising in practice. Students will average 10 hours weekly on their clinical work. In addition, this course affords students an opportunity for the development of a professional identity. Professional identity focuses on what it means to be a lawyer and the special obligations lawyers have to their clients and society. The development of professional identity involves an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.