Clinics and Professional Skills
In law school you must learn the law and the skills necessary to use your knowledge to represent your clients. We offer you numerous ways to obtain the skills you need. For example, you can:
- work on real cases and learn from judges and practicing lawyers in our Externship Program;
- develop important people skills while representing real clients in our Equal Justice Program or one of our law clinics;
- test your skills in our Advocacy Program by participating in moot court, mock trial and alternative dispute resolution competitions; or
- choose from a variety of courses devoted to teaching practical lawyering skills.
Skills Courses
Many of our doctrinal courses incorporate exercises designed to develop professional skills. Additionally, our upper-level writing (LARW III) courses offer advanced drafting exercises in areas like contracts, family law, real estate, estate planning and administration, intellectual property, general practice, appellate advocacy, and litigation. We also offer a variety of courses that focus primarily on professional skills development. These include (among others) the following courses:
- Advanced Criminal Procedure
- Arbitration
- Case Evaluation and Client Relationships
- Civil Motion Workshop
- Deposition Skills Workshop
- Guardianship Practicum
- International Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution
- Labor Negotiations Workshop
- Mediation
- Negotiation Theory & Practice Practicum
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Post-Conviction Actual Innocence Claims
- Spanish for Lawyers
- Sports Law
- Texas Criminal Law Practicum
- The Business Negotiator
- Trial Advocacy Practicum
- Trial Advocacy Practicum for Criminal Cases
Please consult the course registration materials each semester to determine whether a particular course may be used to satisfy the experiential requirement for graduation.
Clinics
Participating in one of the law school’s clinics is a demanding but rewarding experience. It offers you the opportunity to learn while providing much-needed legal services to underserved communities. Some clinics have prerequisites and other restrictions on eligibility, so consult your course registration packet or the clinic’s home page.
Find out about your clinical opportunities here.