The Medical Legal Partnership has a few opportunities each semester for continuing clinic students to work on cases referred to our clinical program from our collaboration with Cook Children’s Hospital Medical Center. There may be limited opportunities for summer internships and pro bono projects that will not require prior clinic enrollment.
About the Partnership with Cook Children’s
The Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) was developed to help address legal needs that have the potential to impact a child’s health and access to medical care. Studies suggest that medical legal partnerships have helped patients and their families save on their medical care costs, recover public benefits and reduce their stress.
Course Information
Pre-requisites/Co-requisites:
You must have completed one semester of a legal clinic.
Eligibility to Enroll:
• Completed first year of law school in a JD program;
• Be in good academic standing;
• No Honor Code violations
Credit Hours/Experiential Hours:
Three to six (3-6) hours credit in the Fall or Spring, with supervising attorney consent
Terms available:
Fall, Spring
Evaluation:
Graded
Summer Internships Opportunities:
By arrangement
Dropping Clinics:
Given the unique nature of clinics and the ethical obligations that arise for our attorneys when they expose students to actual client cases, students will not be allowed to drop a clinic after the first week of classes.
Considerations
Since clinics operate differently than doctrinal, writing, and other simulation courses, students must keep in mind the following before enrolling:
- All clinical courses meet in the Clinical Program Office located in the Star-Telegram Building at 307 W. 7th Street, Fort Worth, Texas. It is a 0.6 mile walk from the Law School building to the clinical space.
- All 3 and 4 unit clinic courses require that students spend a minimum of 6-8 hours per week at the clinical space.
- Per our Academic Standards, students are expected to submit logs of their time to their supervising attorneys to receive credit. Your instructor will provide you with direction of how to keep track of your time.
- In order to provide all of our students with a clinical opportunity, you cannot enroll in more than one clinic in any one semester.
- You may not enroll in an externship and a clinic in the same semester unless authorized by the Associate Dean for Experiential Education.
- If you plan to be employed by a law firm, government agency, or other unit engaged in providing legal services during the semester, you must disclose the employer’s information so the clinical program can determine if there are any conflicts that prevent the student from enrolling in the clinic.
- Once a student is admitted to a clinic, the student must commit to attend a mandatory Clinical Skills Training the first Friday of the semester from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Unless a special accommodation is necessary, free student parking is not available in the clinic space. The cost to valet in the Star-Telegram Building is $10. There is additional parking in the area that ranges from $6 to $10. Street metered parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Student Application
Students are advised to review the Clinic Application & Registration Information Packet before submitting an application.
The student clinic application is only available online:
- Use this new, single CLINIC APPLICATION LINK to apply for first-time clinic enrollment in any Fall or Spring semester clinic, for available Summer semester clinics, or for second or subsequent semesters in a clinic.
- Please note that as part of the application submission, you will be required to upload your current resume as a PDF.
There is no Howdy registration for clinics. Instead, applications are reviewed and students are accepted during registration period on a rolling basis. Priority is given to applications we receive by the priority deadline -- please refer to the Course Schedule for the current priority deadline. Students are encouraged to apply as early as possible in order to secure a seat in the clinic of their choice for the semester they would like. Once a seat has been secured, registration is handled on your behalf by a faculty member or administrator in the Clinical Program Office. Questions about the clinics or the application process can be answered by emailing experiential@law.tamu.edu.
Once a student is admitted to a clinic, the student must commit to attend a mandatory Clinical Skills Training the first Friday of the semester from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Conflicts:
Clinics operate as law firms. Conflicts may arise if students enroll in a clinic and also work in a law firm or government agency in the first semester. If you plan to intern, extern, or otherwise, work during the semester you are in clinic, you will need to discuss with Dean Herrera. On the application you will be asked to indicate if you plan to intern, extern, or work elsewhere during the semester(s) you are applying for.