When 16-year-old Kaylee learned that her infant son, Dreyden, was born with a heart defect, fighting for custody of him was the last thing on her mind. But because she was in foster care herself, the state opened a dependency and neglect action against her with the goal of transferring legal custody of Dreyden to the Department of Social Services. The case was assigned to the Juvenile and Family Law Clinic, where Kaylee worked with Clinical Professor Colene Robinson, along with law students Jeremiah Jones (’18) and John Stenger (’19), to fight for custody of Dreyden.
“It was a really stressful time having an infant with a heart issue and going through a custody battle,” Kaylee said. “Colene and the law students in the clinic really had my back. They went above and beyond to gather information to support my case and made sure I understood what was happening along the way.”
Under Professor Robinson’s guidance, the student attorneys prepared motions to contest Dreyden’s removal from Kaylee’s custody at the first court hearing. The clinic worked closely with Kaylee’s guardian ad litem, Deborah Moguillansky (’12), to demonstrate that Kaylee was a responsible and capable parent. Due in large part to the passion, energy, and swift action taken by the clinic’s student attorneys, they were able to reach a resolution in the case after three months. Kaylee was granted custody.
“I am so grateful for what the clinic has done for me,” Kaylee said. “I don’t know where my life would be right now if I didn’t have custody of my son.”
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Clinical Education Program at the University of Colorado Law School. When the Legal Aid Clinic at Colorado Law opened its doors in 1948, students learned basic criminal practice skills and represented clients in cases before municipal and county courts in Boulder County. Since then, the clinical program has grown to include nine specialized clinics, all of which address critical community needs.
The clinical program is rooted in humble beginnings. In 1948, the Colorado Supreme Court approved the law school’s request, advanced by Professor Clyde O. Martz, for students to practice law under a special student practice rule (now C.R.C.P. 205.7). With a $750 budget, the Legal Aid Clinic began as an extracurricular activity, with no academic credit granted for participation.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the clinical program expanded its focus areas to include legal research, public welfare, public defense, and aiding local attorneys in trial cases. It also hired its first full-time faculty members. In 1963, Colorado Law added its second clinic, the Assigned Counsel Program, through which students participated in criminal defense work in state and federal courts. At the time, Colorado Law clinics were among only a few in the nation in which students actually took part in trials, ranging from drug cases to assisting court-appointed attorneys representing indigent defendants accused of federal crimes. Students in the Assigned Counsel Program were also among the first law students to sign pleadings to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Today, more than 120 second- and third-year law students annually take a clinic, where they are closely supervised by nine faculty members, receive academic credit, attend formal classes, and work on real cases and projects. Through the more than 400 cases and projects worked on each year, the clinical program is able to provide tens of thousands of dollars in free legal services each year to disadvantaged people who would not have been able to afford representation.
Deborah Cantrell, professor and director of the clinical program, said one of the pillars of clinical education at Colorado Law is the trust and confidence the clinical program instills in students early on. “We are asking students to step up as lead attorneys early in their careers. We believe in our students’ ability to help those in need while they are still in law school,” Cantrell said. “We think the clinical program helps students start to learn what it takes to lead flourishing lives as lawyers.”
“We believe in our students’ ability to help those in need while they are still in law school. We think the clinical program helps students start to learn what it takes to lead flourishing lives as lawyers.” — Professor Deborah Cantrell
Clinics provide a valuable space for students to integrate the theoretical aspects of law with the pragmatic challenges of the daily work of a lawyer. Graduates often cite their work on actual cases and getting to know real clients as one of the most significant experiences in law school.
“The memory from law school that sticks out to me as the most meaningful was when I joined a legal clinic and was able to help an Ethiopian man receive a grant of asylum as a refugee on account of the torture he had experienced in his home country,” said Crisanta Duran (’05), who is now a state legislator. “When our client was granted asylum, I was left with an even stronger feeling of how grateful I am to be an American and to have the tools to help people in a meaningful way.”
Xakema Henderson (’14) recalled her experience as a student attorney in the Juvenile Law Clinic with Professor Robinson as the most useful of law school.
“The skills I gained and developed in clinic have transferred to my day-to-day practice,” she said. “I learned everything from the basic skill of how to keep a case organized, to the more judgment-based skill of how to think through how present decisions may affect long-term outcomes. I also learned what it means to take ownership of a case and client, how to manage expectations for the client and other stakeholders, how to advocate within the parameters of ethical conflicts, and perhaps most importantly, how to trust myself as an advocate and counselor. I don’t think there was any experience better than being a student attorney.”
While each clinic operates in a different area of law, they share the same relentless drive to serve the public. From providing pro bono transactional legal services for entrepreneurs and small businesses in Colorado, to representing American Indian tribes in disputes over preservation of Native land, to crafting policy proposals related to technology and sustainable community development, the clinics work on a wide range of issues across the state.
Even with a 70-year track record, the clinical program is not running out of steam. As the legal needs of community members and groups evolve, the program will continue to innovate to meet the needs of its constituents in new and unique ways, Cantrell said.
Colorado Law launched its first new clinic in a decade in August 2016. The Sustainable Community Development Clinic assists community organizations on economic development projects aimed at sustainable community development, social justice, and the reduction of poverty. While much of its work has focused on housing, public health, and food security projects around Boulder County, the clinic has also expanded its reach to southern Colorado, where student attorneys are helping to revitalize a community food hub alongside a cooperative of farmers.
The Sustainable Community Development Clinic assists community organizations on economic development projects aimed at sustainable community development, social justice, and the reduction of poverty.
Working beside the clinics is the Korey Wise Innocence Project, which was expanded and renamed in 2015 following a gift from Korey Wise, who was exonerated in a high-profile case in which five New York City teenagers were wrongly convicted. The gift funded the hiring of a full-time program director and allows students to take on more investigative work from those seeking help with appeals.
“I think one of the reasons that the clinical program at Colorado Law really stands out is the robust range of lawyering experiences available to students,” Cantrell said. “Students can experience litigation in state, federal, and tribal courts; criminal and civil cases; and alternative dispute resolution. Students can see transactional work that runs from traditional business entities like LLCs to more unique entities like cooperatives. Students can choose federal, state, or local policymaking. They can also become community organizers. Not many law schools offer all that we do."