Information for Students

Credit: 6 credits each semester—2 for classroom component and 4 for casework—for a total of 12 credit hours for the academic year.

Grading: This course is graded.

Semesters Offered: This is a full-year course. Students selected for the clinic must register for both Fall and Spring Semesters.

Description

The Texas Tech Innocence Clinic, working in conjunction with the Innocence Project of Texas, provides a clinical opportunity to students interested in post-conviction appellate criminal law. The Texas Tech Innocence Clinic provides legal representation and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove their innocence of felonies for which they have been convicted. Students accepted into this clinic will be given an opportunity to review and investigate claims of actual innocence by individuals wrongfully convicted of a felony and, where appropriate, pursue legal avenues for exoneration and release from prison. When pursuing legal avenues for exoneration students are allotted the opportunity to hone their writing skills by drafting a multitude of motions relating to innocence cases.

Students are closely supervised at all stages of their innocence cases by Allison Clayton. The classroom component of the course, also taught by Allison Clayton, immerses students in the legal, scientific, cultural and psychological causes of wrongful convictions and the remedies and reforms adopted by states to reduce the potential for wrongful convictions. Additionally, the classroom component of the course focuses on skills development, ethics and case strategy.

Selection Process

A Mandatory Information Session for students interested in participating in the Clinical Programs is held in late January or early February of each year. Information is provided by the Clinic Directors regarding each individual clinic, as well as the process for student selection. Students interested in applying to one or more clinics are instructed to complete the required documents and complete an application on or before the deadline announced during the information session. Documents to be attached include the clinic application (indicating which clinics you are applying to), resume with references, unofficial transcript, and a two-page narrative (for each individual clinic you are applying to) indicating why you are interested in a particular clinic. All clinics are by invitation only. Applications are reviewed by the Clinic Directors. Some Clinic Directors may conduct interviews (some may not depending on the demand), and offers are made to students by the Clinic Directors with a deadline for you to accept the offer. During open registration, the Registrar's office enrolls you for the clinic. You will not be able to enroll yourself.

Required Prerequisites

• Must be a third year law student.
• Must not be on academic probation. Should a student go on academic probation during his or time in the clinic, he or she will be withdrawn from the clinic.
• Must have taken Criminal Procedure, Professional Responsibility, and Evidence.

Recommended Prerequisites

• Texas Criminal Procedure, Trial Advocacy, and/or Mock Trial or Moot Court.

Conflicts

• Students may not be concurrently enrolled in this clinic and another clinic or externship.
• Students may not have outside employment if enrolled in this course.
• Students may not sit for the February bar exam.

Enrollment is by application and invitation only.