OVERVIEW OF ALL EXPERIENTIAL COURSES

A WORLD OF EXPERIENCE

Students at VLS have many experiential course options. Before deciding on classes each semester, they might consider both part and full-time opportunities, either on campus or off.

Our full semester-long opportunities include the South Royalton Legal Clinic, the Semester in Practice (SiP)/Environmental Semester in Washington (ESW), and Judicial Externships. Part-time opportunities include the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC), the Mediation Clinic, the Legislative Clinic, and internships, for J.D. and/or Master's credit (both for the M.S.E.L. and the LL.M.). In addition, students in the General Practice Program (GPP) may take the field-work component of the GPP.

At many law schools, clinics have a specific, substantive focus. At VLS, we have both clinics with a substantive focus and "individualized clinics". In this way we can meet all (well, almost all) student interests. This guide should answer the questions students ask most often about practicum-based offerings. To receive the most current information about each offering, students should read about the individual program and speak directly with the director and/or staff of the clinic or program(s). Remember too that the Office of the Registrar and the Office of Career Services can provide invaluable assistance. Finally, we have attached a summary grid that describes all the ways students can get legal experience for academic credit.

Vermont Law School's Academic Regulations contain rules that govern all aspects of academic life at VLS> Students should read the Academic Regulations in conjunction with this guide. The regulations are brief and updated infrequently. We update this annually. Should it appear that a conflict exists between this information and our academic regulations, please raise the perceived conflict with the director of the relevant program.

Vermont Law School's faculty adopted this goals statement for all our experiential programs:

A student who enrolls in an experiential program must be provided the opportunity to achieve one or more of the following goals:

1. Obtain training in significant lawyering skills, including those set forth in the MacCrate Report. Examples of such skills are problem solving and implementation skills, decision making skills, trial and pre-trial skills, factual investigation and development, effective communication skills, drafting of legal documents, legislation, administrative regulations and judicial opinions, legal interviewing and counseling, negotiation, use of alternative dispute mechanisms, organization and management of legal work and effective client interaction in private, public interest, government and corporate practice.
2. Experience the importance of, reflect upon and internalize the following fundamental values of the legal profession as set forth in the MacCrate Report: provision of competent representation; striving to promote justice, fairness and morality, striving to improve the profession; and professional self-development.
3. Obtain an in-depth experience in one or more area(s) of law of particular interest to the student, which experience will increase the student's knowledge of the area(s) of law and the importance of understanding the institutional and practice context in which the law is applied.

The above goals need not be the exclusive goals for a student's experience, but must constitute the primary reason(s) for enrollment in an experiential program. The program should provide a learning experience that would n ot be available to the student without the practice experience and provide for growth of the student's capacity to reflect upon and learn from experience. As you read about each field-based experience, consider how each opportunity might help you meet your own goals.

Full time off-campus options are:

1. The Semester in Practice/Environmental Semester in Washington
2. A Judicial Externship

Full time on-campus options are:

1. The South Royalton Legal Clinic

Part-time options include:

1. J.D. Internships
2. The Legislative Clinic
3. The Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC)
4. Mediation Clinic
5. General Practice Program Field Work

NOTE: For all clinical courses, it is important for students to keep in mind that some ENROLLMENT LIMITATIONS exist. Limitations on enrollment come from accreditation standards of the ABA (e.g. the numbeer of hours one must take to graduate), restrictions on practicum-based learning imposed by the American Association of Law Schools, and policies created by VLS.

 VLS's academic regulations provide that of the 84 hours required for graduation, all students must complete 65 credits of course work requiring attendance at regularly scheduled class sessions (RAARSC). VLS is in the process of revising our own rules to reflect recent changes in ABA standards. After those revisions are complete, the South Royalton Clinic as a full time offering will be worth 13 credits of RAARSC. A SiP/ESR, and a full time student judicial externship will generate 2 credits of RAARSC. The Environmental Clinic will generate one hour of RAARSC . The Legislative clinic, M.S.E.L. internships, J.D. internships, and the Mediation Clinic generate no RAARSC hours. (All non RAARSC hours still count toward graduation, but they do not count toward the 65 hour requirement.)