Law Students in Court Project

D.C. Law Students in Court

The D.C. Law Students In Court program (LSIC) is a joint project of five Washington, DC, law schools, whose students provide quality legal representation, assistance, and counseling to low-income clients in the District of Columbia.

DC Law Students in Court (DCLSIC) allows students to gain practical experience while providing legal representation, assistance, and counseling to low-income clients in the District of Columbia, for example by representing clients in civil matters in D.C. Superior Court and local administrative agencies.

D.C. Law Students in Court, one of the oldest and most well-regarded clinical programs in Washington, offers the opportunity for students to develop skills as trial lawyers while representing indigent persons in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Students may participate in either the civil division (which focuses primarily on the representation of tenants in landlord–tenant actions, but also handles some consumer, negligence, and other civil matters) or the criminal division (in which student litigators defend persons charged with misdemeanor offenses). Students in both divisions have the opportunity to participate in jury trials. Participants are responsible for all aspects of litigation under the supervision of clinical instructors: interviewing clients and witnesses, conducting investigations, preparing pleadings, engaging in settlement negotiations or plea bargaining, and conducting all motions hearings and trials pursuant to the Superior Court’s third-year practice rule.
For more information about this unique consortium of five law schools , please visit the DCLSIC web site.

From the DCLSIC Website:

Our mission is to ensure justice for WashingtonÂ’s low-income community through free, high-quality legal assistance while training third-year law students in lawyering and courtroom advocacy skills.

Each year students from the 5 participating schools, (American, Catholic, George Washington, Georgetown, and Howard universities) provide critical legal assistance and representation to over 6,000 low-income individuals and families from the DC metro area. LSIC works to fight the consequences of poverty, to prevent homelessness and to alleviate inequalities in the justice system. Since 1968, LSIC has handled more than 10,000 cases, winning more than it has lost; assisted more than 250,000 low-income people; and trained more than 2,500 law students who have not only gone to distinguished legal careers, but who have also excelled in their pro bonocommitment to help the underserved in their communities.

Most of LSIC’s civil litigation cases involve representing tenants in the Landlord and Tenant Branch and plaintiffs or defendants in the Small Claims Branch of the D.C. Superior Court. Landlord and tenant/housing cases are complex, with many intricate twists and turns. Issues involve mainly property and contract law, but can intersect with receiverships, torts, administrative law, guardianship and probate and bankruptcy. For many tenants, LSIC students are often the only source of legal information and assistance. Representation in small claims cases usually involves consumer issues. LSIC also handles a small number of regular Civil Division cases.

The program emphasizes “real world” litigation practice. LSIC offers a learning environment in which students benefit from a one-on-one working relationship with a supervisor who is an experienced trial attorney. Supervision and the clinic seminar classes are geared toward litigation and the skills necessary for effective lawyering. Both the class and supervision components of the program are also designed to promote reflection on what the role of the lawyer can and should be.

LSIC is a two-semester clinic in which students are responsible for all aspects of their cases, including initial interviews, investigation, research, preparation of pleadings, motion practice, and trial preparation. Students gain a basic working knowledge of substantive law, court rules and procedures, as well as important advocacy skills.

When you join LSICÂ’s Alumni Association …., you make your mark on Law Students in Court, its future students and the low-income members of our community whom we serve. Your support will keep alumni connected with other LSIC alums while helping to provide vital resources in our community.

Membership grants you automatic access to the LSIC Online Alumni Community, which allows you to reconnect with former classmates, join other alums who share similar interests, acquaintances and career paths. Please check our website for special alumni networking and social events.

Through the LSIC Alumni Association , we can continue to enhance the unique and critical mission of providing legal services to low-income clients, training third-year law students to be zealous advocates, and endowing future lawyers with a commitment to serving those in need.