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Street Law

NOTE: This course description is new for the 2016-2017 academic year. You may read the prior course description immediately below this new one.

2016-2017

As a Street Law student, you teach law to high school students 90 minutes per week in cooperation with a high school teacher. Subject areas include introduction to law, criminal, juvenile and constitutional rights in the fall; and torts, consumer, family and housing law in the spring.

You use a variety of methods such as role-plays, group discussions, case studies and mock trials to impart an understanding of legal rights, remedies and concepts of justice. You also assist in researching and writing teaching materials for use by high school students. And you keep a journal which documents and evaluates the teaching experience.

Attendance at a weekly two hour class is required where you learn both the law and the many methods which are used to teach the law to your students.

Street Law gives you a chance to get into the community and inform the public. Along the way, you gain experience in explaining legal principles to non-lawyers (a crucial courtroom skill) and you learn the answers to the questions most asked of lawyers by laypersons.

The texts are the student and teacher editions of Street Law: A Course in Practical Law. This course is offered on a credit/no credit basis only. There is no examination. Open to all second, third and fourth year students. Please contact Professor Cover (cover@lclark.edu) for details re high school placements.

The American Bar Association accreditation standards require students to regularly attend the courses in which they are registered. Lewis & Clark expects students to attend classes regularly and to prepare for classes conscientiously. Specific attendance requirements may vary from course to course. Any attendance guidelines for a given class must be provided to students in a syllabus or other written document at the start of the semester. Sanctions (e.g., required withdrawal from the course, grade adjustment, and/or a failing grade) will be imposed for poor attendance.

NOTE: The below course description applied prior to the 2016-2017 academic year.

Description: As a Street Law student, you teach law to high school students two class periods per week in cooperation with a high school teacher. Subject areas include introduction to law, criminal, juvenile and constitutional rights in the fall; and torts, consumer, family and housing law in the spring.

Attendance at a weekly two hour seminar is required. During the seminar you learn both the law and the many methods which are used to teach the law to your students.

The texts are the student and teacher editions of Street Law: A Course in Practical Law. This course is offered on a credit/no credit basis only. There is no examination. This course does not satisfy the law school writing requirement. Open to all second, third and fourth year students. Please contact Professor Cover (cover@lclark.edu) for details re high school placements.

The American Bar Association accreditation standards require students to regularly attend the courses in which they are registered. Lewis & Clark expects students to attend classes regularly and to prepare for classes conscientiously. Specific attendance requirements may vary from course to course. Any attendance guidelines for a given class must be provided to students in a syllabus or other written document at the start of the semester. Sanctions (e.g., required withdrawal from the course, grade adjustment, and/or a failing grade) will be imposed for poor attendance.