July 31, 2017

Training the Next Wave of Victims’ Rights Attorneys

Each term – fall, summer, winter - Lewis & Clark Law students in their second or third year of law school join the NCVLI legal team when they enroll in the Crime Victim Litigation Clinic.  Click here to read about what the current student are doing.

Each term – fall, summer, winter - Lewis & Clark Law students in their second or third year of law school join the NCVLI legal team as part of the Crime Victim Litigation Clinic.  These students undertake intense research and writing on victims’ rights issues helping with cases being litigated in state, federal and military courts across the country and drafting model legislation or practice guides.  

In addition to instructional time, this summer’s students assisted with a wide range of legal work, including:

  • Research and creation of multi-jurisdictional charts on privacy rights and post-conviction rights;
  • Research and draft a legal memo addressing the Violence Against Women Act confidentiality provision as applied to law enforcement advocates;
  • Research and draft a legal memo addressing Oregon’s “common interest” ethics rule;
  • Research Michigan law governing civil depositions;
  • Research and draft legal memos to support technical assistance requests regarding harm to victims from defense-initiated contacts and position that automatic no contact orders on defendants do not violate the First Amendment; and
  • Research and drafting of a 50 state survey of Victim Offender Dialogue; and
  • Submission of a Freedom of Information Act request to the Federal Ombudsman to determine how often the office is not responding because rights have not attached “precharging” in order to issue a report on compliance.

The work of the Clinic involves cutting edge legal issues that impact victims and their families nationwide.  The work of the law students goes a long way toward securing a fair and just criminal justice system for everyone!