Legal Education and Service

A commitment to the common good is embedded in the Georgetown University curriculum. At the Georgetown University Law Center, clinical programs merge theory and practice so that students master the practical art of lawyering and its theoretical bases while also providing legal representation to under-represented individuals and organizations. 

Students in the clinics represent a wide range of clients, including adult and juvenile criminal defendants; victims of domestic violence; housing and community development groups; individuals threatened with eviction; children seeking access to adequate special and regular education; and social enterprises, nonprofits, and small business, among others.

CLINICAL PROGRAMS

Community Justice Project
Students in the Community Justice Project directly represent clients and act as advocates for community, non-profit, educational, faith-based and other organizations and groups. 

Criminal Defense and Prisoner Advocacy Clinic
Students in the Clinic represent indigent defendants facing trial in misdemeanor cases in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, and those convicted of crime in parole and probation hearings. Students interview and counsel clients, investigate cases, draft and argue motions, examine witnesses, make bail and sentencing arguments, and in some instances conduct complete trials.

Criminal Justice Clinic
Students in the Criminal Justice Clinic represent defendants in misdemeanor cases in the District of Columbia Superior Court. The most common charges include assault, prostitution, drug possession, theft, unlawful entry, destruction of property, shoplifting, and weapon offenses.

D.C. Law Students in Court
D.C. Law Students in Court provides legal representation, assistance, and counseling to low-income clients in the District of Columbia. The Clinic is a collaboration between Georgetown, Catholic, George Washington, Howard, and American University law schools. Students from five participating schools make about 1,000 court appearances and provide critical legal assistance to nearly 5,000 low-income residents on issues including poverty, homelessness, and inequalities in the justice system. 

D.C. Street Law Clinic
The D.C. Street Law High School Clinic is a yearlong course taught by Georgetown law school students in District high schools. The course introduces high school students to a legal system that touches their lives on a daily basis and helps them develop skills to become problem-solvers through knowledge of legal principles.

Domestic Violence Clinic
Students in the Domestic Violence Clinic represent victims of intimate abuse in civil protection order (CPO) cases. Protection orders typically include a broad spectrum of relief, designed to effectively end the violence in a family or dating relationship. 

Harrison Institute for Housing and Community Development
The housing and community development clinic works to empower low-income individual and community group clients, and in so doing, provide law students with a broad vision of what lawyers should be doing in low-income communities. Projects of the clinic focus on interdiscplinary services, tenant ownership, affordable housing preservation, and entrepreneurship.

Juvenile Justice Clinic
The Juvenile Justice Clinic represents youth charged with delinquency in the District of Columbia, and provides an experiential and classroom learning opportunity for law students and resources and support for juvenile defenders practicing locally and nationally. Activities of the clinic include the D.C. Juvenile Panel Trial Practice Group, the Juvenile Training Immersion Program Summer Academy, and post-commitment advocacy, among others.

Social Enterprise and Nonprofit Clinic
The Social Enterprise & Nonprofit Law Clinic offers free corporate and transactional legal services to social enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and select small businesses in the District of Columbia. Through the Clinic, law students learn to translate theory into practice by engaging in the supervised practice of law.

PUBLIC SERVICE PROGRAMS

Office of Public Interest and Community Service
The Office of Public Interest and Community Service is the hub of the public interest community at Georgetown University Law Center, coordinating many of the Law Center’s public interest programs, administering the pro bono program, and providing career services to students interested in public interest and government legal opportunities. 

1L Pro Bono Project
The 1L Pro Bono Service Project is designed specifically for first-year students interested in doing law-related volunteer work. Students work with organizations in the District that primarily provide legal services to low-income individuals living in D.C. or the surrounding metropolitan area.

Pro Bono Pledge
Georgetown Law challenges all incoming J.D. law students to pledge to complete at least 75 hours of law-related volunteer work and community service before they graduate. Second year J.D. transfer students are asked to pledge 50 hours and LL.M. candidates, 25 hours. Students who meet their Pro Bono Pledge goals will receive a certificate from the Dean and recognition at commencement.

Home Court
Started in 1988, Home Court is an annual basketball game fundraiser between faculty and students at Georgetown University Law Center and Members of Congress. All fundraising supports the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.