College of Law > Academics > Experiential Learning > Legal Clinics > Experiential Learning Eligibility and Registration

Experiential Learning Eligibility and Registration

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Welcome to the Experiential Learning Eligibility and Registration page! This site provides students information and materials for the application and registration process for the DePaul Law Legal Clinics, 3YP Program, Litigation Lab, and IHRLI Practicum including an FAQ below.

Due to the class size and to avoid class scheduling conflicts, the DePaul Law Experiential Learning opportunities have a Priority Application Period. It is highly recommended that students apply during that window so that they will be considered for their preferred legal clinic. In the interim, please review the Experiential Learning Application Calendar at the link below for specific dates.

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Experiential Learning Application Calendar and Deadlines

Please click below for information on upcoming deadlines for applying to the Legal Clinics.

Experiential Learning Application Calendar

Legal Clinics Application

The Application Period for Fall 2023 is now open! Some clinics accept applications every semester and some clinics accept applications only during the Spring application period. Clinics accepting applications for the Fall 2023 semester include: the Family Law Field Clinic. The Asylum & Immigration and Advanced Asylum & Immigration Law Clinic, the Civil Litigation Clinic, and the Croak Community Legal Clinic are only accepting applications for their waitlists at this time. Please see the Experiential Learning Application Calendar above for Application Timelines. The Priority Application Deadline will be April 3rd at noon. Applications received after this deadline will be considered only if there are remaining seats left available in the clinic(s). 

 

Click Here for the Fall 2023 Clinic Application

Litigation Lab Application

The Application Period for Litigation Lab, Fall 2023 is now open! Please see the Experiential Learning Application Calendar above for Application Timelines. Submitted applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the practicum is full. Please note that students are permitted to enroll in Lit Lab and a Legal Clinic during the same semester.

 

Click Here for the Litigation Lab Fall 2023 Application

3YP Application

The application for 3YP Class of 2024 is now open! The Priority Application Deadline is October 31st at noon. Applications received after the deadline will be considered only if there are remaining seats left available in the program.  

3YP Class of 2024 Application

International Human Rights Law Practicum

The International Human Rights Law Practicum is only accepting applications for its 2023-2024 waitlist at this time. Applications are only accepted in Spring for Fall enrollment. The Priority Application Deadline is April 3rd at noon. Applications received after the deadline will only be considered if there is space still available in the practicum. 

 

Click Here for the International Human Rights Law Practicum Application

Important Dates for Fall 2023 Experiential Learning Enrollment​

March 6 Marketing Period begins for our Legal Clinics and Litigation Lab opportunities. Students should begin looking out for announcements about our offerings.
March 20 Priority Application Period Begins. Our applications will be available on our website.
April 3 at NOON Priority Application Period closes. Please note that most of our Experiential Learning opportunities are oversubscribed so we encourage you to apply during the Priority Application Period for your best option to be accepted into your preferred opportunity. For information about applications received after the Priority Application Deadline, please see the FAQs below.
April 3  - April 10
 Legal Clinic, 3YP Program, Litigation Lab and IHRLI Practicum applications are under review.
April 10 by 5 pm Students will be notified of whether their application has been accepted, wait-listed or denied.
April 12 by
5 pm		 Students must accept or reject acceptance offers by responding to their offer email. If students do not accept their enrollment offers timely, their spot will be offered to another applicant.
Open Ended
 Students may continue to apply to Experiential Learning opportunities with remaining availability after enrollment deadline dates until we have reached full capacity.  However, it is highly recommended that students apply during the Priority Application window so that they will be considered for their preferred opportunity.

Clinic Supplemental Material

Below please find information about each of our clinics. Please read these materials carefully, as some include specific requirements. For more information, visit each clinic’s website.
Legal Clinics # of Credits Time-frame 711 Required Interview Required Accepts JD Evening Students Field clinic/
in-house/
on-site clinic		 Estimated outside-of-class work per week (hours)
Asylum & Immigration Law Clinic
US immigration law and practice, with a particular focus on US asylum		 4 One semester
 No Yes Yes In-house 15-18 
Skills Gained: Prepare defenses to deportation or applications for relief including immigration applications and supporting documents; interview and counsel clients; work with experts; research human rights issues and U.S. substantive and procedural law; draft affidavits and legal arguments; and develop trial skills and other public presentation skills.
Business Law Clinic
Transactional, business, corporation, contract drafting, and some IP. No litigation.		 4 (+4 in spring) Year-long No Yes Only in exceptional circumstances In-house 6-10
Skills Gained: Skills Gained: Client counseling, contract drafting, corporate governance, business law, corporate negotiations, memoranda drafting, legal research on statutes and applicable regulations, intellectual property counseling.
Civil Litigation and Health Law Clinic
Civil litigation in administrative hearings and court, and health law disputes.		 3 One Semester No No Yes In-house 5-10
Skills Gained: Interview clients and witnesses, draft and analyze pleadings, discovery requests, discovery responses, and motions, and will engage in settlement negotiations, and trial work.
Criminal Appeals/Advanced Criminal Appeals
Criminal Defense
 3 One Semester No No Yes In-house 5-10
Skills Gained: Review the record from trial; confer with the client; research the law to provide support for their theories; and draft and file a brief.
Croak Community Legal Clinic
The Fall semester will focus on civil law. The Spring semester will focus on criminal justice.		 3 One Semester No No Yes In-house 5-10
Skills Gained: Students will give workshops on various topics to groups of people facing legal issues. Immediately after these presentations, students working under the supervision of an experienced attorney will provide free and confidential advice and limited-scope representation to individuals who attend the workshops.
Family Law Field Clinic
Family Law including marriage, divorce, invalidity of marriage, legal separation, parentage, and adoption.
 4
 Year-long
 No
 No
 Yes, but only for those available to work during the day.
 Field Clinic
 5 -10  Students will spent 7 hours per week at CVLS (Chicago Volunteer Legal Services)
Skills Gained: Interviewing and counseling clients, developing case plans and strategies, investigating witnesses and facts, preparing letters and legal documents, negotiating, going to court and otherwise helping clients solve real family law disputes.
TIP® Field Clinic
Transactional services in the areas of patent, trademark and copyright law, internet, data protection and privacy		 3 (+2 with seminar) One ​Semester No No Yes Field Clinic 5-10
Skills Gained: Conduct client interviews, research facts and law, counsel clients, draft communications to clients and to third parties, and strategize how to achieve the clients' goals.

FAQ

The Legal Clinics provide an opportunity to gain hands-on lawyering experience. Our clinical faculty are experienced attorneys with expertise in their fields. You will provide legal counsel to real clients who need help with real legal issues.

The Legal Clinics are also a chance to give back to the community and contribute to DePaul’s Vincentian mission. Most of our clients are from the local community and lack access to quality, affordable legal representation.

The vast majority of our clients are indigent individuals and families who cannot afford a private, fee-paid attorney. Most of our clients are referred to our clinics through legal aid agencies, community organizations, or courts that have established partnerships with us.

Second and third year JD students are eligible to enroll, depending on which clinic you are interested in, and if a 711 license is required. Thus, rising 2L and rising 3L students are eligible to apply.

1L students (including Two-Year JD students who are in their first year of studies) are not eligible for clinical courses. MJ students may not take clinical courses.

Some clinics have prerequisites and co-requisites; please check the clinic descriptions for more information.

To apply, you must visit the Legal Clinics website and complete and submit the application form along with your resume. All of our clinics enroll by permission only. Students cannot enroll directly in a Legal Clinic on their own during the registration period, but must apply, be accepted and then the Legal Clinics will enroll you. To be enrolled, you must have sufficient space in your schedule.

Your resume in pdf format should be submitted as part of your application. Include your name e.g. Josh Clark _ Resume.

The Legal Clinics have a Priority Application Period ending with a Priority Application Deadline. Applicants who apply by the Priority Application Deadline will be considered first for open slots. For most of our clinics, all open slots are filled by applications received by the Priority Application Deadline.

If there are open slots available after the Priority Application Deadline, applications received after the Priority Application Deadline will be reviewed and processed in the order of receipt. Since our clinics are generally oversubscribed, we strongly encourage you to apply during the Priority Application Period for your best chance to be accepted into your preferred clinic.

The Priority Application Period and Deadline will be posted on the Legal Clinics website. For your reference, the Priority Application Period and Deadline are generally the 2nd and 3rd week in March for Fall semester registration and the 2nd and 3rd week in October for Spring registration, though that timing might shift by a week or so depending on the specific dates of law school registration. For specific upcoming dates, please review the Experiential Learning Application Calendar (link below).

Experiential Learning Application Calendar

Spring semester application for Fall enrollment:

Year-long clinics

  • Business Law
  • Family Law Field Clinic

One-semester clinics

  • Asylum & Immigration
  • Civil Litigation and Health Law Clinic
  • Criminal Appeals/Advanced Criminal Appeals
  • Croak Community Legal Clinic
  • TIP® Field Clinic

Fall semester application for Spring enrollment:

One-semester clinics

  • Asylum & Immigration
  • Civil Litigation and Health Law Clinic
  • Criminal Appeals
  • Croak Community Legal Clinic
  • TIP® Field Clinic

Please note the year-long clinics do not take new applicants for the Spring semester. 

Students applying after the Priority Application Deadline will only be considered for Legal Clinics with slots that remain open after the Priority Application Deadline. Please note that most of our Legal Clinics are oversubscribed so we encourage you to apply during the Priority Application Period for your best option to be accepted into your preferred Legal Clinic.

Please DO NOT email the clinical professor asking for a spot or if they are still taking applications. If you have questions about which clinics have available slots, please either visit our website for updated information or email the legal clinic at depaullegalclinic@depaul.edu  

The legal clinic staff reviews your application and sends it to the professor for review. The professor makes the final determination of which applicants to accept into the clinic. You will be notified of whether your application was accepted, placed on a wait-list or declined. 

Applications received by the Priority Application Deadline will be reviewed first. Those applicants will either be accepted into the clinic, placed on a Wait-List for the clinic the student applied to, or declined. If a student who was accepted into a clinic does not enroll or withdraws from that clinic, students on the Wait-List will be admitted prior to students whose applications were received after the Priority Application Deadline.

Applicants will be notified of their acceptance in accordance with the timeline of the Experiential Learning Application Calendar which is available above.

Yes, you can apply to a maximum of two Legal Clinics during the Priority Application Period, but you must list your first and second choice on your application. Students will be considered for their first choice clinic prior to being considered for their second choice clinic. This maximum does not apply to Lit Lab - students are permitted to enroll in Lit Lab and a Legal Clinic during the same semester, but must apply to them separately.

Yes, you have three choices: Email us at depaullegalclinic@depaul.edu, call us at 312-362-8294, or visit us at the DePaul Legal Clinics. We are located in the O’Malley building on the 10th floor (please note, our offices are only accessible via the O’Malley elevators). Feel free to stop by and request a tour or contact us for more information!

Students are permitted to apply to more than one clinic, but are only permitted to take one clinic at a time. Students can take no more than 2 clinics in total. Students are permitted to enroll in Lit Lab and a Legal Clinic during the same semster, but must apply to Lit Lab and their preferred Legal Clinics separately.

Also, please note that the field work component of our Field Clinics are considered non-classroom credits. With the exception of students enrolled in 3YP, the law school caps the credit hours a JD student can earn for non-classroom courses. For information on the policy governing maximum non-classroom credit hours, please see the 'Credit Hour Limitation' in the University Handbook available at the link below. Students are encouraged to meet with the law school's Academic Advisor (see link below) to review the student’s current and anticipated accumulation of non-classroom hours.

University Handbook Credit Hour Limitation

Law School Academic Advisor

Pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711, upper-level law students may be certified by the dean of the law school to be eligible to perform specified legal services under the supervision of a licensed attorney. Certain legal clinics require students to have, or be eligible for, a 711 license to enroll in the Clinic. For more information about the requirements for a 711 license, please see the University Academic Catalog and the Student Affairs website using the links below.

 
 
 

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