Encouraging Reflection on and Involving Students in the Decision to Begin Representation
Clincial Law Review Vol. 16, No. 2, Spring 2010
68 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2010
Date Written: June 4, 2010
Abstract
The key lessons that clinics teach can be illustrated through teaching the process of client selection. Regardless of what those lessons are, law school clinics could provide more opportunities for students to be engaged in and reflective about client selection to shed light on the nature and complexity of the attorney-client relationship. Because reasonable lawyers disagree on what to consider in the decision to begin representation, the purpose of this Article is not to enumerate the factors that lawyers may consider, but instead to identify issues that student-attorneys are likely to face in deciding whom to represent. These issues both provide good entry points into how to decide whom to represent and encourage reflection about the attorney-client relationship. This Article explores the particular challenges that arise in involving students in the decision of whom to represent, focusing on clinic design, supervisor interests, student expectations, and concern for clients. Through the use of supervisor-student dialogues, the Article highlights fundamental issues that arise in client selection, covering eight lawyering and learning themes. The goal is to give students a framework for decision-making that will be useful in their practice and to encourage reflection about client selection specifically, and about lawyering, more generally.
Keywords: Clinical teaching, Supervision, Beginning representation
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