Legal Skills Training Opportunities
The College of Law has designed a comprehensive approach to skills training that begins in the first year and continues throughout the second and third years of the curriculum. It employs the latest technology, both as teaching tools and as means of communication and persuasion with which the present day advocate must be familiar. It is also distinguished by the high degree of involvement of members of the full-time faculty. This provides for the ultimate integration of the theoretical and practical aspects of a well-rounded legal education.
In the first year, students take two full-year, required courses, Basic Legal Research and Legal Writing and Advocacy. Recognizing that effective legal research and communication are the basic skills utilized every day by the successful practitioner, these courses address these skills at the beginning of law school. The two courses employ coordinated, real-life exercises.
Various clinical experiences are offered each semester at the Zeke Giorgi Legal Clinic in Rockford, IL. Students represent clients under the direction of well-qualified supervising attorneys. The clinical courses each have a classroom component in addition to the practice experience. They are taught by members of the College of Law faculty in conjunction with the supervising attorneys. These classes bring academic and practical worlds together, addressing a range of issues students experience in their cases, from honing legal skills, to exploring issues of substantive law and procedure, to considering real-world issues of professional responsibility and ethics.
The clinical opportunities taught at the College of Law in recent years include: Domestic Abuse Clinic, Elder Law Clinic, and Mediation Clinic.
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