In-House Clinics

Juvenile Defense Clinic

Students enrolled in the Juvenile Defense Clinic, formerly the Children and Families Clinic, will represent children who are charged with delinquent acts in juvenile court. Delinquency cases are the juvenile equivalent of adult criminal cases. Qualified students must be certified under the Florida Student Practice Rule, Chapter 11 Florida Rules Regulating Admission to the Bar. Once accepted into the clinic, your CLI application will be processed. Students who have questions about the Juvenile Defense Clinic are welcome to contact us at 407-681-5403 or by email to Professor Puzone at kpuzone@barry.edu.

The Juvenile Defense Clinic focuses on in-court advocacy as a defense attorney. Students conduct all court appearances under the supervision of the professor. Also conduct detention/probable cause hearings, negotiate pleas, interview witness, take depositions, argue motions, conduct trials and post-trial proceedings. The clinic's clients are mostly at risk youth living in extreme poverty and unstable home environments. Students will learn to develop theories of defense to the crimes charged as well as working with the client to address the underlying issues affecting the client's behavior. Students will study the mental health issues that affect at risk teenagers. In addition will visit clients at their homes, schools, the juvenile detention court, the youth shelter and juvenile commitment programs. Clinic students are in court on a regular basis.

To enroll in the Juvenile Defense Clinic, students must have completed four semesters and forty-eight credit hours. The prerequisites for this course are Criminal Law, Evidence and Professional Responsibility. Recommended courses prior to taking this course include, Criminal Procedure and Trial Advocacy. Your Notice of Registrant Clearance from the Florida Bar must accompany the completed application.

The Juvenile Defense Clinic is six credit hours. Students will be required to commit to a minimum of approximately twenty hours per week. The students will meet in a class for three hours every week. The students in groups of two, will also be required to meet with their faculty supervisor once a week for at least an hour to review the status and progress of individual cases. Finally, the students will be required to commit to additional hours each week for client contact purposes. The remaining hours will be fulfilled each week preparing for class and the cases and in individual meetings with the supervising faculty to prepare for significant stages of the case.

In addition to these weekly hours during the semester, the students who enroll will be required to attend a pre-semester orientation to be held in the week prior to the start of classes. This orientation will provide an intensive review of some of the substantive and procedural law to be used in the clinic, review some of the special client issues presented by these cases, and lead students in some simulated exercises relevant to the cases.

Collaborative Family Law Clinic

Barry University School of Law offers a fully staffed Collaborative Family Law Panel to help couples resolve marital disputes, especially divorce, in a non-litigious manner. Students work directly with attorneys, mental health professionals and financial experts from the community in representing clients and providing them with the full collaborative law experience. Barry University School of Law is one of only a few law schools in the nation offering such a clinic, and the only one with a full panel experience for students and clients.

Collaborative family law advocates the resolution of issues in a non-litigious atmosphere. Clients and professionals agree to resolve the issues without resorting to court-based litigation. A number of areas of substantive law are covered in this 3 credit clinic, including Family Law, Constitutional Law and Professional Responsibility. Skill components include legal research and writing, negotiations, client interviewing and counseling, oral and written advocacy, legal analysis, strategic planning, factual investigation, critical self-reflection, and case management.

Students are eligible to register for the clinic starting in their third semester. Clinic students will also participate in a Practice Ready Institute (PRI) course covering the policies and processes of collaborative law. They will participate in a two day training session which will result in the necessary training and certification to practice collaborative law after admission to the Bar.

This training is free to clinic students, who will take it alongside attorneys, mental health professionals and financial experts from the community who are seeking certification to practice in this area. In addition, students are required to commit to a minimum of approximately 10 hours per week, which will include client meetings, panel discussions, case preparation and a classroom component.

The Collaborative Family Law Clinic is a unique learning and practice experience as well as a gateway to certification to work in the area after admission to the Bar.

Students who have questions about the Collaborative Family Law Clinic are welcome to contact Professor Brenda London at Blondon@barry.edu, or Lymaris Cruz at Lcruz@barry.edu.

Environmental and Earth Law Clinic

This is a six-credit hour one-semester course focused on developing the skills used in an environmental law practice. While litigation is an important tool in addressing some environmental concerns, lasting resolutions are usually achieved through negotiation and consensus-building.

Students participating in this clinic will develop an understanding about the interrelationship among environmental laws, regulations and permits by assessing environmental conditions impacting individuals and communities and working with clients to assess their legal options. Students will also learn client development skills by working with the clinic director to identify environmentally impacted communities within the region and organizations or individuals within those communities who may require or benefit from legal assistance.

Students must have completed three semesters and thirty-six credit hours to participate in this course. Prerequisites for this course are Professional Responsibility and Environmental Law (can be taken concurrently). The Environmental Law, Jurisprudence and Justice Seminar is recommended.

Students who have questions about the Environmental and Earth Law Clinic are welcome to contact Professor Rachel Deming at 407-681-5422 or via her email at rdeming@barry.edu

Immigration Clinic

Students enrolled in the Immigration Clinic will primarily represent non-citizens seeking immigration benefits or defending against removal proceedings before the Department of Homeland Security or the Executive Office for Immigration Review (federal administrative agencies). Students do not need to be certified under the Florida Student Practice Rule, Chapter 11 Florida Rules Regulating Admission to the Bar, in order to participate fully in the clinic, but may wish to obtain that certification for their future use.

The substantive law covered in this course includes immigration law, professional responsibility, and evidence. Skills taught will likely include client interviewing, client counseling, fact investigation, case planning, legal research, legal analysis and writing, oral and written advocacy, and critical self-reflection. Each case will be broken into its smallest components and the students will be expected to pursue and consider as many legal, factual, ethical, and strategic issues as time permits and the cases requires.

To enroll in the Immigration Clinic, students must have completed three semesters and thirty-six credit hours. Prerequisites for this course are Immigration Law and Professional Responsibility. Other relevant courses that students may wish to consider prior to participation in this Clinic include Trial Advocacy, Client Counseling, Evidence, Advanced Legal Writing, and Administrative Law. Issues related to criminal law, family law, juvenile law, disabilities law, tax law, and public benefits law might also occasionally arise in the course of the Clinic's work.

The Immigration Clinic is six credit hours. The students will be required to commit to a minimum of approximately twenty hours per week. (The time necessary will vary over the course of the semester depending on the stage of the student’s cases.) These hours include the time spent in classroom attendance, meeting with faculty, class and case preparation, and case related meetings and appearances. Students will spend three hours per week in class and at least an hour per week in individual or small group case team meetings with their faculty supervisor. The remaining hours each week will be spent in activities including class preparation, client meetings, and other casework. In addition to these weekly hours during the semester, the students who enroll will be required to attend a pre-semester orientation to be held in the week prior to the start of classes. This orientation will provide an intensive review of some of the substantive and procedural law to be used in the clinic course, review some of the special client issues presented by these cases, and lead students in some simulated exercises relevant to the cases.

Students who have questions about the Immigration Clinic are welcome to contact Professor Aschenbrenner at 407-681-5403 or via email at kaschenbrenner@barry.edu.

Bankruptcy Clinic

In the Bankruptcy Clinic students will be working directly with pro-se clients filing both Chapter 7 liquidation and Chapter 13 reorganization bankruptcies. Students will travel to the Bankruptcy Court of the Middle District of Florida in downtown Orlando to meet with clients. Students will be assisting in the preparation of the debtor's paperwork and advising them directly on issues that will arise during the course of bankruptcy. While students are supervised by a practicing bankruptcy attorney, meetings with clients are run by students and they will be the primary advisor for each client.

The Bankruptcy Clinic helps students to learn and improve real world techniques in both interviewing, assessing and advising clients in their bankruptcy needs. Students will gain a knowledge of bankruptcy filing procedures and in assisting pro-se clients in writing various documents to be submitted to the court.