Overview

The Civil Law Clinic engages students in the representation of real clients in a variety of legal matters, providing a valuable service to clients and community groups throughout the Miami Valley. The emphasis is on developing lawyering skills and professional habits and insights involved in client-centered representation, communication, problem-solving and advocacy. Student interns develop skills of interviewing and counseling, diagnosing legal options, developing case theories and plans, fact investigation, preparing legal memoranda, correspondence and documents, cross-cultural communication, oral advocacy, and court advocacy techniques.

The particular legal work is broad in substantive focus and determined by what clients present, through community-based clinics we conduct, referrals from area organizations and university campus units, as well as direct calls to the law clinic. In recent semesters, we have worked on cases involving guardianship, adoption, child custody and visitation, adoption, juvenile delinquency and education-related issues, housing and evictions, civil rights, probate, expungement and sealing of records, and debt collection and consumer law. Students recently argued a case before the 2nd Judicial District Court of Appeals (In re Adoption of U.I. (ohio.gov)).

Area organizations with whom we regularly collaborate and receive referrals include the Veteran’s Administration, Greene County Juvenile Court, Homeful, the Public Defenders’ offices of various local jurisdictions, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, the Legal Aid Society of Western Ohio, and other area social service and non-profit organizations that provide referrals of individual clients and broader legal issues affecting a community or group of people. We also collaborate with the other clinics to assist in matters extending into the civil arena. For example, recently we filed an adoption and an abuse, neglect and dependency petition for clients originating in the immigration clinic. 

A major focus has been on the representation of veterans connected with various services and programs at the Veteran’s Hospital in Dayton, where we organize and run monthly intake clinics for veterans associated with services located at the VA. 

Another major focus has been on the representation of youth, including young adults, experiencing issues of delinquency, incarceration, need for mental and physical health services, family and custodial rights assistance and intervention, and education.