The Clinic meets three times a week for seminar classes. During the first half of the semester the in-class portion of the Clinic will include lectures and discussions focused on learning the organization and operation of the federal legislative and executive branches; how law, policy, process, politics, and personality factors shape their decision-making; and how to advocate successfully to and within the Art. I and Art. II branches of the federal government. Some sessions may include guest lecturers, skill building activities, or exercises not listed in the Handbook.
Throughout the term, most of your learning will occur by doing legislative lawyering work on behalf of your client or principal during the Clinic semester. You will be researching, writing, and presenting on a specific issue area and will be expected to be the expert on that issue.
Clinic fieldwork may also include attending coalition meetings, working group meetings, congressional hearings, and briefings. Students are expected to observe the key strategists in such meetings to learn how an overall strategy for policy advocacy is developed and implemented. Your Teaching Fellow will usually attend these meetings with you and will debrief with you after the meeting.
- Clinic Daily Brief. During each scheduled class time, two students will be responsible for drafting and orally briefing a concise daily brief of recent events that relate to the Clinic’s work.
- Student Led Meetings. Two weeks of class sessions in the second half of the semester will be devoted to our first variety of meeting practice, Student-Led Meetings (SLMs). At these meetings, each student will give a brief presentation on one aspect of their assignment and lead the group (which may include their principal or client) in a discussion on that subject. Students should limit the presentation portion of their meetings to 30 minutes. About 15 minutes of evaluative discussion will follow. These sessions are videotaped, and the Teaching Fellow and the Director subsequently reviews the videotapes with the student.
- “Mock Staffer” Meetings. The second variety of meeting practice the FLAC employs is the “Mock-Staffer” Meeting (MSM). Generally, the MSMs take place near the end of term. Invited guests act as congressional staffers, administration officials, or coalition members (hence mock staffers). These individuals are, in reality, often current and former congressional staffers, agency officials, coalition partners, and former Fellows and Clinic graduates. The Mock Staffer Meetings last approximately 20 minutes and are followed by 20 minutes of analysis and feedback from the mock staffers. The meetings are videotaped, and the Fellows and the Director subsequently review the videotapes with the students. The Mock Staffer Meetings are followed by a reception for the students, guests, and Clinic Staff.
- News Summaries. At the beginning of the semester, students will select periodicals to review each week for news stories or editorials relating to their project. The summaries will be emailed to the class.
Understanding intellectually how law, policy, process, politics, and personalities can come together to shape decision-making by Congress and the Executive Branch is not enough. An able legislative lawyer also develops a tactile sense for these contextual factors and institutions, and with that benefit reflects frequently and deeply about the work and responsibilities of a legislative lawyer. Accordingly, the term will feature several important opportunities for students to observe and engage firsthand with highly experienced individuals and key institutions.
- Distinguished Guests. Throughout the term, the Clinic will be visited by distinguished guests from practice who will discuss with students their thoughts on the substantive projects on which the FLAC is working and offer their reflections on the qualities of successful lawyers who work inside or advocate to Congress and/or the Executive Branch. Because such lawyers – to a far greater extent than most litigator-lawyers – work with and often for senior leaders who are not lawyers, a significant number of the Clinic’s distinguished guests will be non-lawyers who work or have done important work with Congress or the Executive Branch. These sessions represent a valuable learning opportunity, and students should come prepared with questions.
- Field Trips. At several points during term the Clinic will visit key institutions and individuals, such as the U.S. Congress, Executive Branch agencies, and particularly busy senior leaders.
- Congressional Committee Meeting or Floor Watching. At least once per term, each student is required to attend a congressional committee hearing, markup, or other kind of meeting, OR watch the Senate or House floor in session.
Once during the term each student will write a short reflection paper regarding one of these experiences. Students are additionally required to deliver a short, informal in-class oral summary of their reflection paper.
All students meet weekly with their Fellow for approximately an hour. At the start of each project, the student discusses the project with the Fellow. Students develop a research plan for the project that they share with their Fellow and they keep their Fellows informed about the progress of their work.
The most intensive individualized instruction in the Clinic occurs in relation to a student’s research, analysis, and drafting of a legislative lawyering document on the student’s project.
Most documents go through several edits with a Fellow before the document is submitted to the Director. The Director is updated on student progress by the Fellows on a weekly basis.
Mid-Semester and Final Evaluations:
A key component of Clinic learning is a student’s self-reflection and self-evaluation at the mid-point and end of the semester.
A student’s self-evaluation is complemented by an individualized assessment of each student’s strengths and weaknesses by the Fellow and Director. These self-reflections and assessments are based on performance with regard to substantive skills, classroom skills, and professional qualities.
At the assessment sessions, the Director and the Fellow meet with each student to listen to the student’s self-evaluation, discuss the student’s performance, and, together, agree on a plan for improving particular skills.
