Keith Mack
Case Western Reserve University School of Law has a long history of providing clinical programs and pro bono legal services to the community. The law clinic, located in Cleveland, offers ten clinics covering various areas of law, including civil and criminal matters. The clinic handles hundreds of cases annually, totalling approximately 24,000 hours of pro bono work. Students gain hands-on experience by representing clients, developing case strategies, and advocating in courts. With a focus on experiential learning, the law school provides opportunities like Moot Court and Mock Trial programs, externships, and exchange programs with top law schools globally.
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What You'll Learn
Kramer Law Clinic
The Kramer Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law has been recognised for its significant contributions to legal advocacy and public interest law. The clinic, which is nestled in Cleveland's West Side in the Clark-Fulton neighbourhood, has been serving the community for over 50 years. It is a law firm within the law school, providing highest-quality representation to those who cannot afford their own lawyers. The Kramer Law Clinic handles hundreds of matters per year, totalling approximately 24,000 hours of pro bono legal work.
The clinic's cases intersect civil and criminal legal systems, tackling issues like mass incarceration, prisoner reentry, and the collateral consequences of criminal convictions. Students can expect to work on cases related to felony and misdemeanour record expungement, child support, visitation and custody, and restoration of rights. They work independently and in teams to develop case strategies, draft court filings, and advocate for clients in courts across Northeast Ohio. The clinic offers ten clinics, each providing experience in different areas of law. These include the Appellate Litigation Clinic, Community Development Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, First Amendment Clinic, Health Law Clinic, and more.
The Kramer Law Clinic is open from Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM EDT, and is closed on weekends. The clinic provides an innovative and visionary curriculum that combines classical legal education with cutting-edge experiential opportunities. Their nationally recognised experiential program, foreign study programs, and externships prepare students for their future careers. The school encourages students to take advantage of these opportunities, which include exchange and concurrent degree programs on five continents.
Case Western Reserve University School of Law offers a range of scholarships and is not conditional upon GPA. Their rigorous but flexible selection process values diversity in its student body. With both Spring and Fall starts and the acceptance of LSAT and GRE, the school aims to provide a dynamic and inclusive learning environment.
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Appellate Litigation Clinic
Case Western Reserve University School of Law's Kramer Law Clinic has been recognised for its significant contributions to legal advocacy and public interest law. The law school was one of the first in the country to start a clinical program, opening to the community over 50 years ago. The clinic handles hundreds of matters per year, totalling approximately 24,000 hours of pro bono legal work.
The Appellate Litigation Clinic is one of ten clinics offered by the law school. This clinic offers students the opportunity to work on multiple appeals over the course of a single semester or, depending on student performance, a full year. The clinic's clients primarily seek relief from criminal convictions, although the clinic also occasionally represents parties in civil appeals. The issues on appeal vary widely. Some clients seek relief from convictions based on guilty pleas they now wish to withdraw, while others believe their convictions were the result of errors at trial. Some cases relate only to sentencing issues.
Students in the Appellate Litigation Clinic take on a range of tasks, including interviewing clients (sometimes in correctional facilities), pursuing any necessary post-judgment relief in the trial court, preparing the paperwork to initiate the appeal, ensuring the completeness of the record, handling settlement conferences, and researching and drafting appellate briefs.
The clinic's cases tackle issues related to mass incarceration, prisoner reentry, and the collateral consequences of criminal convictions. Students work independently and in teams to develop case strategies, draft court filings, and advocate for clients in courts across Northeast Ohio. The clinic provides a unique opportunity for students to gain practical experience in appellate litigation while providing much-needed legal services to those who cannot afford their own lawyers.
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First Amendment Clinic
Case Western Reserve University School of Law's Kramer Law Clinic has been nationally recognised for its significant contributions to legal advocacy and public interest law. The law school was one of the first in the country to start a clinical program, opening to the community over 50 years ago. The clinic handles hundreds of matters per year, totalling approximately 24,000 hours of pro bono legal work.
The First Amendment Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law is committed to protecting free expression and free speech through direct client representation and advocacy. The clinic is designed for third-year law students and is an experiential offering within the Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic. The clinic is primarily staffed by a director, attorney fellows, and third-year law students who are certified as legal interns by the Supreme Court of Ohio.
The First Amendment Clinic offers free legal services for individuals and institutions. It is funded by a $1 million commitment from the Stanton Foundation, named after Frank Stanton, who spent nearly three decades as the president of CBS and often advocated for freedom of the press and free speech.
The clinic has represented clients in affirmative litigation against government actors under federal civil rights law and has defended clients against tort claims where the underlying conduct is speech-related. Students in the clinic interview clients, pursue any necessary post-judgment relief in the trial court, prepare the paperwork to initiate the appeal, ensure the completeness of the record, handle any settlement conferences, and research and draft appellate briefs.
Case Western Reserve University School of Law offers a range of other clinics and experiential learning opportunities, including the Appellate Litigation Clinic, Community Development Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, Environmental Law Clinic, Health Clinic, Human Trafficking Clinic, Immigration Clinic, Intellectual Property Venture Clinic, and Second Chance Reentry Clinic. The law school also offers Moot Court and Mock Trial programs, foreign study programs, and externships.
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Second Chance Reentry Clinic
The Second Chance Reentry Clinic is one of the ten clinics under the umbrella of the Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. It is an experiential learning clinic that offers students hands-on experience in the area of reentry law. The clinic is led by Hannah Christ, JD, and staffed by a team of third-year law students who are certified as Legal Interns by the Supreme Court of Ohio.
The Second Chance Reentry Clinic focuses on helping formerly incarcerated individuals manage the legal issues of their past and successfully reintegrate into society. The clinic handles cases related to felony and misdemeanour record expungement, child support, visitation and custody, and restoration of rights. The clinic also engages in policy and advocacy work related to reentry and the criminal legal system.
The clinic accepts cases on a first-come, first-served basis through referrals, direct contact, and brief advice clinics. It is funded by the Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry and has helped more than 300 formerly incarcerated citizens. The clinic plays an important role in the community by giving people hope and helping them beyond their day-to-day concerns, allowing them to engage with the community.
Students in the Second Chance Reentry Clinic gain practical experience by working independently and in teams to develop case strategies, draft court filings, and advocate for their clients in courts across Northeast Ohio. They also have the opportunity to interact with incarcerated individuals and learn about the challenges they face, fostering greater understanding and empathy.
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Clinical program history
Case Western Reserve University School of Law’s Kramer Law Clinic has been nationally recognised for its significant contributions to legal advocacy and public interest law. It was one of the first law schools in the country to start a clinical program, opening its doors to the community over 45 to 50 years ago. The clinic has a long-standing history of commitment to clients, providing the highest-quality representation and excellence in education.
The clinic is a law firm within the law school, with faculty members who have years of practice experience. Students represent clients and client groups who cannot afford their own lawyers, handling hundreds of matters each year, totalling approximately 24,000 hours of pro bono legal work. Each student takes primary responsibility for their caseload, which includes complex cases such as ongoing representation of organisations, civil, criminal and administrative appeals, consumer disputes, disability rights, fraud claims, emergency commitment and competency hearings, patentability and patent applications, trademark and copyright issues, and misdemeanor and felony cases in adult and juvenile courts.
The ten clinics within the centre provide experiences in different areas of law. For example, the Appellate Litigation Clinic allows students to work on multiple appeals over a semester or a full year, depending on their performance. Clients in this clinic primarily seek relief from criminal convictions, although the clinic also represents parties in appeals from civil matters. Students in this clinic interview clients, pursue post-judgment relief in trial courts, prepare paperwork, ensure complete records, handle settlement conferences, and research and draft appellate briefs.
Another clinic, the Human Trafficking Law Clinic (HTLC), is an interdisciplinary program that combines social work and law students. The program works on three system levels: direct representation, community outreach and education, and legislative advocacy. The HTLC provides legal assistance and trauma-responsive social services to adult sex and labour trafficking survivors and those populations vulnerable to trafficking, including the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with substance use problems or housing instability, and individuals living under 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. The HTLC focuses on legal wellness, civil legal representation, and referral to social service agencies to meet the holistic needs of clients.
The clinic also offers a 1L Experience, where first-year students visit local courts and assist clients through brief advice clinics and associations with legal service providers in the community. Areas of law include record sealing, immigration, living wills, legal name changes, domestic relations, evictions, and more. Students who complete 50 or more pro bono hours are recognised at graduation, and the student with the most hours receives an award.
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