民事诉讼项目帮助学生发展审前技能

From discovery to trial, students in BU Law’s Employment Rights and Housing, Employment, Family, & Disability Clinics learn how to develop a case.

“Every case is a mystery,” says 玛丽·康诺顿, clinical associate professor in 波士顿大学法学院’s 民事诉讼程序. “The students who participate in the civil clinics are questioners. They want to solve the case.” 她的任务是帮助他们培养质疑的技能，甚至更好的是，发现故事中的弱点。

Under Connaughton’s supervision, students in the 就业权利诊所 (ERC) and the Housing, Employment, Family, & Disability (HEFD) Clinic represent indigent clients in all manner of employment cases: from unemployment compensation to employment discrimination, wage and hour, and Family Medical Leave Act cases. 学生可以在审判过程的每个阶段获得经验，从审前取证到在失业援助司、马萨诸塞州反歧视委员会和马萨诸塞州高等法院的法官面前出庭。

“The goal is for our students to be the lead lawyers on these cases,” Connaughton says. “I try to set up the context so they know how to respond, but they take the lead and practice the skills any lawyer would use.”

虽然一些学生有机会将他们的案件提交审判，但更多的学生参与了法庭前或法庭外的关键阶段，包括客户咨询、发现、调解或替代性争议解决。

Matt Lawrence and Gary Spencer (both ’17) participated in the ERC in spring 2016, working on a wrongful termination case in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 他们一起合作完成了取证前的每个阶段。 “We started the semester by meeting with the client,” Spencer says. “We went over the story and made sure we understood the facts and where the inconsistencies were or where the events were less clear.”

除了与客户会面之外，劳伦斯和斯宾塞律师事务所还回应了制作和讯问的要求，为客户和被告提出了问题，撰写了保密令，并与对方律师协商了时间表。 他们还出席了一个状况会议，在法官面前确定诉讼日程。

在此过程中，他们了解了审判过程，并培养了毕业后执业所必需的基本律师技能。 最具挑战性的部分之一可能是在证人的许多陈述中保持事实的真实性，其中一些可能不一致。 “You have to know everything inside and out,” Lawrence says, “and you have to know where in your notes to find it all when you’re questioning a witness, because the real person won’t answer your questions in the way you practiced. You can’t always stick to the script.”

康诺顿与学生密切合作，确保他们准备好迎接每个阶段的挑战。 “We do a lot of planning, and a lot teamwork, and a lot of role playing,” she says. ” 这有助于他们获得在任何特定情况下应对变化和意外的经验。 They learn the muscles to respond to these things so when they go into a deposition or a court appearance they are prepared for anything.”

Daniela Sorokko Harris (’13), an associate 在库克·佩吉特公司从事雇佣法工作 recalls her experience as a student in the HEFD clinic: “Mary treated us like lawyers rather than students. 还有经验丰富的律师。 She created a very nurturing environment, in which we simultaneously felt ownership over the cases and weren’t afraid to make mistakes.”

Sorokko Harris说，她作为学生律师所做的澳门威尼斯人注册网站研究和课堂准备帮助她做好了与对方律师打交道的准备。 “I think preparation is important at any stage of your legal career, but especially when you’re facing attorneys with decades of experience over you, you have to work extra hard to know all the facts and legal elements of your case.”

“When you’re in class, everything can seem theoretical,” Lawrence says. “It can be challenging to actually put it into practice. You realize it’s not a drill. 诊所擅长强迫你把所有事情分解成具体的步骤。 The more concrete you can make it the less daunting it seems.”

“Depositions were just one part of it,” Sorokko Harris says of her clinic experience. “Learning how to do written discovery, motion practice, and counsel clients, to name just a few of the skills we developed during the clinic, has allowed me to hit the ground running as a young attorney.”