CSU|LAW graduates find that they have more practical lawyering skills to offer employers, and that’s by design. Our students are required to take at least one experiential course, but many choose to take more, finding that CSU|LAW's robust network and slate of opportunities expose them to areas of the law and legal practice that law students at many other schools are unable to experience.
Clinics
Appellate Practice Clinic
Represent clients in appellate proceedings before state and federal appeals courts and tribunals, including Ohio's Eighth District Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Civil Litigation Clinic
Represent Clients in a range of cases before courts and administrative agencies such as
- Asylum
- Immigration
- Civil Rights including First Amendment and Equal Protection Cases
- Employment and Employment Discrimination
- Wage and hour disputes
- Unemployment compensation
- Fair housing and landlord tenant
- Consumer concerns
- Breach of contract
- Civil Stalking Protection Orders
- Mediation
- Ex-Offender Reentry
Community Advocacy Clinic
Assist our community’s most vulnerable populations with
- Public benefits
- Expungement
- Name change
- Child support
- Consumer advocacy
- Community development
- LBGTQ advocacy
- Human trafficking
Pretrial Justice Clinic
Contribute toward a significant need for effective legal representation for indigent defendants at this early but pivotal stage in the criminal justice process. Working with the Office of the County Public Defender, students develop critical lawyering skills, such as client interviews, oral advocacy and pretrial motion practice, as they work to secure pretrial release as clients’ cases move from the municipal court system to the county court of common pleas.
Transactional Law Clinic
Work on the same kinds of issues that you’ll be handling as a business lawyer, helping to provide advice and services in:
- Tax
- Corporate governance
- Environmental law
- Real estate
- Corporate policies
- Compliance with federal and state laws
- Entity selection and formation
- Estate planning and probate
- Intellectual property
- Minimizing risk through advise on institutional policies and practices
- Contract drafting
- Intellectual property advice and filings
Externships
By observing legal proceedings and contributing to the work of a legal office, students receive broad exposure to the legal system. Externship placements include:
- Judicial chambers
- Federal. state and local government agencies
- Non-profit and public interest organizations
- Corporate legal offices
Innovative Practical Curriculum
Short-term, practice-based experiences provide the flexibility to address pressing current legal issues by undertaking projects for private, public, and non-profit entities. "Pop-up" practicums have included:
- Restorative Justice
- Conviction integrity Unit
- Mental Health Court
- Cuyahoga County Bail Reform Task Force
- Icebreaker Wind Project
- Cleveland Police Commission
- First Amendment advice and advocacy
- Ohio Criminal Rules revision
- Domestic Violence Safe Leave
- Advice to developers of criminal defendant app