DESIGNING A HYBRID DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ... Issue/08...1177 FILE:C:\WP51\LYNCH.DTP Jan 01/10/06 Tue 10:22AM DESIGNING A HYBRID DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROSECUTION CLINIC: Making Bedfellows

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DESIGNING A HYBRID DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROSECUTION CLINIC:

Making Bedfellows of Academics, Activists and Prosecutors to Teach Students According to Clinical

Theory and Best Practices

Mary A. Lynch* Broken nose. Loose teeth. Cracked ribs. Broken finger.

Black eyes. I don't know how many; I once had two at the same time, one fading, the other new. Shoulders, elbows, knees, wrists. Stitches in my mouth. Stitches on my chin. A ruptured eardrum. Burns. Cigarettes on my arms and legs. Thumped me, kicked me, pushed me, burned me. He butted me with his head. He held me still and butted me; I couldn't believe it. He dragged me around the house by my clothes and by my hair. He kicked me up and he kicked me down the stairs. Bruised me, scalded me, threatened me. For

C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( A L S ) , C o - D i r e c t o r , A L S C l i n i c a l

P r o g r a m . I a m g r a t e f u l t o t h e f o l l o w i n g p e o p l e f o r t h e i r i n v a l u a b l e i n s i g h t s a n d a s s i s t a n c e t o m e i n w r i t i n g t h i s a r t i c l e : P e t e r J o y , R u d y S t e g e m o e l l e r a n d m y c o l -l e a g u e s a t t h e A L S c l i n i c e s p e c i a l l y M e l i s s a L . B r e g e r , N a n c y M . M a u r e r , a n d J e n n i f e r T r o m b l e e , A d j u n c t P r o f e s s o r s C a r m e l l o L a q u i d a r a a n d L y n M u r p h y , a n d f o r m e r c l i n i c s t u d e n t s , L y n n W e l t h y a n d A . J . V i c k e y , w h o a l s o s e r v e d a s a b r i l l i a n t r e s e a r c h a s s i s t a n t . T h a n k y o u a l s o t o S t a c y C a p l o w , L a r r y C u n n i n g h a m , V a n e s s a M e r t o n , M i c h a e l M i l l e m a n n , P e g g y T o n o n a n d o t h e r c l i n i c i a n s w h o t e a c h p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s a n d g e n e r o u s l y s h a r e d i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h m e a b o u t t h e i r c l i n i c s .

F I L E : C : \ W P 5 1 \ L Y N C H . D T P J a n 0 1 / 1 0 / 0 6 T u e

1 0 : 2 2 A M 1 1 7 8 M I S S I S S I P P I L A W J O U R N A L [ V o l . 7 4

seventeen years. Hit me, thumped me, raped me. Sev-enteen years.1

In the clinical education universe, the prosecutorial cohort is small. While there may be only a few of us directly teaching and supervising students in this context, every year our former students pour into prosecutors' offices where they receive little reinforce-ment for a victim-centered approach.2

Despite a thicket of progressive policies and good in-

tentions, the prosecution and punishment of domestic violence crimes remains a haphazard affair in juris-dictions across the nation . . . .3

1 R D O Y L E , T H E W O M A N W H O W A L K E D I N T O D O O R S 1 7 5 - 7 6 ( 1 9 9 6 ) . S e l e c t e d e x c e r p t s f r o m t h i s f i c t i o n a l w o r k a r e a l s o f o u n d i n t h e t e x t b o o k , B a t t e r e d W o m e n a n d t h e L a w . S e e C L A R E D A L T O N & E L I Z A B E T H M . S C H N E I D E R , B A T T E R E D W O M E N A N D T H E

L A W 6 8 - 7 4 ( 2 0 0 1 ) . I t h i n k t h o s e o f u s i n t h e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e f i e l d a r e a m a z e d t h a t s o m e o f D o y l e ' s w r i t i n g s o e l o q u e n t l y m i r r o r s t h e w o r d s a n d e x p e r i e n c e s o f c l i e n t s , v i c t i m s a n d o t h e r w o m e n w e h a v e k n o w n . T h u s , I h a v e c h o s e n t o u s e t h i s f i c t i o n a l w o r k i n s t e a d o f s i m i l a r p h r a s i n g f r o m a n a c t u a l p e r s o n . 2 S t a c y C a p l o w , W h a t i f T h e r e I s N o C l i e n t ? : P r o s e c u t o r s a s AC o u n s e l o r s @ o f C r i m e V i c t i m s , 5 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 1 , 4 4 ( 1 9 9 8 ) . 3 A l l i s o n F r a n k e l , D o m e s t i c D i s a s t e r , A M . L A W . , J u n e 1 9 9 6 , a t 5 5 .

FILE:C:\wp51\74-4\LYNCH.DTP Jan 01/10/06 Tue 10:22AM 2005] HYBRID DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CLINIC 1179

I. INTRODUCTION

These three introductory quotes were published during the period 1996-1998 and describe the realities of many bat-tered women, of many clinical teachers and of most prosecu-tions of domestic violence crimes both then and now. The idea of creating a clinical course at Albany Law School (ALS) fo-cused on domestic violence prosecution was similarly born from: the concerns of battered women, the opportunity to teach students in an integrated, active manner on issues relevant to their eventual practice, and the Ahaphazard@ handling of domestic violence crimes locally. As feminists often note, Athe personal is political.@4 Thus, the story of the creation of the ALS Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit and my personal experience in facilitating its creation may offer political lessons for others. In addition, although some of the questions, issues and institutions which affected the development of my program are specific to my situation, there is a universal need to analyze the effect of political institutions and systems, edu-cational choices and human actors on the creation and design of any Ahybrid@ prosecution clinic.5 4 T h i s q u o t a t i o n w a s o r i g i n a l l y u s e d t o c o m m u n i c a t e t h a t t h e s o c i a l a n d l e g a l d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n p u b l i c m a t t e r s a n d p r i v a t e m a t t e r s w a s b o t h f a l s e a n d s e x i s t . S e e W M S T - L , AT h e P e r s o n a l i s P o l i t i c a l @: O r i g i n s o f t h e P h r a s e , a t h t t p : / / r e s e a r c h . u m b c . e d u / ~ k o r e n m a n / w m s t / p i s p . h t m l ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 6 , 2 0 0 5 ) ; A m y R i c h a r d s , W h a t D o e s t h e 1 9 6 0 F e m i n i s t P h r a s e AT h e P e r s o n a l I s P o l i t i c a l M e a n ? @, a t h t t p : / / w w w . f e m i n i s t . c o m / a s k a m y / f e m i n i s m / f e m / 5 3 . h t m l ( l a s t v i s i t e d J a n . 4 , 2 0 0 5 ) . I t h a s b e e n u s e d m o r e e x p a n s i v e l y s i n c e t h e n t o a l s o c o m m u n i c a t e t h e f a l s e n a t u r e o f t h e s u b j e c t i v e / o b j e c t i v e d i s t i n c t i o n s m a d e i n l a w a n d r e a s o n i n g w h i c h t r a d i -t i o n a l l y e l e v a t e Ao b j e c t i v e @ a n a l y s i s o v e r As u b j e c t i v e @ a n a l y s i s . F e m i n i s t l e g a l s c h o l a r s h a v e o b j e c t e d o n s i m i l a r g r o u n d s t o t h i s d i s t i n c t i o n a s w e l l . S e e A n n C . S c a l e s , T h e E m e r g e n c e o f F e m i n i s t J u r i s p r u d e n c e : A n E s s a y , 9 5 Y A L E L . J . 1 3 7 3 , 1 3 7 4 - 7 6 ( 1 9 8 6 ) . 5 C l i n i c a l s c h o l a r s h a v e u s e d t h e t e r m Ah y b r i d @ c l i n i c t o d e s c r i b e a v a r i e t y o f p r o -g r a m s . S o m e u s e i t t o d e s c r i b e t h e c o m b i n a t i o n o f a l a r g e t r a d i t i o n a l c o u r s e w i t h a c l i n i c a l i n f u s i o n o f s t u d e n t s , c a s e s a n d f a c u l t y w h i c h c r e a t e t h e b a s i s f o r e x p l o r a t i o n



The fall of 1997 was my first time teaching a ADomestic Violence Seminar@ outside of my teaching in our in-house clinic.6 Having just completed four years in our clinic's post-conviction project in which students and I represented incar-cerated battered women who killed their abusers, it was excit-ing to take both the knowledge and the lessons learned in clinical teaching and sow them into the syllabus, discussion and format of my seminar class.7 During the semester, many

o f t h e l e g a l s u b j e c t m a t t e r C t h e c o m b i n a t i o n o f b o t h t r a d i t i o n a l a n d c l i n i c a l s o t h a t At e a c h e r s a n d s t u d e n t s c o n t i n u a l l y u s e p r a c t i c e t o c r i t i c i z e e t h i c s t h e o r y a n d e t h i c s t h e o r y t o i n f o r m p r a c t i c e . @ D a v i d L u b a n & M i c h a e l M i l l e m a n n , G o o d J u d g m e n t : E t h i c s T e a c h i n g i n D a r k T i m e s , 9 G E O . J . L E G A L E T H I C S 3 1 , 6 4 ( 1 9 9 5 ) ; s e e a l s o L i s a G . L e r m a n , T e a c h i n g M o r a l P e r c e p t i o n a n d M o r a l J u d g m e n t i n L e g a l E t h i c s C o u r s e s : A D i a l o g u e A b o u t G o a l s , 3 9 W M . & M A R Y L . R E V . 4 5 7 , 4 6 9 - 7 5 ( 1 9 9 8 ) . O t h e r s h a v e u s e d i t i n t h e i m m i g r a t i o n c o n t e x t t o m e a n a p r o g r a m w h i c h c o m b i n e s a s y l u m / i m m i g r a t i o n l a w w i t h h u m a n r i g h t s p r a c t i c e . S e e A r t u r o J . C a r r i l l o , B r i n g i n g I n t e r n a t i o n a l L a w H o m e : T h e I n n o v a t i v e R o l e o f H u m a n R i g h t s C l i n i c s i n t h e T r a n s n a t i o n a l L e g a l P r o c e s s , 3 5 C O L U M . H U M . R T S . L . R E V . 5 2 7 , 5 3 0 - 3 5 ( 2 0 0 4 ) ; D e e n a R . H u r w i t z , L a w y e r i n g f o r J u s t i c e a n d t h e I n e v i t a b i l i t y o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l H u m a n R i g h t s C l i n i c s , 2 8 Y A L E J . I N T ' L L . 5 0 5 , 5 3 4 - 3 8 ( 2 0 0 3 ) . S t i l l o t h e r s u s e h y b r i d t o m e a n Aa n y c l i n i c a l p r o g r a m i n w h i c h l a w s t u d e n t s r e c e i v e a t l e a s t s o m e o f t h e i r c a s e s u p e r v i s i o n f r o m l a w f a c u l t y . @ P e t e r A . J o y , T h e E t h i c s o f L a w S c h o o l C l i n i c S t u d e n t s a s S t u d e n t - L a w y e r s , 4 5 S . T E X . L . R E V . 8 1 5 , 8 1 7 n . 5 ( 2 0 0 4 ) . F o r p u r p o s e s o f t h i s a r t i c l e , I d e f i n e Ah y b r i d @ a s a Ac o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e i n - h o u s e a n d e x t e r n s h i p c l i n i c m o d e l s . @ I d . ( c i t i n g M a r g a r e t M a r t i n B a r r y e t a l . , C l i n i c a l E d u c a t i o n f o r t h i s M i l l e n n i u m : T h e T h i r d W a v e , 7 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 1 , 2 8 ( 2 0 0 0 ) ) . 6 T h i s t r a d i t i o n a l s e m i n a r w a s f i r s t t a u g h t i n 1 9 8 7 b y A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l P r o f e s s o r K a t h y K a t z a n d h a s c o n t i n u e d e v e r y y e a r s i n c e . W h e n I m e t P r o f e s s o r N a n c y K . P . L e m o n , a u t h o r o f o n e o f t h e f i r s t l a w t e x t b o o k s o n D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e a n d L e c t u r e r a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a , B o a l t H a l l S c h o o l , s h e s p e c u l a t e d t h a t t h e c o u r s e m a y h a v e b e e n t h e f i r s t o f i t s k i n d i n t h e c o u n t r y . B u t s e e M i t h r a M e r r y m a n , A S u r v e y o f D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e P r o g r a m s i n L e g a l E d u c a t i o n , 2 8 N E W E N G . L . R E V . 3 8 3 , 3 8 4 n . 3 ( 1 9 9 3 ) ( c i t i n g t h a t i n 1 9 9 3 , o n l y o n e s c h o o l , M i a m i U n i v e r s i t y , o f f e r e d a d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e s e m i n a r e a c h y e a r ) . I n 1 9 9 7 , P r o f e s s o r K a t z h o n o r e d m e w i t h t h e o f f e r t o t a k e o v e r t h e t e a c h i n g o f t h i s s e m i n a r . 7 F o r m o s t o f 1 9 9 3 t o 1 9 9 7 , t h e D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e P r o j e c t c o n s i s t e d o f a f a m i l y c o u r t u n i t a n d a p o s t - c o n v i c t i o n u n i t . S t u d e n t s i n t h e p o s t - c o n v i c t i o n u n i t r e p r e -s e n t e d i n c a r c e r a t e d b a t t e r e d w o m e n o n c l e m e n c y m a t t e r s , s t a t e p o s t - c o n v i c t i o n m o -


students in the class disclosed and used their personal, aca-demic or professional experiences to enhance class discussion and to broaden perspectives. Despite the plethora of reading and class discussion addressing cultural myths, one seminar student asked over and over AWhy doesn't she leave?@ or would announce AI just can't understand why she puts up with it.@ The student, who was enrolled in our District Attorney field placement course, exploded one day with anger about the Aignorant@ level of the class discussions critiquing the criminal justice response to domestic violence. He knew the real world perspective from his five week experience in Albany city police court.8 He and his field supervisor were not going to let Athese t i o n s , h a b e a s c o r p u s p e t i t i o n s a n d / o r p a r o l e a p p e a l s . S i n c e t h e e a r l y 1 9 9 0 s , s e v e r a l A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l c l i n i c a l f a c u l t y h a v e t a u g h t t w o c r e d i t s e m i n a r s w h i c h a r e c o - o r p r e - r e q u i s i t e s t o c l i n i c a l c o u r s e s . T h e s e s e m i n a r s a r e o p e n t o a l l s t u d e n t s , b u t a r e r e q u i r e d f o r t h o s e i n p a r t i c u l a r c l i n i c s . T h u s , a l t h o u g h I h a d t a u g h t a p o s t -c o n v i c t i o n s e m i n a r , m y t e a c h i n g o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e l a w h a d b e e n r e s t r i c t e d t o t h e Ac l a s s c o m p o n e n t @ o f o u r p o s t - c o n v i c t i o n p r o j e c t . F o r a g o o d l i s t i n g o f d o m e s t i c v i o -l e n c e l a w c o u r s e s a n d p r o g r a m s a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y , s e e t h e r e c e n t A m e r i c a n B a r A s s o c i a t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o n D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e r e p o r t e n t i t l e d , T e a c h Y o u r S t u d e n t s W e l l : I n c o r p o r a t i n g D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e I n t o L a w S c h o o l C u r r i c u l a B A L a w S c h o o l R e p o r t , a v a i l a b l e a t h t t p : / / w w w . a b a n e t . o r g / d o m v i o l / t e a c h y o u r s t u d e n t s . p d f ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 6 , 2 0 0 5 ) ; s e e a l s o J o e l L a n d a u , D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e C o u r s e s F l o u r i s h : A R e c o g n i t i o n o f a ` D i r e N e e d ' f o r C o u r s e s , N A T ' L L . J . , J u l y 5 , 2 0 0 4 , a t 4 ( d e t a i l i n g t h a t 1 8 5 l a w s c h o o l s n o w o f f e r c o u r s e s i n d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e , w h i c h i s u p f r o m f i f t y s e v e n s c h o o l s i n 1 9 9 7 ) . 8 I n A l b a n y C i t y p o l i c e c o u r t , s c o r e s o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c r i m i n a l c a s e s a r e Ap r o c e s s e d @ e a c h d a y . S e e D A V I D H E I L B R O N E R , R O U G H J U S T I C E : D A Y S A N D N I G H T S O F A

Y O U N G D . A . ( 1 9 9 0 ) ( d e s c r i b i n g a n a n a l o g o u s p r o c e d u r e o f Ap r o c e s s i n g @ i n N e w Y o r k C o u n t y ) . AT h e s p e e d o f t h e p r o c e e d i n g s i n c a l e n d a r a l s o k e p t m e p e r p e t u a l l y o f f b a l a n c e . E a c h o f t h e t w o t o t h r e e h u n d r e d c a s e s w e h a n d l e d e v e r y d a y r e c e i v e d a b o u t a m i n u t e a n d a h a l f o f c o u r t t i m e . @ I d . a t 2 4 - 2 6 . T h e l a c k o f a t t e n t i o n a n d r e s o u r c e s t o t h e A l b a n y c o u r t a n d t o d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c a s e s C s o t h a t t h e c o u r t r e s e m b l e d m o r e o f a d y s f u n c t i o n a l f a c t o r y t h a n a c o m m u n i t y c o u r t C w a s a n a r g u m e n t u s e d b y D a v i d S o a r e s , w h o d e f e a t e d t h e i n c u m b e n t D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y b y a r g u i n g f o r m o r e c o m m u n i t y i n v o l v e m e n t a n d b e t t e r a t t e n t i o n t o d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e . S e e M i c h e l e M o r g a n B o l t o n , D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e I s s u e R i s e s i n D A R a c e , T I M E S U N I O N , A u g . 1 3 , 2 0 0 4 , a t B 4 ( c r i t i c i z i n g t h e t h e n - D i s t r i c t



women@ determine what happens on these cases. Prosecutors were not victim's lawyers. They would do the right thing.9 This outburst presented a wonderful teaching opportunity both for my seminar10 and for the field placement program.11 At the same time, my Ainner clinical teacher@ was smiling. How ironic it was that I was being perceived as the academic who had no idea how the real world operated.12 What this

A t t o r n e y f o r n o t a p p l y i n g f o r f e d e r a l d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e g r a n t s ) , a v a i l a b l e a t 2 0 0 4 W L 8 8 5 7 2 1 9 . T h e s e p r o b l e m s w i t h t h e c o u r t a n d t h e l a c k o f p r o s e c u t o r i a l r e s o u r c e s w a s t h e i m p e t u s f o r t h e A l b a n y C o u n t y C o a l i t i o n A g a i n s t D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e ' s J u d i c i a l S e r v i c e s C o m m i t t e e t o a p p l y f o r f e d e r a l f u n d i n g f o r r e s o u r c e s t o c r e a t e a n d b e t t e r s t a f f a d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o u r t . S e e d e s c r i p t i o n i n f r a P a r t I V . D . 9 T h i s s e c o n d y e a r s t u d e n t h a d m a d e k n o w n h i s d e s i r e t o b e a n a s s i s t a n t d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y u p o n g r a d u a t i o n . A l t h o u g h t h i s s t u d e n t ' s p r e s e n t a t i o n w a s e x t r e m e , h i s t h i n k i n g w a s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f o n e t y p e o f Aw o u l d - b e p r o s e c u t o r . @ 1 0 I w i l l a d d t h a t i n - h o u s e c l i n i c a l s t u d e n t s c o n t r i b u t e d g r e a t l y t o t h e d i s c u s s i o n w h i c h f o l l o w e d . A l s o , i n f u t u r e y e a r s , I c o m p l e t e l y r e - o r g a n i z e d t h e s e m i -n a r t o m a k e s u r e i n s p i r i n g a d v o c a t e s , s u c h a s K a r l a D i G i r o l a m o , a n d a r t i c u l a t e s u r v i -v o r s w e r e f e a t u r e d a s g u e s t l e c t u r e r s e a r l y o n i n t h e c o u r s e . F r o m 1 9 8 1 t o 1 9 8 9 , M s . D i g i r o l a m o c o o r d i n a t e d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e t a s k f o r c e s a n d c o m m i s s i o n s i n N e w Y o r k S t a t e w h i c h l e d t o N e w Y o r k ' s e a r l y e f f o r t s t o i m p l e m e n t l e g i s l a t i v e r e f o r m , s e c u r e f u n d i n g f o r e m e r g e n c y s h e l t e r s , a d v o c a c y p r o g r a m s a n d c o m m u n i t y o u t r e a c h i n i t i a t i v e s a n d p r o v i d e t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m s f o r p o l i c e a n d h e a l t h c a r e p r o f e s s i o n a l s . T h e f i r s t E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r o f t h e N Y S O f f i c e f o r t h e P r e v e n t i o n o f D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e , a c a b i n e t m e m b e r p o s i t i o n u n d e r G o v e r n o r M a r i o C u o m o , M s . D i g i r o l a m o h a s t e s t i f i e d b e f o r e C o n g r e s s , l e c t u r e d n a t i o n a l l y , p r o v i d e d c o n s u l t a t i o n t o n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a -t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s a d d r e s s i n g d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e i s s u e s a n d t e s t i f i e d a s a n e x p e r t w i t n e s s i n M a s s a c h u s e t t s a n d N e w Y o r k . 1 1 I w a s a b l e t o d i s c u s s t h i s e v e n t a n d t h e n e e d f o r m o r e Ai n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i t i q u e @ w i t h t h e d i r e c t o r o f t h e f i e l d p l a c e m e n t p r o g r a m w h o o v e r s e e s t h e a d j u n c t a n d f i e l d s u p e r v i s o r s a n d m e e t s t w i c e a s e m e s t e r w i t h s t u d e n t s . S e e i n f r a n o t e 6 0 . 1 2 P r i o r t o m y , a t t h a t t i m e , e i g h t y e a r s o f w o r k i n t h e A l b a n y L a w C l i n -i c , I h a d w o r k e d f o r f o u r y e a r s a s a p r o s e c u t o r i n N e w Y o r k C o u n t y . T h e C h r i s t m a s b e f o r e t h i s i n c i d e n t t h e c l i n i c h a d b e e n s u c c e s s f u l i n a w i d e l y p u b l i c i z e d c a s e , i n o b t a i n i n g c l e m e n c y f o r a n i n c a r c e r a t e d b a t t e r e d w o m a n w h o k i l l e d h e r a b u s e r . T h u s , I w a s k n o w n t o t h e s t u d e n t s a s t h e Af e m i n i s t @ d e f e n d e r o f b a t t e r e d w o m e n k i l l e r s a n d n o t a s a f o r m e r p r o s e c u t o r . A l s o , t h e r e a r e s o m e u p s t a t e - c o n s e r v a t i v e / d o w n s t a t e -l i b e r a l c u l t u r a l a s s u m p t i o n s a n d b i a s e s w h i c h p e r m e a t e d i s c u s s i o n s o f N e w Y o r k e r s


student needed was a Adisorienting moment@13 so that he could examine in a more theoretical manner the pre-conceived notions of his field placement supervisor and critique the ex-isting legal system.14 I also was feeling a little homesick for the in-house clinic. In-house clinics provide such fertile ground for integrating theory, law, reality, practice and disorienting mo-

o n a l l s i d e s o f t h e d i v i d e a n d t h u s p e r h a p s Ad i l u t e @ i n s o m e w a y m y e x p e r i e n c e a s a p r o s e c u t o r . 1 3 F r a n Q u i g l e y , S e i z i n g t h e D i s o r i e n t i n g M o m e n t : A d u l t L e a r n i n g T h e o r y a n d t h e T e a c h i n g o f S o c i a l J u s t i c e i n L a w S c h o o l C l i n i c s , 2 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 7 , 5 1 ( 1 9 9 5 ) . S e e h e r d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e w o r k o f J a c k M e z i r o w a n d o t h e r s a s t o a d u l t l e a r n i n g b a s e d o n Ac r i t i c a l s c r u t i n y @ o f t h e i r o w n a n d t h e i r c u l t u r e ' s v a l u e s , a s -s u m p t i o n s a n d b e l i e f s . I d . a t 4 7 ( c i t i n g J A C K M E Z I R O W E T A L . , F O S T E R I N G C R I T I C A L

R E F L E C T I O N I N A D U L T H O O D : A G U I D E T O T R A N S F O R M A T I V E A N D E M A N C I P A T O R Y L E A R N I N G ( 1 9 9 0 ) ) . A l s o , s e e h e r d e s c r i p t i o n o f a n a n a l o g o u s s t u d e n t s i t u a t i o n . Q u i g l e y , s u p r a , a t 5 3 - 5 4 . I d o a c k n o w l e d g e t h a t w h e n I c i t e t h e a b o v e e x a m p l e a s a g o a l o f w h a t t h e s t u d e n t An e e d s , @ I a m u t i l i z i n g m y h i e r a r c h i c a l r o l e a s t e a c h e r a n d w a l k i n g t h e f i n e l i n e b e t w e e n Ai n s t r u c t o r - a s - f a c i l i t a t o r a n d i n s t r u c t o r - a s - s o c i a l a d v o c a t e . @ I d . a t 6 1 . H o w e v e r , s o m e o f o u r s t u d e n t s , a s t h e s t u d e n t a b o v e d i d , c o m e t o u s w i t h l i m i t e d l i f e e x p e r i e n c e s . I n d e a l i n g w i t h s u c h s t u d e n t s w h o p r e s e n t e n o r m o u s e x p e r i e n t i a l g a p s , I a m m o r e i n c l i n e d t o a d o p t t h e v i e w s o f t h o s e w h o a r g u e t h a t n o t e v e r y s t u d e n t b e n e f i t s f r o m a c u r r i c u l u m a n d / o r t e a c h i n g a p p r o a c h b a s e d s o l e l y o n a d u l t l e a r n i n g t h e o r y . S e e L i n d a M o r t o n e t a l . , N o t Q u i t e G r o w n U p : T h e D i f f i c u l t y o f A p p l y i n g A n A d u l t E d u c a t i o n M o d e l t o L e g a l E x t e r n s , 5 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 4 6 9 , 4 7 1 - 9 0 ( 1 9 9 9 ) ( d i s c u s s i n g h u m a n i s m , a n d r a g o g y a n d p e d a g o g y , a d u l t l e a r n i n g t h e o r i e s a n d t h e c l i n i c a l r e s p o n s e t o e d u c a t i o n t h e o r y ) . 1 4 AA t h i r d s i g n i f i c a n t g o a l o f c l i n i c a l l e g a l e d u c a t i o n - i n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i t i q u e -c a n o c c u r w h e n ` s u b s t a n t i v e d o c t r i n e ' i s c o m b i n e d w i t h ` f i e l d w o r k e x p e r i e n c e ' a n d ` t h e p o l i c y c o n s i d e r a t i o n s i m p l i c a t e d i n l e g a l d o c t r i n e . ' @ L i n d a F . S m i t h , D e s i g n i n g a n E x t e r n C l i n i c a l P r o g r a m : O r a s Y o u S o w , S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p , 5 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 5 2 7 , 5 3 0 ( 1 9 9 9 ) [ h e r e i n a f t e r S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p ] . S m i t h g i v e s a t t r i b u t i o n t o C a r r i e M e n k e l - M e a d o w i n f o o t n o t e t w e l v e f o r c o n s i d e r i n g t h i s a Am a c r o @ g o a l o f s k i l l a c q u i s i t i o n . I d . a t 5 3 0 n . 1 2 ( c i t i n g C a r r i e M e n k e l - M e a d o w , T h e L e g a c y o f C l i n i c a l E d u c a t i o n : T h e o r i e s A b o u t L a w y e r i n g , 2 9 C L E V . S T . L . R E V . 5 5 5 , 5 5 6 , 5 7 1 - 7 2 ( 1 9 8 0 ) ) ; s e e a l s o L a u r i e M o r i n & L o u i s e H o w e l l s , T h e R e f l e c t i v e J u d g m e n t P r o j e c t , 9 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 6 2 3 , 6 2 5 - 3 6 ( 2 0 0 3 ) .



ments.15 Classroom discussions can lead to some epiphanies, but from my experience teaching both in and out of clinic, I knew that students' most transformative moments came from clinic.16 Moreover, adult students (or even adolescents) learn better when they actually experience conflict rather than just talk about it. How wonderful it would be to have students experience an in-house prosecution course. Within the next two years, in the fall of 1999, I was pre-sented with the opportunity to design and direct an in-house domestic violence prosecution project and have done so for the last four years. The complementary relationship between the development and design of the clinical project and the evo-lution of local domestic violence courts in the Capital Region of New York State is a hallmark of the ALS hybrid clinic. In the past four years, local coalitions of domestic violence activ-ists/advocates, judges, probation officers, prosecutors, law professors, students, defense lawyers17 and family court law- 1 5 B e s t P r a c t i c e s o f L a w S c h o o l s f o r P r e p a r i n g S t u d e n t s t o P r a c t i c e L a w 5 2 - 5 3 , a t h t t p : / / p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m . l a w . s c . e d u / d o w n l o a d s / t e x t 1 2 0 4 . p d f ( l a s t u p d a t e d D e c . 7 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( n o t i n g t h a t o n e b e s t p r a c t i c e i s t o AI n t e g r a t e t h e T e a c h i n g o f T h e o r y , D o c t r i n e a n d P r a c t i c e @) ; s e e a l s o R o b e r t D i n e r s t e i n , R e p o r t o f t h e C o m -m i t t e e o n t h e F u t u r e o f t h e I n - H o u s e C l i n i c , 4 2 J . L E G A L E D U C . 5 0 8 ( 1 9 9 2 ) ; L e a h W o r t h a m , T h e L a w y e r i n g P r o c e s s : M y T h a n k s f o r t h e B o o k a n d t h e M o v i e , 1 0 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 9 9 , 4 0 8 - 1 9 ( 2 0 0 3 ) ( d i s c u s s i n g t h e f r a m e w o r k f o r l e a r n i n g t o b e a l a w y e r ) . 1 6 A l t h o u g h I t e l l j u s t o n e s t o r y h e r e t o c a p t u r e m y i n n e r c l i n i c i a n ' s t h o u g h t s , m y c o l l e a g u e s a n d I w h o h a v e t a u g h t i n a n d o u t o f c l i n i c h a v e m a n y m o r e . T o p a r a p h r a s e , o n a n y g i v e n d a y , t h e r e a r e a t h o u s a n d s t o r i e s i n t h e n a k e d Ac l i n i c . @ 1 7 T h e d e f e n s e b a r w a s o f t e n i n v i t e d t o b u t d i d n o t p l a y a c o n s i s t e n t r o l e i n d e v e l o p i n g o r r e - d e s i g n i n g o u r l o c a l c o u r t s . T h i s w a s u n f o r t u n a t e . T h e d e f e n s e c o m m u n i t y c a n r a i s e l e g i t i m a t e c o n c e r n s a b o u t Ap r o b l e m - s o l v i n g c o u r t s , @ s u c h a s d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o u r t s . S e e N a t i o n a l L e g a l A i d a n d D e f e n d e r A s s o c i a t i o n ( N L A D A ) / A m e r i c a n C o u n c i l o f C h i e f D e f e n d e r s , T e n T e n e t s o f F a i r a n d E f f e c t i v e P r o b l e m S o l v i n g C o u r t s ( 2 0 0 2 ) , a v a i l a b l e a t h t t p : / / w w w . n l a d a . o r g / D M S / D o c u m e n t s / 1 0 1 9 5 0 1 1 9 0 . 9 3 / d o c u m e n t _ i n f o ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 6 , 2 0 0 5 ) . S u b s t a n t i v e d e f e n s e c r i t i c i s m o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o u r t s i n -c l u d e : ( 1 ) t h e m o d e l i s Ai n h e r e n t l y b i a s e d t o w a r d p r o s e c u t i o n , @ i s t o o d e p e n d e n t u p o n D A p o l i c i e s f o r i d e n t i f y i n g d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c a s e s , a n d i s At o o c l o s e l y a l i g n e d w i t h


yers designed, created or redesigned domestic violence courts.18 At the same time, the ALS Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit formed and evolved.19 This article explores the v i c t i m a d v o c a t e s t o r e t a i n i m p a r t i a l i t y , @ L I S A N E W M A R K E T A L . ( T H E U R B A N I N S T I T U T E

J U S T I C E P O L I C Y C E N T E R ) , S P E C I A L I Z E D F E L O N Y D O M E S T I C V I O L E N C E C O U R T S : L E S S O N S O N

I M P L E M E N T A T I O N A N D I M P A C T S F R O M T H E K I N G S C O U N T Y E X P E R I E N C E 4 4 ( 2 0 0 1 ) ; s e e a l s o G r e g B e r m a n & J o h n F e i n b l a t t , ( C e n t e r f o r C o u r t I n n o v a t i o n t h r o u g h g r a n t f r o m S t a t e J u s t i c e I n s t i t u t e ) , J u d g e s a n d P r o b l e m - S o l v i n g C o u r t s 1 7 ( 2 0 0 2 ) ( q u o t i n g S u s a n K e i l i t z o f t h e N a t i o n a l C e n t e r f o r S t a t e C o u r t s : As p e c i a l i z e d j u d g e s c a n l o s e t h e i r n e u t r a l i t y , o r t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f n e u t r a l i t y b y b e c o m i n g m o r e e d u c a t e d t o t h e e f f e c t s o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e a n d c o l l a b o r a t i n g w i t h t h e a d v o c a c y c o m m u n i t y . @) , ( 2 ) s u c h c o u r t s a n d a l l i e d a g e n c i e s l o s e p e r s p e c t i v e a b o u t w h e r e t h e i r c a s e s f i t i n t o t h e b r o a d e r r a n g e o f o f f e n s e s , e x a g g e r a t i n g t h e s e r i o u s n e s s o f c a s e s i n t h e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o u r t s , i d . , ( 3 ) p r a c t i c e s s u c h a s m a k i n g p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n b a t t e r e r i n t e r v e n -t i o n p r o g r a m s a r e q u i r e m e n t o f r e l e a s e o n b a i l a s s u m e g u i l t a n d i m p o s e p e n a l t i e s w i t h o u t a c o n v i c t i o n , i n f r i n g i n g o n d e f e n d a n t s ' r i g h t s , w i t h t h e v e r y t i t l e o f t h e c o u r t p r e s u p p o s i n g t h e g u i l t o f a l l d e f e n d a n t s . E r i c L a n e , D u e P r o c e s s a n d P r o b l e m - S o l v i n g C o u r t s , 3 0 F O R D H A M U R B . L . J . 9 5 5 , 9 8 2 - 8 7 ( 2 0 0 3 ) ; R o b y n M a z u r & L i b e r t y A l d r i c h , W h a t M a k e s a D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e C o u r t W o r k ? L e s s o n s f r o m N e w Y o r k , J U D G E S J . , S p r i n g 2 0 0 3 , a t 5 , 4 1 . 1 8 N o t e t h a t d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e ( D V ) c o u r t s c a n r e f e r t o a w i d e r a n g e o f c o u r t s t r u c t u r e s f o c u s e d o n d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e . F o r a d e s c r i p t i o n o f N e w Y o r k ' s D V c o u r t s , s e e O n e F a m i l y , O n e J u d g e : I n t e g r a t e d D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e C o u r t s , a t h t t p : / / w w w . c o u r t s . s t a t e . n y . u s / i p / d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e / i n d e x . s h t m l ( d e t a i l i n g t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e N e w Y o r k I n t e g r a t e d D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e C o u r t s ( I D V ) ) ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 6 , 2 0 0 5 ) . A n I D V c o u r t w a s e s t a b l i s h e d i n a c o u n t y n e a r o u r i n s t i t u t i o n . D e s c r i b e d a s t h e AO n e F a m i l y - O n e C o u r t @ c o n c e p t , t h e c o u r t a s s i g n e d t o t h e s a m e j u d g e a l l f a m i l y , a l l c r i m i n a l a n d s o m e c i v i l m a t t e r s i n v o l v i n g f a m i l y m e m b e r s . S e e O n e F a m i l y , O n e J u d g e , s u p r a . B e c a u s e t h e f i r s t c i t y c r i m i n a l c o u r t w i t h w h i c h w e w o r k e d w a s a l s o s i t u a t e d i n t h e s a m e c o u n t y a s t h e I D V c o u r t , t h e c i t y c o u r t ' s d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e i n i t i a t i v e w a s l a b e l e d a D V c a l e n d a r . F o r s i m p l i c i t y i n t h i s a r t i c l e , I w i l l r e f e r t o a l l d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o u r t s , w h e t h e r o p e r a t i n g a s a n I D V c o u r t o r s i m p l y a s a D V c a l e n d a r , g e n e r a l l y , a s D V c o u r t s . D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e c a l e n d a r s r e f e r t o t h e p r o c e s s o f o r g a n i z i n g t h e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c a s e s a l l a t o n e t i m e o r a l l b e f o r e o n e j u d g e , w i t h o u t n e c e s s a r i l y p r o v i d i n g t h e f u l l r a n g e o f s t a f f i n g , r e s o u r c e s , t r a i n i n g a n d s e r v i c e s f o u n d i n a n I D V c o u r t . 1 9 T h e A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l C l i n i c a l P r o g r a m i s o r g a n i z e d i n t o a n u m b e r o f p r o j e c t s f o c u s e d o n p a r t i c u l a r a r e a s o f l a w o r p a r t i c u l a r k i n d s o f c l i e n t s . F o r e x -a m p l e , w e c u r r e n t l y o p e r a t e s i x i n - h o u s e p r o j e c t s : C i v i l R i g h t s a n d D i s a b i l i t i e s ,



educational, community and personal needs that led to the development and design of a hybrid prosecution project. It evaluates goals for a hybrid prosecution project and some alternative educational models, assessing their ability to be replicated at other law schools. Based on an evaluation of the experience of ALS, this article also offers some recommenda-tions and suggestions for others and the future.

II. IDENTIFICATION OF NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES: EDUCATIONAL, COMMUNITY AND PERSONAL

Much has been written in the clinical literature about designing an externship or field placement program20 and about the value and experiences of in-house clinical pro-grams.21 However, a third form of clinical education has re-ceived less attention:

D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e , H e a l t h L a w , I n v e s t o r s R i g h t s , L i t i g a t i o n , a n d L o w I n c o m e T a x . F r o m 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 4 , t h e D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e L a w P r o j e c t w a s f u r t h e r s u b d i v i d e d i n t o t w o s e p a r a t e c l i n i c a l c o u r s e s a n d u n i t s : t h e F a m i l y V i o l e n c e U n i t ( D V F U ) a n d t h e P r o s e c u t i o n U n i t ( D V P U ) . 2 0 S e e g e n e r a l l y S y m p o s i u m , D e v e l o p m e n t s i n L e g a l E x t e r n s h i p P e d a g o g y , 5 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 3 7 ( 1 9 9 9 ) a n d S y m p o s i u m , E x t e r n s h i p s : L e a r n i n g f r o m P r a c t i c e , 1 0 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 4 6 9 ( 2 0 0 4 ) ( d e s c r i b i n g v a r i o u s i s s u e s r e l a t i n g t o c l i n i c a l l e g a l e d u c a t i o n ) . F o r a r t i c l e s t h a t a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y h e l p f u l i n t h i n k i n g a b o u t c l i n i -c a l d e s i g n , s e e S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p , s u p r a n o t e 1 4 , a n d M a r y J o E y s t e r , D e s i g n i n g a n d T e a c h i n g t h e L a r g e E x t e r n s h i p C l i n i c , 5 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 4 7 , 3 4 8 ( 1 9 9 9 ) . F o r a m o r e r e c e n t u p d a t e w h i c h t h o u g h t f u l l y e v a l u a t e s c o n t r a s t i n g m o d e l s o f s u p e r v i s i o n , o v e r s i g h t a n d t r a i n i n g , s e e B a r b a r a A . B l a n c o & S a n d e L . B u h a i , E x t e r n s h i p F i e l d S u p e r v i s i o n : E f f e c t i v e T e c h n i q u e s f o r T r a i n i n g S u p e r v i s o r s a n d S t u d e n t s , 1 0 C L I N I C A L

L . R E V . 6 1 1 ( 2 0 0 4 ) . F o r a n e x c e l l e n t o v e r v i e w o f m a t e r i a l s r e l a t i n g t o c l i n i c a l l e g a l e d u c a t i o n , s e e C l i n i c a l L e g a l E d u c a t i o n : A n A n n o t a t e d B i b l i o g r a p h y ( J . P . O g i l v y & K a r e n C z a p a n s k i y e d s . , 2 0 0 4 ) , a t h t t p : / / f a c u l t y . c u a . e d u / o g i l v y / B i b l i o 0 4 A . p d f . [ h e r e i n a f t e r C L E B i b l i o g r a p h y ] ; s e e a l s o R o b e r t F . S e i b e l & L i n d a H . M o r t o n , F i e l d P l a c e m e n t P r o g r a m s : P r a c t i c e s , P r o b l e m s a n d P o s s i b i l i t i e s , 2 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 4 1 3 , 4 1 7 - 2 1 ( 1 9 9 6 ) . 2 1 I n t h e s e c t i o n e n t i t l e d Ac l i n i c a l d e s i g n @ ( l o c a t e d i n t h e C L E B i b l i o g r a -p h y ) , t h e r e a r e o v e r n i n e t y a r t i c l e s d i s c u s s i n g i n - h o u s e c l i n i c a l i s s u e s . S e e , e . g . ,


I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e s e t w o d o m i n a n t f o r m s o f r e a l c l i e n t c l i n i c a l p r o g r a m s [ i n - h o u s e a n d e x t e r n a l / e x t e r n s h i p ] , t h e r e i s a t h i r d t y p e o f c l i n i c a l p r o g r a m o f t e n r e f e r r e d t o a s Ah y b r i d @ c l i n i c s , c o m b i n i n g f e a t u r e s o f i n - h o u s e a n d e x t e r n s h i p p r o g r a m s . I n a h y b r i d c l i n i c , a l a w s c h o o l c r e a t e s a p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h a l e g a l p r o v i d e r , s u c h a s a c i v i l l e g a l s e r -v i c e o f f i c e o r p u b l i c d e f e n d e r o f f i c e , a n d t h e s t u d e n t s e n r o l l e d i n t h e c l i n i c a r e s u p e r v i s e d b y b o t h a f u l l - t i m e c l i -n i c i a n a n d l a w y e r s f r o m t h e o u t s i d e o f f i c e .

In 1999, when I set out to design a hybrid project, with a few exceptions, little had been written or documented about hybrid clinics, in particular hybrid prosecution clinics.23 Therefore, I

S u s a n B r y a n t & M a r i a A r i a s , A B a t t e r e d W o m e n ' s R i g h t s C l i n i c : D e s i g n i n g a C l i n i c a l P r o g r a m W h i c h E n c o u r a g e s a P r o b l e m - S o l v i n g V i s i o n o f L a w y e r i n g t h a t E m p o w e r s C l i e n t s a n d C o m m u n i t y , 4 2 W A S H . U . J . U R B . & C O N T E M P . L . 2 0 7 ( 1 9 9 2 ) ; R i c h a r d D . M a r s i c o , W o r k i n g f o r S o c i a l C h a n g e a n d P r e s e r v i n g C l i e n t A u t o n o m y : I s T h e r e a R o l e f o r AF a c i l i t a t i v e @ L a w y e r i n g ? , 1 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 6 3 9 ( 1 9 9 5 ) ; M a r j o r i e A n n e M c D i a r m i d , W h a t ' s G o i n g o n D o w n T h e r e i n t h e B a s e m e n t : I n - H o u s e C l i n i c s E x p a n d T h e i r B e a c h h e a d , 3 5 N . Y . L . S C H . L . R E V . 2 3 9 ( 1 9 9 0 ) ; M a r y H e l e n M c N e a l , U n b u n d l i n g a n d L a w S c h o o l C l i n i c s : W h e r e ' s t h e P e d a g o g y ? , 7 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 4 1

( 2 0 0 1 ) ; M i c h a e l M e l t s n e r & P h i l i p G . S c h r a g , S c e n e s F r o m a C l i n i c , 1 2 7 U . P A . L . R E V . 1 ( 1 9 7 8 ) ; J . M i c h a e l N o r w o o d , R e q u i r i n g a L i v e C l i e n t , I n - H o u s e C l i n i c a l C o u r s e : A R e p o r t o n t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w M e x i c o L a w S c h o o l E x p e r i e n c e , 1 9 N . M . L . R E V . 2 6 5 ( 1 9 8 9 ) ; S t e p h e n W i z n e r , B e y o n d S k i l l s T r a i n i n g , 7 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 2 7 ( 2 0 0 1 ) . 2 2 P e t e r A . J o y , E v o l u t i o n o f A B A S t a n d a r d s R e l a t i n g t o E x t e r n s h i p s : S t e p s i n t h e R i g h t D i r e c t i o n ? , 1 0 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 6 8 1 , 6 8 2 n . 1 ( 2 0 0 4 ) ( c i t a t i o n o m i t t e d ) . AW h e n l a w s c h o o l f a c u l t y a s s u m e f u l l o r p a r t i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r c a s e s u p e r v i s i o n i n a n e x t e r n a l p l a c e m e n t , t h e c l i n i c i s s o m e t i m e s r e f e r r e d t o a s a Ah y b r i d , @ a s i t b l e n d s f e a t u r e s o f b o t h a n i n - h o u s e a n d e x t e r n a l c l i n i c . @ W o r t h a m , s u p r a n o t e 1 5 , a t 4 4 5 . A l s o , s e e t h e r e f e r e n c e t o h y b r i d l i t e r a t u r e , s u p r a n o t e 5 . 2 3 S e e S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p , s u p r a n o t e 1 4 , a t 5 3 4 ( n o t i n g t h a t i n - h o u s e Ac r i m i n a l p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s a r e . . . r a r e w i t h i n l a w s c h o o l @) . A f e w c o m m e n t a t o r s h a v e d e s c r i b e d t h e m s e l v e s a s t e a c h i n g a n Ai n - h o u s e @ p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c a n d h a v e w r i t t e n a b o u t t h o s e e x p e r i e n c e s o r u s e d t h o s e e x p e r i e n c e s t o e x p l o r e o t h e r i s s u e s . S e e C a p l o w , s u p r a n o t e 2 , a t 2 7 - 3 5 . AF a c u l t y - s u p e r v i s e d c l i n i c s i n w h i c h s t u d e n t s p e r s o n a l l y h a n d l e t h e p r o s e c u t i o n o f t h e c a s e a r e u n u s u a l . T h e m o r e t y p i c a l m o d e l i s a n e x t e r n s h i p t h a t p l a c e s s t u d e n t s i n l o c a l a n d f e d e r a l p r o s e c u t o r s ' o f f i c e s . . . . @ I d .



resorted to my understanding of classic clinical methodology and of collaborative approaches found in both the field placement and the in-house traditions: examine the needs, goals and potential opportunities for students, the law school, the community (both grassroots and public sector portions) and the faculty member;24 evaluate the methods of achieving those goals and the alternative models already designed by those mentors and teachers in the clinical community;25 and attempt to use an integrated,26 reflective,27 holistic,28 culturally compe-tent,29 problem-solving,30 inter-disciplinary31 and Arebellious@32 approach to creation of the program.33

a t 1 n . 2 . AT h e r e a r e f a r f e w e r c r i m i n a l p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s t h a n t h e r e a r e c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e c l i n i c s . T h e r e a p p e a r s t o b e a n i m p l i e d a s s u m p t i o n t h a t c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e c l i n i c s p r o v i d e a b e t t e r e d u c a t i o n a l e x p e r i e n c e . . . . T h i s a r t i c l e r e e x a m i n e s t h e a s s u m p t i o n . . . . @ K a r e n K n i g h t , T o P r o s e c u t e i s H u m a n , 7 5 N E B . L . R E V . 8 4 7 , 8 5 0 ( 1 9 9 6 ) . F o r b r i e f r e f e r e n c e s t o p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s , s e e S t a n l e y Z . F i s h e r , I n S e a r c h o f t h e V i r t u o u s P r o s e c u t o r : A C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k , 1 5 A M . J . C R I M . L . 1 9 7 ( 1 9 8 8 ) ; s e e a l s o J o a n L . O ' S u l l i v a n e t a l . , E t h i c a l D e c i s i o n m a k i n g a n d E t h i c s I n s t r u c -t i o n i n C l i n i c a l L a w P r a c t i c e , 3 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 1 0 9 , 1 5 4 ( r e f e r e n c i n g a C h i l d A b u s e a n d D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e P r o s e c u t i o n P r o j e c t ) . 2 4 W o r t h a m , s u p r a n o t e 1 5 . 2 5 I d . 2 6 S e e g e n e r a l l y P e t e r A . J o y , T h e M a c C r a t e R e p o r t : M o v i n g T o w a r d I n t e g r a t e d L e a r n i n g E x p e r i e n c e s , 1 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 4 0 1 , 4 1 0 ( 1 9 9 4 ) . 2 7 S e e g e n e r a l l y R i c h a r d K . N e u m a n n , J r . , D o n a l d S c h o n , t h e R e f l e c t i v e P r a c t i t i o n e r , a n d t h e C o m p a r a t i v e F a i l u r e s o f L e g a l E d u c a t i o n , 6 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 4 0 1 , 4 0 2 - 1 8 ( 2 0 0 0 ) . 2 8 S e e I n t e r n a t i o n a l A l l i a n c e o f H o l i s t i c L a w y e r s , a t h t t p : / / w w w . i a h l . o r g ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 6 , 2 0 0 5 ) . AT h e i d e a o f h o l i s t i c l a w y e r i n g , f o r e x a m p l e , s u g g e s t s t h a t l e g a l p r a c t i t i o n e r s s h o u l d b e c l i e n t - c e n t e r e d i n t h e i r a p p r o a c h , v i e w i n g t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a s n o t j u s t s o l v i n g i s s u e s o f l a w b u t a l s o h e l p i n g a d d r e s s t h e v a r i o u s p r o b l e m s ( b o t h l e g a l a n d n o n l e g a l ) t h a t h a v e c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e i r c l i e n t ' s t r o u b l e s . @ E r i k L u n a , P u n i s h m e n t T h e o r y , H o l i s m , a n d t h e P r o c e d u r a l C o n c e p t i o n o f R e s t o r a t i v e J u s t i c e , 2 0 0 3 U T A H L . R E V . 2 0 5 , 2 8 3 ( 2 0 0 3 ) . 2 9 S e e g e n e r a l l y S u s a n B r y a n t , T h e F i v e H a b i t s : B u i l d i n g C r o s s - C u l t u r a l C o m p e t e n c e i n L a w y e r s , 8 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 3 , 7 8 - 9 9 ( 2 0 0 1 ) .


With respect to the first prong above, the desire to create a hybrid prosecution clinical opportunity arose from my percep-tions of need in several areas: students' educational needs, community needs and personal/faculty needs. Complementing these needs, opportunities for collaboration and innovation existed because of the maturity of the ALS clinical program,34 the loyalty of our alumni/ae base, the idealism, openness and expertise of the local and statewide domestic violence advocacy community and the flexibility of the clinical director at that time.35 These overlapping needs and opportunities intersected to fashion the design of a hybrid domestic violence prosecution project.

3 0 S e e g e n e r a l l y A n d r e a M . S e i e l s t a d , C o m m u n i t y B u i l d i n g a s a M e a n s o f T e a c h i n g C r e a t i v e , C o o p e r a t i v e , a n d C o m p l e x P r o b l e m S o l v i n g i n C l i n i c a l L e g a l E d u c a t i o n , 8 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 4 4 5 , 4 4 8 - 4 9 ( 2 0 0 2 ) . 3 1 S e e g e n e r a l l y J a n e t W e i n s t e i n , C o m i n g o f A g e : R e c o g n i z i n g t h e I m p o r t a n c e o f I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y E d u c a t i o n i n L a w P r a c t i c e , 7 4 W A S H . L . R E V . 3 1 9 , 3 2 5 - 2 8 ( 1 9 9 9 ) . 3 2 S e e g e n e r a l l y G E R A L D P . L O P E Z , R E B E L L I O U S L A W Y E R I N G : O N E C H I C A N O ' S

V I S I O N O F P R O G R E S S I V E L A W P R A C T I C E ( 1 9 9 2 ) . 3 3 I t ' s h a r d e r t o g e t a l l t h e t e r m i n o l o g y o u t t h a n i t i s t o b e m i n d f u l o f i t i n t e a c h i n g a n d p r a c t i c i n g ! F o r a n o v e r v i e w o f c u r r e n t c l i n i c a l a p p r o a c h e s a n d t h i n k -i n g , s e e B a r r y e t a l . , s u p r a n o t e 5 , a t 1 6 - 2 6 . 3 4 A L S ' s c l i n i c a l p r o g r a m t r a c e s i t s r o o t s b a c k t o a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 9 7 5 . C l i n i c a l c o l l e a g u e s a r e c u r r e n t l y w o r k i n g o n a s s e m b l i n g a h i s t o r y . W h e n I d i s c u s s Am a t u r i t y , @ I a m a l s o r e f e r r i n g t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e w e r e e s t a b l i s h e d a n d l o n g s t a n d i n g c l i n i c a l p r o j e c t s , a n e x t e n s i v e f i e l d p l a c e m e n t p r o g r a m a n d t h a t t h e f a c u l t y c o n t a i n e d t h r e e t e n u r e d c l i n i c i a n s w i t h f u l l v o t i n g r i g h t s a n d a l o n g - t e r m c o n t r a c t p r o c e s s f o r o t h e r c l i n i c i a n s . 3 5 I a m g r a t e f u l f o r t h e f l e x i b i l i t y o f A L S A s s o c i a t e D e a n a n d P r o f e s s o r C o n n i e M a y e r , C l i n i c a l D i r e c t o r f r o m 1 9 9 1 t o 2 0 0 1 , a n d f o r h e r u n w a v e r i n g s u p p o r t o f t h i s i n i t i a t i v e .



A. Examining Educational Needs and Identifying Educational

Goals for a Hybrid Prosecution Project In designing a project, educational needs should be examined on at least three levels: (1) examination of the overall institutional needs or gaps in the curriculum, (2) examination of the needs or gaps in the clinical program and (3) examination of student needs and desires. In examining my institution's needs and gaps, I concluded that there was good reason to design a hybrid prosecution project. For instance, there was a lack of diversity on our criminal law faculty. Moot court activities, trial advocacy classes and the field placement program36 did not provide full opportunities to teach important clinical judgment in prosecution37 or prepare students for the changing variables of real practice. Most importantly, there was a clear student desire for more prosecution placements. At the time the clinic was being created, ALS's traditional or Astand up@ criminal law faculty was exclusively male.38 There was unquestionably a lack of diversity on that faculty and a perception among students that women's issues were not being addressed thoroughly.39 This perception was in fact a national 3 6 S e e i n f r a n o t e 6 0 . 3 7 P a c e L a w S c h o o l P r o f e s s o r V a n e s s a M e r t o n h a s i n f o r m e d m y t h i n k i n g a b o u t t h e t e a c h i n g o f c l i n i c a l j u d g m e n t i n p r o s e c u t i o n a n d i s c u r r e n t l y w r i t i n g a p i e c e o n t h i s t o p i c . 3 8 T h e s e p r o f e s s o r s a r e m y c o l l e a g u e s a n d f r i e n d s , w h o m I e s t e e m g r e a t l y . I n d e e d , t h e y w e r e i n v a l u a b l e r e s o u r c e s t o m y s t u d e n t s a n d m e d u r i n g t h e y e a r s I d i r e c t e d t h e P o s t - C o n v i c t i o n P r o j e c t . O n e p r o f e s s o r e v e n c o - t a u g h t t h e c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s s e m i n a r w i t h m e . H o w e v e r , i t w a s u n q u e s t i o n a b l y a w h i t e , m a l e c r i m i n a l l a w d e p a r t m e n t t e a c h i n g f i r s t y e a r c r i m i n a l l a w . T h a n k f u l l y , o u r c r i m i n a l l a w f a c u l t y h a s b e c o m e m o r e d i v e r s e w i t h t h e a d d i t i o n o f a w o n d e r f u l c o l l e a g u e , P r o f e s -s o r L e n e s e C . H e r b e r t . 3 9 D u r i n g t h e 1 9 9 0 s , f e m a l e s t u d e n t s a t A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l o f t e n c o m -p l a i n e d t o c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r s t h a t i s s u e s o f r a p e a n d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e w e r e e i t h e r n o t b e i n g t a u g h t , n o t p r e s e n t e d f r o m a f e m i n i s t p e r s p e c t i v e , o r n o t d i s c u s s e d f u l l y . A t l e a s t o n e t r a d i t i o n a l f a c u l t y m e m b e r l e a r n e d o f t h e s e c o m p l a i n t s a n d r e a c h e d o u t


reality.40 Despite the Adramatic change in the legal system's response to women who have been battered,@41 traditional legal education had Avirtually ignored@ the reality and experiences of battered women.42 By teaching a hybrid domestic violence prosecution course, I desired further to emphasize not only the evolution of the law concerning violence against women but also ideas about the appropriate response of the criminal law to such violence. I also hoped to introduce a feminist criminal law/prosecution perspective and to provide a model for female students who desired to enter the machismo-saturated43 world of criminal law. There are numerous issues involved in the question of whether a hybrid prosecution clinic advances the school's existing profes-sional skills, clinical and placement offerings. Prosecution projects generally focus on fact investigation, victim/witness interviewing, charging and evidentiary analysis, negotiations (offers for reduced charges and/or sentences) and trial skills. Arguably, the curriculum at ALS already provided good oppor-tunities in fact investigation, negotiation and courtroom per-

t o c l i n i c a l f a c u l t y f o r i d e a s o f h o w t o b e t t e r i n c o r p o r a t e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e i s s u e s i n t o t h e c l a s s d i s c u s s i o n . 4 0 S e e g e n e r a l l y M e r r y m a n , s u p r a n o t e 6 . 4 1 I d . a t 3 8 3 . 4 2 I d . A l b a n y L a w R e v i e w , h o w e v e r , h e l d a w o n d e r f u l s y m p o s i u m o n D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e i s s u e s i n M a r c h o f 1 9 9 5 . S e e g e n e r a l l y S y m p o s i u m , R e c o n c e p t u a l i z i n g V i o l e n c e A g a i n s t W o m e n b y I n t i m a t e P a r t n e r s : C r i t i c a l I s s u e s , 5 8 A L B . L . R E V . 9 5 9 ( 1 9 9 5 ) . 4 3 S e e , e . g . , R e n a M . A t c h i s o n , A C o m p a r i s o n o f G e n d e r B i a s S t u d i e s : E i g h t h C i r c u i t a n d S o u t h D a k o t a F i n d i n g s i n t h e C o n t e x t o f N a t i o n w i d e S t u d i e s , 4 3 S . D . L . R E V . 6 1 6 , 6 2 2 - 2 3 ( 1 9 9 8 ) ( AI n t h e a r e a o f c r i m i n a l p r a c t i c e , m a l e a t t o r n e y s i n t h e E i g h t h C i r c u i t o u t n u m b e r e d f e m a l e a t t o r n e y s e i g h t t o o n e @ a n d i n g o v e r n m e n t m e n a r e m o r e l i k e l y t o b e i n t h e c r i m i n a l p o s i t i o n s ) ; E l i z a b e t h E r n y F o o t e e t a l . , W o m e n R a i n m a k e r s W h e n I t R a i n s , I t P o o r s , 4 5 L A B A R J . 4 2 2 ( F e b . 1 9 8 8 ) ( n o t i n g c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e b a r w a s a n d s t i l l i s d o m i n a t e d b y m a l e a t t o r n e y s a n d b y t h e Am a c h o m y s t i q u e @ a s s o c i a t e d w i t h c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e w o r k ) .



suasion.44 If the project offered nothing more than simply an-other opportunity to learn about or be exposed to these skills, it would not be filling an unmet need. Of course, clinics do much more than teach skills. In addition to teaching how to learn from experience and to think and practice like a lawyer, most clinical projects differ from simu-lated courses because they allow students to assume the role of a professional and deal with ever changing facts and people. Prosecution clinics do all that too. Prosecutor clinics, however, do not provide opportunities to represent individuals and prac-tice client centered representation.45 Thus, it is important to consider whether the existing curriculum and clinical program generally include adequate opportunity for students to repre-sent actual clients and to teach client-centered counseling. If not, perhaps the program should consider adding a client-based clinic in which students form an attorney-client relationship with a flesh and blood human being before allocating faculty resources to a prosecution project.46

4 4 A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l , l i k e m a n y o t h e r s c h o o l s , h a d a n e x t e n s i v e m o o t c o u r t a n d t r i a l a d v o c a c y p r o g r a m w h i c h , i n p a r t i c u l a r , t a u g h t g o o d Ac o u r t r o o m s k i l l s . @ F r o m 1 9 9 5 - 2 0 0 0 , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ' s M o o t C o u r t t e a m s c o n s i s t e n t l y r e a c h e d t h e s e m i f i n a l s a n d f i n a l s o f n u m e r o u s i n t e r s c h o l a s t i c c o m p e t i t i o n s a r o u n d t h e c o u n t r y , i n c l u d i n g t h e A B A N a t i o n a l C r i m i n a l J u s t i c e T r i a l A d v o c a c y a n d A s s o c i a t i o n o f T r i a l L a w y e r s o f A m e r i c a c o m p e t i t i o n s . I n 1 9 9 6 , t h e f a c u l t y h a d a l s o a d o p t e d a v o l u n t a r y p r o f e s s i o n a l S k i l l s C o m p e t e n c y p r o g r a m , p u r s u a n t t o t h e M a c C r a t e R e p o r t , w h i c h i n t r o d u c e d n e w s i m u l a t e d s k i l l s c o u r s e s , e m p h a s i z e d t h e v a l u e o f s k i l l s o f f e r i n g s a n d c e r t i f i e d s t u d e n t s i n s k i l l s s u c h a s d r a f t i n g , f a c t i n v e s t i g a t i o n , a l t e r n a t i v e d i s p u t e r e s o l u t i o n a n d p e r s u a s i o n . S e e F a c u l t y P r o p o s a l ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . T h a t p r o p o s a l a l s o c r e a t e d a n e w y e a r - l o n g c o u r s e i n c i v i l P r e - T r i a l a n d T r i a l L i t i g a t i o n ( P T T L ) . I d . 4 5 T h i s i s n o t t o s u g g e s t t h a t i s s u e s s u c h a s v i c t i m - c e n t e r e d c o u n s e l -i n g , t h e q u e s t i o n o f w h o i s t h e p r o s e c u t o r ' s c l i e n t , a n d t h e c o n t r a s t b e t w e e n p r o s e c u t o r s ' a n d o t h e r l a w y e r s r o l e s c a n n o t b e e x p l o r e d i n a p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c . S e e g e n e r a l l y K n i g h t , s u p r a n o t e 2 3 ; C a p l o w , s u p r a n o t e 2 , a t 4 4 . I n d e e d , m y s t u d e n t s a l w a y s p a r t i c i p a t e d i n c l i n i c - w i d e s e s s i o n s o n c l i e n t - c e n t e r e d c o u n s e l i n g a n d w e u s e d t h e s e s k i l l s a n d l e s s o n s i n o u r w o r k . 4 6 I s u p p o s e o t h e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n s s u c h a s c l i n i c a l l y t e a c h i n g i m p o r t a n t s k i l l s o f a d v a n c e d r e s e a r c h a n d w r i t i n g , c i v i l d i s c o v e r y o r t h e s k i l l s o f w o r k i n g o n l a r g e


The clinic's place in the larger community should also be examined. Do the law school and clinical program work togeth-er with the community on an adequate number of opportuni-ties? If not, perhaps a clinical program should establish credi-bility in and linkage to its community.47 Are there a good num-ber of projects which enable access to justice, raise social justice awareness and instill a strong pro bono ethic? If not, perhaps scarce resources should not be devoted to assisting government or to imprison the poor.48 As Karen Knight humorously points out: ANebraska's prosecution clinic has been likened by some members of the faculty to providing free legal services to IBM.@49 On a more serious note, the dearth of well-funded and vigorous criminal defense does suggest that a criminal defense clinic should be considered before a prosecution one.50 c a s e s s h o u l d a l s o b e c o n s i d e r e d . B u t , t h e y f a l l l o w e r d o w n o n t h e h i e r a r c h y o f i m p o r t a n c e i n m y m i n d . 4 7 S e e R i c h a r d A . B o s w e l l , K e e p i n g t h e P r a c t i c e i n C l i n i c a l E d u c a t i o n a n d S c h o l a r s h i p , 4 3 H A S T I N G S L . J . 1 1 8 7 ( 1 9 9 2 ) ; A n t o i n e t t e S e d i l l o L o p e z , L e a r n i n g T h r o u g h S e r v i c e i n a C l i n i c a l S e t t i n g : T h e E f f e c t o f S p e c i a l i z a t i o n o n S o c i a l J u s t i c e a n d S k i l l s T r a i n i n g , 7 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 3 0 7 ( 2 0 0 1 ) . 4 8 S e e A b b e S m i t h , C a n Y o u B e a G o o d P e r s o n a n d a G o o d P r o s e c u t o r ? , 1 4 G E O . J . L E G A L E T H I C S 3 5 5 , 3 9 8 ( 2 0 0 1 ) [ h e r e i n a f t e r G o o d P r o s -e c u t o r ] . 4 9 K n i g h t , s u p r a n o t e 2 3 , a t 8 6 5 . N o t e t h a t s o m e o t h e r l a w s c h o o l c l i n i c s d o p l a c e s t u d e n t s a t p r i v a t e f i r m s a n d b u s i n e s s e s w h e n p e d a g o g i c a l r e a s o n s w a r r a n t s u c h p l a c e m e n t . 5 0 S e e G o o d P r o s e c u t o r , s u p r a n o t e 4 8 ( d e s c r i b i n g t h e r a c i s m , c l a s s i s m a n d s e r i o u s Aj u s t i c e @ p r o b l e m s w h i c h a r e r a m p a n t i n t h e p r o s e c u t i o n o f c r i m e s ) ; s e e a l s o C h a r l e s J . O g l e t r e e , J r . , B e y o n d J u s t i f i c a t i o n s : S e e k i n g M o t i v a t i o n s t o S u s t a i n P u b l i c D e f e n d e r s , 1 0 6 H A R V . L . R E V . 1 2 3 9 ( 1 9 9 3 ) ( c a l l i n g f o r l e g a l s c h o l a r s t o m o v e b e y o n d a b s t r a c t j u s t i f i c a t i o n s o f c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e w o r k t o e x p l o r e a n d d e v e l o p m o t i v a t i o n s f o r l a w y e r s t o r e p r e s e n t t h e i n d i g e n t ) ; s e e a l s o J o h n G i b e a u t , D e f e n s e W a r n i n g s , A . B . A . J . D e c . 2 0 0 1 a t 3 5 , 3 5 ( 2 0 0 1 ) ( d e s c r i b i n g c o u n t i e s w h e r e Ap u b l i c d e f e n d e r s a r e s o s w a m p e d t h a t t h e y c a n ' t e v e n d r e a m o f s a t i s f a c t o r i l y r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e i r i n d i g e n t c l i e n t s . @) . F o r a n e x c e l l e n t o u t c o m e a n a l y s i s o f t h e f a v o r a b l e r e s u l t s o b t a i n e d b y t h r e e y e a r s o f s t u d e n t s i n t h e N Y U C r i m i n a l D e -f e n s e C l i n i c a n d t h e s i g n i f i c a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n l a w s t u d e n t s m a k e t o r e p r e s e n t i n d i g e n t p e o p l e a c c u s e d o f c r i m e s , s e e S t e v e n Z e i d m a n , S a c r i f i c i a l L a m b s o r t h e C h o s e n



Examining the application of these questions to the ALS clinical program, I concluded that there were good reasons for forging ahead, in spite of other reasons suggesting reconsidera-tion. ALS is fortunate to house a multi-faceted in-house clinic and an extensive field placement program which provides stu-dents numerous opportunities to learn about and practice cli-ent-centered representation and whose faculty and students work with and in the surrounding community. At the time of the creation of the hybrid prosecution clinic, the in-house clinic consisted of three community-based clinics51 and another long-standing clinic which received referrals from our local Legal Aid office.52 The community-based clinics were well known, worked with advocates and other community groups, and provided representation, training, information and referrals to local individuals. The bounty of client-centered opportunities for students, 53the large number of clients represented and the extensive work done with community partners on social justice

F e w ? : T h e I m p a c t o f S t u d e n t D e f e n d e r s o n T h e R i g h t s o f t h e A c c u s e d , 6 2 B R O O K . L . R E V . 8 5 3 ( 1 9 9 6 ) . 5 1 T h e y w e r e : t h e F a m i l y V i o l e n c e P r o j e c t i n w h i c h s t u d e n t s r e p r e s e n t e d s u r v i v o r s o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e i n f a m i l y c o u r t a n d o n c i v i l m a t t e r s , a n A I D S / H I V L a w P r o j e c t i n w h i c h s t u d e n t s r e p r e s e n t e d c l i e n t s o n m a t t e r s o f c u s t o d y , g u a r d i a n s h i p , h e a l t h c a r e a n d e n d - o f - l i f e d e c i s i o n m a k i n g a n d a C i v i l R i g h t s a n d D i s -a b i l i t i e s P r o j e c t i n w h i c h s t u d e n t s r e p r e s e n t e d i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h d i s a b i l i t i e s o n m a t t e r s o f e d u c a t i o n r i g h t s , e m p l o y m e n t r i g h t s a n d o t h e r d i s c r i m i n a t i o n i s s u e s . S i n c e t h e n , t h e c l i n i c h a s e x p a n d e d t o i n c l u d e a L o w I n c o m e T a x P r o j e c t a n d a n I n v e s t o r s R i g h t s P r o j e c t . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e A I D S / H I V p r o j e c t w a s s u b s u m e d w i t h i n a H e a l t h L a w P r o j e c t w h i c h h a s t w o u n i t s t h e A I D S / H I V u n i t a n d t h e C a n c e r C a r e u n i t . 5 2 T h e L i t i g a t i o n P r o j e c t p a r t n e r s w i t h t h e L e g a l A i d S o c i e t y o f N o r t h -e a s t e r n N e w Y o r k t o p r o v i d e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n t o c l i e n t s o n u n e m p l o y m e n t i n s u r a n c e m a t t e r s . 5 3 I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h i r t y t o f o r t y s l o t s i n t h e i n - h o u s e c l i n i c , w e a l s o o f f e r e d m a n y c l i e n t - c e n t e r e d f i e l d p l a c e m e n t s i n l o c a l n o t - f o r - p r o f i t s s u c h a s D i s a b i l i t y A d v o c a t e s , L e g a l A i d , a n d M e n t a l H y g i e n e L e g a l S e r v i c e s . S i n c e o u r c l i n i c h a s e x p a n d e d , s o h a s t h e n u m b e r o f s t u d e n t s .


matters gave me the Afreedom@ to consider a clinic that was not client-centered.54 True, after the post-conviction project ended, we did not and still do not have an in-house criminal defense clinic, and that is certainly a gap in our program.55 One of the reasons involves the politics of some members of our local public defense bar.56 Another reason is that the level of criminal defense work in one public defender office was so substandard that we removed it from our field placement program since we believed students would learn how badly to represent individuals accused of a crime. Frankly, no clinician has yet had either the freedom to design such a project or the fire in his/her belly to take on the hard work to overcome these obstacles.57 But criminal defense aside, a prosecution project would complement our existing civil in-house clinic nicely.58 5 4 F o r m o r e o f a n e x p l o r a t i o n o f t h i s t o p i c , s e e M a r y A . L y n c h , C a n Y o u B e a AG o o d P e r s o n , @ a G o o d C l i n i c i a n a n d a S u p e r v i s o r o f S t u d e n t P r o s e c u t o r s ? , p r e -s e n t e d a t t h e 2 0 0 5 A A L S C l i n i c a l S e c t i o n C o n f e r e n c e a s a AW o r k i n P r o g r e s s , @ w h i c h e x p a n d s o n a n d r e s p o n d s t o A b b e S m i t h ' s a r t i c l e , G o o d P r o s e c u t o r , s u p r a n o t e 4 8 , a t h t t p : / / w w w . a a l s . o r g / c l i n i c a l 2 0 0 5 / w o r k s . h t m l . 5 5 T h e p r o j e c t h a d b e e n f u n d e d b y T i t l e I X m o n i e s . F o r a h i s t o r y o f t h e f u n d i n g o f c l i n i c a l e d u c a t i o n , s e e M i c h a e l M e l t s n e r & P h i l i p G . S c h r a g , R e p o r t F r o m a C L E P R C o l o n y , 7 6 C O L U M . L . R E V . 5 8 1 ( 1 9 7 6 ) ; s e e a l s o B a r r y e t a l . , s u p r a n o t e 5 , a t 1 9 - 2 0 . 5 6 W e h a v e s o m e o u t s t a n d i n g a n d z e a l o u s l o c a l p u b l i c a n d a s s i g n e d c o u n s e l d e f e n s e a t t o r n e y s . H o w e v e r , n o t a l l l o c a l c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e a t t o r n e y s w e l c o m e a s s i s t a n c e f r o m t h e l a w c l i n i c . S o m e l o c a l l a w y e r s v i e w f r e e s t u d e n t w o r k a s c u t t i n g i n t o t h e b r e a d a n d b u t t e r o f p r a c t i c e . S e e M C K I N N E Y ' S N E W Y O R K R U L E S O F

C O U R T 8 0 5 . 5 ( d ) ( s t a t i n g l a w s t u d e n t s Am a y r e n d e r a s s i s t a n c e t o i n d i g e n t p e r s o n s i n a n y m a t t e r i n w h i c h a p a r t y d o e s n o t h a v e t h e r i g h t t o a s s i g n m e n t o f c o u n s e l @) . N o t e , h o w e v e r , t h a t w e a r r a n g e d f o r a n e x c e p t i o n t o t h i s r u l e i n t h e c a s e o f o u r F a m i l y V i o l e n c e U n i t . 5 7 T h e s e o b s t a c l e s a r e n o t j u s t m y o w n p e r c e p t i o n s , b u t a r e s h a r e d b y m y c o l l e a g u e s i n t h e c l i n i c a n d i n p a r t i c u l a r b y m y c o l l e a g u e w h o h a s f a r g r e a t e r c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e e x p e r i e n c e , k n o w l e d g e a n d c o n t a c t s t h a n I d o . 5 8 S o , w a s I j u s t Ap l a y i n g i t s a f e @ b y d e s i g n i n g a h y b r i d p r o s e c u t i o n p r o j e c t ? P r o b a b l y . A m I t e r r i f i e d b y t h e i d e a o f a c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e c l i n i c w h e r e m y s t u -d e n t s a n d I a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r p e o p l e ' s l i b e r t y a n d l i f e ? A b s o l u t e l y !



It was also true that Albany Law School, in theory, already provided plenty of opportunity for Ainstitutional critique@59 and exposure to law practice through its field placement program.60 Our field placements provided wonderful opportunities for exposure to real life practice, to test the waters of certain subject matter areas, and to practice lawyers' skills. Some students have had life-altering experiences in the program: they gained a mentor for life, experienced an epiphany about a career path or engaged in the best educational experience of law school. Within this program, opportunities existed with at least four regional and geographically convenient district attorneys' offices, the United States Attorney's office and the New York Prosecutors Institute. Something truly irked me, however, about the experiences of students placed in local district attorney offices. It may well be that my prior experience as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan made me more sensitive toCor judgmental aboutCthe experience of students placed in these offices. The students seemed to swallow whole the culture of a particular officeCto be unable to separate process, procedure and skills from viewpoint, strategy and political bent. At first, I thought the fault lay in our field placement model of having expert prac-

5 9 S e e g e n e r a l l y S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p , s u p r a n o t e 1 4 . 6 0 A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l r u n s a n e x t e n s i v e f i e l d p l a c e m e n t p r o g r a m w i t h o v e r 2 0 0 p l a c e m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d o v e r 1 0 0 s t u d e n t s p a r t i c i p a t i n g e a c h s e m e s t e r . A l b a n y , a s a m a j o r c a p i t a l c i t y , p r o v i d e s a w e a l t h o f o p p o r t u n i t y f o r f i e l d p l a c e m e n t s . A d o p t e d i n 1 9 8 7 , o u r c u r r e n t f i e l d p l a c e m e n t m o d e l t a k e s a d v a n t a g e o f o u r l o c a t i o n b y o f f e r i n g s t u d e n t s a n y w h e r e f r o m s e v e n t o t e n s e c t i o n s o f p l a c e m e n t s c l u s t e r e d b y s u b j e c t m a t t e r : E n v i r o n m e n t a l , C r i m i n a l D e f e n s e , D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y , G o v -e r n m e n t a n d P u b l i c S e r v i c e , H e a l t h L a w , J u d i c i a l , L e g a l A i d , S c i e n c e a n d T e c h n o l o g y , a n d U n i t e d S t a t e s A t t o r n e y p l a c e m e n t s . E a c h p l a c e m e n t c l u s t e r i s t a u g h t b y a n a d -j u n c t c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r / e x p e r t p r a c t i t i o n e r . T h e d i r e c t o r o f o u r F i e l d P l a c e m e n t , a f u l l t i m e f a c u l t y m e m b e r , p e r f o r m s o v e r s i g h t o v e r a l l p l a c e m e n t s a n d a l l t e n o r s o a d -j u n c t c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r s , h o l d s o r i e n t a t i o n s e s s i o n s , c l a s s e s , p a n e l p r e s e n t a t i o n s a s w a r r a n t e d , r e q u i r e s j o u r n a l i n g i n a p p r o p r i a t e s i t u a t i o n s f o r p u r p o s e s o f i n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i t i q u e a n d r e f l e c t i o n a n d m e e t s t w i c e a s e m e s t e r w i t h a l l 1 0 0 - p l u s s t u d e n t s . S e e a l s o n o t e 6 6 .


titioners teach the classes. The discussion of institutional critique, reflection, and diverse perspectives that should be integral to the classroom experience were lacking. Working more closely with adjunct faculty to ensure appropriate discus-sion, however, did not solve the problem. Even when I attempt-ed to initiate critical discussions in individual meetings with students, or in the periodic class sessions, something was miss-ing.61 Comparing my discussions with field placement students to earlier discussion with in-house clinic students in which we critiqued our cases, our lawyering and the systems with which we were involved, I realized what was missing. Context. The shared mission. The joint understanding of facts. This is where my sense of student needs and desires became the paramount reason for starting the clinic. I, like other commentators, believe not only that we clinicians should pro-vide options to encourage students to engage in public interest or public defense work, but we need to meet students where they are.62 At ALS, large numbers of students desire to go into prosecution at some time in their career.63 Each semester at

6 1 S e e E r i c a M . E i s i n g e r , T h e E x t e r n s h i p C l a s s R e q u i r e m e n t : A n I d e a W h o s e T i m e H a s P a s s e d , 1 0 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 6 5 9 ( 2 0 0 4 ) ( a r g u i n g t h a t t h e e x t e r n s h i p c l a s s r o o m c o m p o n e n t s h o u l d c e a s e t o b e r e q u i r e d a n d i n s t e a d t a u g h t o n l y i f t h e c l a s s a d d s v a l u e t o a f i e l d p l a c e m e n t p r o g r a m ) . 6 2 S e e g e n e r a l l y E y s t e r , s u p r a n o t e 2 0 ; L u b a n & M i l l e m a n n , s u p r a n o t e 5 . 6 3 A n a r g u m e n t c o u l d b e m a d e t h a t r a t h e r t h a n j u s t a c c e p t i n g t h a t s t u -d e n t s a r e n o t s e l e c t i n g c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e a s a c a r e e r , w e s h o u l d p r o v i d e m o r e o p p o r t u n i t y a n d i n s p i r a t i o n t o p r a c t i c e c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e b y s e t t i n g u p a c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e c l i n i c . T h e r e i s s o m e m e r i t t o t h e a r g u m e n t . C e r t a i n l y , i n t h e C a p i t a l R e g i o n o f N e w Y o r k , w h e r e A L S i s l o c a t e d , t h e r e i s a n e e d f o r t r a i n i n g m o r e z e a l o u s c r i m i -n a l d e f e n s e a d v o c a t e s . A L S d i d o f f e r a p o s t - c o n v i c t i o n c l i n i c a l p r o j e c t , w h i c h I r a n f o r f o u r y e a r s . U p o n g r a d u a t i o n , s o m e s t u d e n t s c h o s e t o p r a c t i c e c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e , b u t m o r e s t u d e n t s b e c a m e p r o s e c u t o r s . T h e n e e d f o r c o m p e t e n t a n d c o m m i t t e d c r i m i -n a l d e f e n s e h a s c e r t a i n l y b e e n d o c u m e n t e d . S e e O g l e t r e e , J r . , s u p r a n o t e 5 0 . N o n e o f t h e s e a r g u m e n t s , h o w e v e r , s u g g e s t t h a t a p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s h o u l d n o t b e o f f e r e d . T o b e f r a n k , I w o u l d b e d e l i g h t e d i f o n e o f m y c o l l e a g u e s w i t h m o r e e x p e r i e n c e i n c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e w o u l d d o s o . S e e G o o d P r o s e c u t o r , s u p r a n o t e 4 8 .



least twenty to twenty-five students enrolled in the prosecution placements. Our district attorney placements were and are consistently over-subscribed. Moreover, upon graduation, our students were Apour[ing] into prosecutors' offices.@64 Nationally, NALP statistics show that approximately five percent of graduates, whose employment is known, become prosecutors. At Albany Law School we consistently surpass that national average and turn out large numbers of prosecutors, a number of whom staff the several counties surrounding ALS.65 With so many students interested in prosecution, I wanted to offer an educational opportunity which provided more than our typical field placement experience.66 I believed we needed to prepare these students better to assume the responsibility of prosecutorial discretion so early in their careers.67 As recent graduates, these students would have enormous effects on the lives of victims and their families, defendants and their fami-lies, and communities. Had they been exposed to critiques of the justice system which challenged the policies used in the

6 4 C a p l o w , s u p r a n o t e 2 , a t 4 4 . 6 5 T h e A L S O f f i c e o f C a r e e r P l a n n i n g s t a t i s t i c s r e v e a l t h a t f r o m t h e c l a s s e s o f 1 9 9 7 - 2 0 0 3 , a n a v e r a g e o f s e v e n t o n i n e p e r c e n t o f s t u d e n t s , w h o s e e m p l o y m e n t w a s k n o w n , b e c a m e p r o s e c u t o r s . 6 6 L i k e m a n y f i e l d p l a c e m e n t s , A L S b o a s t s o f s o m e t h a t p r o v i d e l e a r n i n g e q u i v a l e n t t o a n i n - h o u s e c l i n i c w i t h e x c e l l e n t t e a c h e r - p r a c t i t i o n e r s a s f i e l d s u p e r v i s o r s w h o c a n t e a c h t o a n e n o r m o u s v a r i e t y o f l e a r n i n g s t y l e s . O t h e r p l a c e m e n t s m e e t o t h e r g o a l s a n d w o u l d n o t p r o v i d e t h e s a m e k i n d o f l e a r n i n g e x p e -r i e n c e . M y w o r k i n A L S ' s i n - h o u s e c l i n i c s f r o m a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 9 8 9 - 1 9 9 7 a n d t h e n a s D i r e c t o r o f t h e F i e l d P l a c e m e n t P r o g r a m f r o m 1 9 9 8 - 2 0 0 0 p r o v i d e d m e w i t h s o m e p e r s p e c t i v e o n o u r c l i n i c a l p r o g r a m a n d t h e a b i l i t y t o c o m p a r e t h e a d v a n t a g e s a n d d i s a d v a n t a g e s o f b o t h t y p e s o f p r o g r a m . I t a l s o p r o v i d e d m e w i t h t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o p e r f o r m a n i n f o r m a l - n e e d s a s s e s s m e n t o f o u r c l i n i c a l p r o g r a m . 6 7 U n l i k e o f f i c e s i n l a r g e m a j o r c i t i e s s u c h a s t h e D a d e C o u n t y ( F l o r i d a ) D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e o r t h e M a n h a t t a n D A ' s o f f i c e i n w h i c h n e w p r o s e c u t o r s u n -d e r g o i n t e n s i v e t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m s w h i c h l a s t a m o n t h o r m o r e , l o c a l c o u n t i e s p r o v i d e l i t t l e o r n o t r a i n i n g t o n e w a s s i s t a n t s .


local district attorneys' offices in which they practiced?68 Did they understand the difference between tactics that were ac-ceptable for a civil attorney or a criminal defense attorney to use, but not appropriate for the prosecutor?69 Had they encoun-tered the difficult, if not insurmountable, tension between the Aadversarial@ nature of the system and the Ado justice@ mandate for prosecutors?70 It seemed to me that we, as clinical teachers, too often left the students interested in criminal prosecution to the traditional faculty, the simulated skills courses, the moot court program, and the offices in which students are placed in the field place-ment program. Although there is great merit to substantive law and skills training, moot court, and field placements, none of these present the kind of opportunities an in-house clinic provides to integrate, discuss and practice problem-solving, clinical judgment, professionalism, interpersonal skills, ethics and morality while quickly applying facts to law in a particular procedural and cultural system. It is only in an in-house clinic that students have the dual goal of acting as the Alawyer on the case@ while learning from an intellectual exploration of the dynamics of what happened and why. In order to teach future prosecutors best, I needed to create an in-house prosecution clinic which mirrored the best aspects of our community-based clinics.

6 8 S e e D a n i e l S . M e d w e d , T h e Z e a l D e a l : P r o s e c u t o r i a l R e s i s t a n c e t o P o s t - C o n v i c t i o n C l a i m s o f I n n o c e n c e , 8 4 B . U . L . R E V . 1 2 5 , 1 3 2 - 5 0 , 1 7 0 - 7 1 ( 2 0 0 4 ) ( d e s c r i b i n g t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l c u l t u r e o f p r o s e c u t o r s ' o f f i c e s a n d d i s c u s s i n g t h e n e e d f o r c o n t i n u e d e d u c a t i o n a n d Ar e - o r i e n t a t i o n @ o f p r o s e c u t o r s ) . 6 9 S e e M O D E L C O D E O F P R O F ' L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y E C 7 - 1 3 ( 1 9 8 3 ) . S e e a l s o M O D E L C O D E O F P R O F ' L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y D R 7 - 1 0 3 ( 1 9 8 0 ) . 7 0 S e e F r e d C . Z a c h a r i a s , J u s t i c e i n P l e a B a r g a i n i n g , 3 9 W M . & M A R Y

L . R E V . 1 1 2 1 , 1 1 3 - 2 4 ( 1 9 9 8 ) ( e x p l o r i n g t h e a m b i g u i t i e s a n d t e n s i o n s o f t h e p l e a b a r g a i n i n g p r o c e s s s i n c e p r o s e c u t o r ' s h a v e a n Au n d e f i n e d o b l i g a t i o n @ t o Ad o j u s t i c e @ a n d y e t a t t r i a l s a r e c o n s i d e r e d t o b e p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e a d v e r s a r i a l r o l e @) .



B. Community Needs for a Better Approach to Domestic

Violence Prosecution


Creating a network of coordinated, comprehensive, holistic community responses which support the victim and hold the batterer accountable71 is the most effective way to address the complex and difficult issues surrounding domestic violence crimes.72 Battered women survivors73 and their advocates were rightfully troubled and frustrated by the local criminal justice response to domestic violence in the Capital Region. Although legal and statutory changes had been made in attempts to sup-port the victim and hold the batterer accountable,74 implemen-

7 1 M y w o r k i n w o m e n ' s p r i s o n s w i t h i n c a r c e r a t e d , b a t t e r e d w o m e n w h o k i l l e d t h e i r a b u s e r s h a d i n d e l i b l y i m p r e s s e d u p o n m e t h e f a t a l c o n s e q u e n c e s t h a t o c c u r w h e n d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e g o e s i g n o r e d a n d w h e n c o m m u n i t y s y s t e m s f a i l t o s u p p o r t b a t t e r e d w o m e n . 7 2 N o t a b l y , t h i s g o a l i s n o t i n c o n s i s t e n t w i t h e d u c a t i o n a l g o a l s . S e e g e n e r a l l y L o i s J . K a n t e r e t a l . , N o r t h e a s t e r n ' s D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e I n s t i t u t e : T h e L a w S c h o o l C l i n i c a s a n I n t e g r a l P a r t n e r i n a C o o r d i n a t e d C o m m u n i t y R e s p o n s e t o D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e , 4 7 L O Y . L . R E V . 3 5 9 ( 2 0 0 1 ) . 7 3 I p u r p o s e l y u s e t h e t e r m Ab a t t e r e d w o m a n s u r v i v o r , @ Ab a t t e r e d w o m a n @ a n d Av i c t i m @ t h r o u g h o u t t h i s a r t i c l e a n d a m f u l l y c o g n i z a n t o f t h e c o n t r o v e r s y s u r r o u n d i n g t h e t e r m s . T h i s i s n o t b e c a u s e I d i s a g r e e w i t h s c h o l a r s s u c h a s P r o f e s -s o r E l i z a b e t h S c h n e i d e r w h o c o m p l a i n s a b o u t t h e r e d u c t i v e n a t u r e o f t h e t e r m Ab a t -t e r e d w o m e n . @ S e e E L I Z A B E T H S C H N E I D E R , B A T T E R E D W O M E N A N D F E M I N I S T L A W M A K I N G

6 0 - 6 2 ( 2 0 0 0 ) . N o r i s i t b e c a u s e I d i s a g r e e w i t h s c h o l a r s w h o c a l l f o r a r e d e f i n i t i o n o f t h e i s s u e s . S e e , e . g . M a r t h a R . M a h o n e y , L e g a l I m a g e s o f B a t t e r e d W o m e n : R e d e f i n i n g t h e I s s u e o f S e p a r a t i o n , 9 0 M I C H . L . R E V . 1 ( 1 9 9 1 ) . R a t h e r , i t i s b e c a u s e I , l i k e P r o f e s s o r D e b o r a h T u e r k h e i m e r , k n o w i n g f u l l - w e l l t h e f a l s i t y o f t h e v i c t i m / a g e n t d i c h o t o m y , u s e t h e s e t e r m s t o s i m p l y Ae m p h a s i z e t h e b a s i c p r o p o s i t i o n t h a t w o m e n a r e h a r m e d b y b a t t e r i n g . @ D e b o r a h T u e r k h e i m e r , R e c o g n i z i n g a n d R e m e d y i n g t h e H a r m o f B a t t e r i n g : A C a l l t o C r i m i n a l i z e D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e , 9 4 J . C R I M . L . & C R I M I -N O L O G Y 9 5 9 , 1 0 3 1 n . 3 ( 2 0 0 4 ) . 7 4 I r e f e r h e r e t o m a n d a t o r y a r r e s t , p r i m a r y a g g r e s s o r a n d s t a l k i n g s t a t u t e s , a s w e l l a s t o t h e e l e v a t i o n o f c r i m e s s u c h a s c r i m i n a l c o n t e m p t f o r r e p e a t e d l y v i o l a t i n g o r d e r s o f p r o t e c t i o n . S e e J e s s i c a D a y t o n , T h e S i l e n c i n g o f a W o m a n ' s C h o i c e : M a n d a t o r y A r r e s t a n d N o D r o p P r o s e c u t i o n P o l i c i e s i n D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e C a s e s , 9 C A R D O Z O W O M E N ' S L . J . 2 8 1 , 2 8 2 - 8 3 ( 2 0 0 3 ) ( a r g u i n g t h a t m a n d a -t o r y a r r e s t p o l i c i e s t a k e p o w e r a w a y f r o m w o m e n w h o a r e i n a b u s i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s ) ; T u e r k h e i m e r , s u p r a n o t e 7 3 . S e e g e n e r a l l y D A L T O N & S C H N E I D E R , s u p r a n o t e 1 , a t



tation and attitudes at the grassroots level remained (and still remain) problematic. Clinical colleagues who supervised students in family court throughout the region described unresponsive police officers and unresponsive or overzealous prosecutors. Field placement students related stories of judges, assistant district attorneys and defense attorneys who treated domestic violence cases as petty annoyances to be quickly resolved and removed from the court calendar. There was a preoccupation with exerting pros-ecutorial or judicial power and not letting the victim Aabuse@ and Acontrol@ the system.75 Scholars, activists, some policymakers, some politicians and students (some of whom had personal or professional experience with domestic violence situations) all agreed on the need for a more holistic, coordinat-ed, cooperative, community- based approach to the problems of domestic violence.76 These community needs, which are not unique to the Capital Region of New York, provided opportunity for collaboration. Immediately east of ALS sits Rensselaer County. It had several characteristics which recommended it for the hybrid project. First, there was an excellent activist battered women's shelter which was part of a larger community services program and which appeared to have its fingers on the pulse of the struggling city of Troy, New York77 and surrounding areas.78

5 6 4 - 7 1 4 ( d e s c r i b i n g t h e r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e c r i m i n a l j u s t i c e s y s t e m a n d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e ) . 7 5 T h i s i s d i f f e r e n t f r o m n o t l e t t i n g t h e a b u s e r c o n t r o l t h e s y s t e m t h r o u g h h i s c o n t r o l o f t h e v i c t i m . S e e C h e r y l H a n n a , T h e P a r a d o x o f H o p e : T h e C r i m e a n d P u n i s h m e n t o f D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e , 3 9 W M . & M A R Y L . R E V . 1 5 0 5 , 1 5 5 5 ( 1 9 9 8 ) . 7 6 S e e M o d e l D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e P o l i c y f o r C o u n t i e s , a t h t t p : / / w w w . o p d v . s t a t e . n y . u s / c o o r d i n a t i o n / m o d e l _ p o l i c y / i n d e x . h t m l ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 6 , 2 0 0 5 ) ( d e t a i l i n g t h e m o d e l c o o p e r a t i v e a p p r o a c h t h a t w a s d e v e l o p e d i n N e w Y o r k S t a t e ) ; s e e a l s o K a n t e r , e t a l . , s u p r a n o t e 7 2 . 7 7 T r o y i s t h e l a r g e s t c i t y i n R e n s s e l a e r C o u n t y w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f n e a r l y 5 0 , 0 0 0 . S e e h t t p : / / q u i c k f a c t s . c e n s u s . g o v / q f d / s t a t e s / 3 6 / 3 6 7 5 4 8 4 . h t m l ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 6 , 2 0 0 5 ) .


Second, the city itself and the legal, social service, and public service community were small and centralized enough to be able to have students meet with, and form relationships with, a small set of key stakeholders, officials and courts. Third, inno-vative people working in a number of key stakeholder organiza-tions were frustrated by the status quo and eager for change. Since many battered women had been well-served in family court by ALS students, the local battered women's activist community had already established links with our domestic violence clinic, had formed good impressions of the quality of work performed by ALS students and encouraged our involve-ment in efforts to improve the criminal justice system. In addi-tion, a local activist probation officer,79 who was well-trained on violence against women, and committed to improving the crimi-nal justice response for battered women began to push for de-velopment of a new approach to handle domestic violence cases in Troy. It appeared that the community could be well-served by more and better prosecutorial staffing in domestic violence cases, and the students would be well-served by interaction with the community. Based on the suggestions of community and government activists, the local city court judge who handled the criminal calendar called together an informal task force to discuss how best to meet the shared goals of providing more support and integrated services for victims, better monitoring of batterers, and encouraging victims to cooperate with the prosecution. He reached out to the local prosecutor, the local battered women's shelter and other community groups and organized a Afield trip@ to two domestic violence courts running in New York City-a misdemeanor court in Bronx County and a felony court in 7 8 M y i m p r e s s i o n s o f t h e s h e l t e r - a d v o c a c y p r o g r a m a s Ae x c e l l e n t @ w a s b a s e d o n t h e e v a l u a t i o n o f p o l i c y m a k e r s a n d a d v o c a t e s i n t h e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o m m u n i t y . T h e s e a d v i s o r s i n c l u d e d v i s i o n a r i e s , s t a t e g o v e r n m e n t t y p e s a n d g r a s s -r o o t s t y p e s w h o I h a d c o m e t o k n o w w e l l t h r o u g h c l i n i c a l w o r k o n b e h a l f o f i n c a r c e r a t e d b a t t e r e d w o m e n . 7 9 H e h a d r e c e i v e d s p e c i a l t r a i n i n g p u r s u a n t t o t h e f e d e r a l V i o l e n c e A g a i n s t W o m e n A c t .



Brooklyn (Kings County).80 For all of the reasons cited earlier, this creative task force held promise for me with its focus on better prosecution of domestic violence. So I called up the local city court judge, informed him of my intention to create a hy-brid prosecution clinic and became part of the design team for the court.81

8 0 S e e s u p r a n o t e 1 8 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t . 8 1 I m a d e c l e a r t h e i n t e n t i o n s t o c o m b i n e e d u c a t i o n a l g o a l s f o r s t u d e n t s w i t h t h e c r i m i n a l j u s t i c e a n d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o m m u n i t i e s ' g o a l s o f Ai m p r o v i n g @ t h e h a n d l i n g o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c a s e s - t h a t t h i s w a s n o t j u s t a b o u t s t u d e n t l a b o r . O f c o u r s e , I d o n o t a t a l l m e a n t o s u g g e s t t h a t t h e a d v o c a t e s a n d a c t i v i s t s a n d t h e p r o b a t i o n / l a w e n f o r c e m e n t / p r o s e c u t o r s a l l h a d t h e s a m e s e n s e o f w h a t Ai m p r o v e m e n t @ m e a n t . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e a d v o c a t e s w a n t e d m o r e d e f e r e n c e t o t h e v i c t i m ' s p r e f e r e n c e s a n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h e r s i t u a t i o n a n d m o r e Ap r o s e c u t i o n w i t h o u t t h e v i c t i m . @ T h e c o u r t w a n t e d m o r e Ac a s e s t h a t d i d n ' t f a l l a p a r t . @ T h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e h o p e d t o p e r s u a d e m o r e v i c t i m s t o Ac o o p e r a t e @ w i t h t h e p r o s e c u -t i o n . H o w e v e r , a l l d i d a g r e e t h a t t h e c u r r e n t s y s t e m h a d m a n y g a p s a n d t h a t a c o m m o n g o a l w a s i m p r o v e d b a t t e r e r a c c o u n t a b i l i t y a n d b e t t e r p r o v i s i o n o f s u p p o r t a n d s e r v i c e s f o r t h e v i c t i m .


C. Personal Needs for a Balanced Life



Some clinical authors remind us that it is Aokay@ to admit to having a need for a personal life and that teaching about practicing law without discussing such needs and balance is incomplete.82 I believe it is also important to document those challenges. For in addition to the educational and community needs for this hybrid project, it suited my personal needs as a faculty member. The spring semester of 2000 was a critical decision time for me. I had been teaching clinically since 1989. In the mid to late 1990s, I tried to do everything at once: teach seminars, handle difficult high profile cases, do excellent clini-cal supervision, respond to community needs, serve on commu-nity and statewide task forces, get tenure, serve on or chair important faculty committees, and raise two kids. I burned out. After going part-time, teaching seminars and skills classes, or directing the field placement program for a couple of years, I was approached by the then clinical director with the request to have me teach Ain the clinic@ again. I was ready to supervise students on cases again and teach clinical skills through real cases, but I was not prepared to take on the grant pressures, community pressures and case pressures which came with much of the in-house clinic work at Albany Law School.83 Nor was I willing again to sacrifice my time with family, or a healthy balance of work and leisure.

8 2 F o r d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n s o f t h e p e r s o n a l / p r o f e s s i o n a l b a l a n c e , s e e g e n e r a l l y D e b o r a h L . R h o d e , B a l a n c e d L i v e s f o r L a w y e r s , 7 0 F O R D H A M L . R E V . 2 2 0 7 ( 2 0 0 2 ) ; J o a n C . W i l l i a m s , C a n a r i e s i n t h e M i n e : W o r k / F a m i l y C o n f l i c t a n d t h e L a w , 7 0 F O R D H A M L . R E V . 2 2 2 1 ( 2 0 0 2 ) ; s e e a l s o L a w r e n c e S . K r i e g e r , D o e s L e g a l E d u c a -t i o n H a v e U n d e r m i n i n g E f f e c t s o n L a w S t u d e n t s ? E v a l u a t i n g C h a n g e s i n V a l u e s , M o t i v a t i o n a n d W e l l - B e i n g , 2 2 B E H A V . S C I . & L . 2 6 1 ( 2 0 0 4 ) ; L a w r e n c e S . K r i e g e r , I n s t i t u t i o n a l D e n i a l A b o u t t h e D a r k S i d e o f L a w S c h o o l , a n d F r e s h E m p i r i c a l G u i d a n c e f o r C o n s t r u c t i v e l y B r e a k i n g t h e S i l e n c e , 5 2 J . L E G A L E D U C . 1 1 2 , 1 2 2 - 2 4 ( 2 0 0 2 ) ; M a r y H e l e n M c N e a l , M e s s a g e F r o m t h e C h a i r , A S S ' N A M . L . S C H S . S E C . C L I N I C A L L E G A L

E D U C . , N o . 1 ( A p r . 2 0 0 1 ) ( d e s c r i b i n g h e r d e s i r e t o s e t a p o s i t i v e p r o f e s s i o n -a l / p e r s o n a l l i f e b a l a n c e f o r h e r c l i n i c s t u d e n t s ) . 8 3 S e e g e n e r a l l y N a n c y M . M a u r e r , H a n d l i n g B i g C a s e s i n L a w S c h o o l C l i n i c s , o r L e s s o n s F r o m M y C l i n i c a l S a b b a t i c a l , 9 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 8 7 9 ( 2 0 0 3 ) ( e x p l o r i n g t h e u p s a n d d o w n s o f h a n d l i n g b i g c a s e s i n l a w s c h o o l c l i n i c s ) .


At the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) conference in January 2000, I sat at lunch with longtime clinician Robert (ABob@) Seibel.84 We were able to discuss clinical teaching, grant pressures, stand up and skills teaching, handling cases, stress and the joys and challenges of life. Bob listened carefully and empathetically made several memorable suggestions. Particularly appealing was his description of the rewarding work of co-teaching and collaborating with someone who was primarily responsible, along with the students, for the client's case. He suggested that I think about proposing a clinic in which I was responsible for designing or co-designing the program and curriculum, some direct supervision, classroom teaching, collaborations with field supervisors/adjunct, and instilling clinical methodology and a reflective approach.85

III. SELECTING GOALS AND CHOOSING APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL MODELS FOR A HYBRID PROSECUTION CLINIC

Having identified the need for a hybrid domestic violence prosecution clinic, goal setting was next. This should be the part of the article in which I describe how I sat down and in an organized fashion, narrowed down which of many competing academic goals my new clinic would meet, and then carefully designed my program to meet those, and only those, goals.86 However, a more candid description of the process which actu-ally occurred closely mirrors that described by American Uni-versity, Washington College of Law colleagues who wrote:

8 4 B o b i s c u r r e n t l y a c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r o f l a w a t t h e C i t y U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Y o r k S c h o o l o f L a w w h e r e h e i s c o - d i r e c t o r o f t h e E l d e r L a w C l i n i c . 8 5 I t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t B o b g a v e s u c h s a g e a d v i c e a b o u t p o t e n t i a l o p t i o n s f o r t e a c h i n g . H e i s t h e a u t h o r o r c o - a u t h o r o f m a n y h e l p f u l a r t i c l e s a b o u t f i e l d p l a c e m e n t d e s i g n . S e e g e n e r a l l y R o b e r t F . S e i b e l e t a l . , A n I n t e g r a t e d T r a i n i n g P r o g r a m f o r t h e L a w a n d C o u n s e l i n g , 3 5 J . L E G A L E D U C . 2 0 8 ( 1 9 8 5 ) ; S e i b e l & M o r -t o n , s u p r a n o t e 2 0 . 8 6 S e e s u p r a n o t e s 2 4 - 3 3 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t .



[ C ] o n t r a r y t o t h e w a y c l i n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e o f t e n c o n c e i v e s o f p r o g r a m d e v e l o p m e n t C w e d i d n o t s t a r t b y a r t i c u l a t i n g a c o m p l e t e s e t o f g o a l s , a r o u n d w h i c h w e t h e n b u i l t a p r o -g r a m . I n s t e a d , g o a l f o r m a t i o n a n d p r o g r a m d e v e l o p m e n t o c c u r r e d t o g e t h e r i n a f a r m o r e c o m p l e x , i n t e r a c t i v e p r o c e s s . T h e s t e p s w e t o o k i n b u i l d i n g a p r o g r a m l e d t o t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f o u r p e d a g o g i c a l g o a l s , j u s t a s a r t i c u l a t i n g t h o s e g o a l s p o i n t e d t h e w a y t o w a r d s n e x t s t e p s i n p r o g r a m d e s i g n . 8 7

8 7 P e t e r J a s z i e t a l . , E x p e r i e n c e a s T e x t : T h e H i s t o r y o f E x t e r n s h i p P e d a g o g y a t t h e W a s h i n g t o n C o l l e g e o f L a w , A m e r i c a n U n i v e r s i t y , 5 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 4 0 3 , 4 0 4 ( 1 9 9 9 ) .


A. Goal Setting

Upon reflection,88 there were four primary sets of goals. One set of goals involved teaching professionalism, prosecutorial ethics and professional duties in the context of making prosecu-torial decisions. Another set of goals involved skills and the opportunity to practice skills in context: teaching good skills of victim and witness interviewing, fact investigation, charging, and plea negotiations, as well as hearing and trial skills, and providing opportunities to practice such skills in context. The third set of goals was interdisciplinary and involved exposing students to domestic violence social science theories and the interplay with prosecution at the same time that students were learning the governing law and procedural rules. This would enable students to observe disconnects between social science knowledge and the operation of law on behavioral /criminal matters, and view the interplay through the prism of the devel-opment of domestic violence law. The fourth set of goals was, frankly, social justice oriented. I wanted students and the clinic to engage not only in institutional critique but reform and to provide better access to justice for victims of domestic violence. Moreover, it was very important to me that the hybrid clinic should have more of a Arebellious@ than a Aregnant@ design.89 By that I mean that it should not teach students to practice the status quo but rather should teach in a manner that challenged 8 8 F r o m a t t e n d i n g c l i n i c a l c o n f e r e n c e s , p a r t i c i p a t i n g o r v i e w i n g t h e c l i n i c a l l i s t s e r v a n d r e a d i n g t h e C l i n i c a l L a w R e v i e w , At h i n k i n g l i k e a c l i n i c i a n @ o c c u r s a l m o s t b y o s m o s i s . T h e i m a g e t h a t c o m e s t o m i n d i s a s p i r i t u a l o n e . S o m e s p i r i t u a l w r i t e r s d e s c r i b e a n a s p i r a t i o n a l s t a t e o f t h e s o u l i n w h i c h Ae v e r y b r e a t h i s a p r a y e r . @ S o t o o t h e r e s e e m s t o b e a n a s p i r a t i o n a l s t a t e f o r a c l i n i c a l t e a c h e r i n w h i c h g o a l s e t t i n g , i n t e g r a t i o n o f t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e a n d r e f l e c t i o n o c c u r a s n a t u r a l l y a s b r e a t h -i n g . 8 9 S o m e m i g h t c r i n g e w h e n I u s e t h i s w o r d a n d t h e o b v i o u s r e f e r e n c e t o G e r a l d L o p e z ' s w o r k i n a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h a p r o s e c u t o r ' s o f f i c e . S e e L O P E Z , s u p r a n o t e 3 2 . H o w e v e r , f o r m o r e o f a n e x p l o r a t i o n o f t h i s t o p i c , s e e L y n c h , s u p r a n o t e 5 4 .



the criminal justice system.90 Perhaps, it would engender an attempt to Are-imagine@ social arrangements so that the criminal justice system was encouraged to view the experience of women who encountered domestic violence, along with the experience of the domestic violence advocates, as the pivotal information in determining prosecutorial and judicial decision making.91 By Arebellious,@ I also mean that I wanted the design of the hybrid clinic to grow from the needs of the local community members and to be heavily influenced by the wisdom of non-lawyer domestic violence activists.

9 0 B y a d m i t t i n g t h i s d e s i g n d e s i r e , I a m c e r t a i n l y l i a b l e t o t h e c r i t i c i s m o f t h o s e l i k e D a v i d C h a v k i n w h o p r o p o s e w e m u s t c h o o s e b e t w e e n s o c i a l j u s t i c e w o r k a n d c l i n i c a l t e a c h i n g . S e e D a v i d F . C h a v k i n , S p i n n i n g S t r a w I n t o G o l d : E x p l o r i n g t h e L e g a c y o f B e l l o w a n d M o u l t o n , 1 0 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 2 4 5 , 2 6 1 ( 2 0 0 3 ) . H o w e v e r , m y e y e w a s a l w a y s Ao n t h e b a l l @ o f t e a c h i n g s t u d e n t s . I n a d d i t i o n , s t u d e n t s w h o w a n t e d t o b e c o m e p r o s e c u t o r s n e e d e d t o l e a r n n o t j u s t s k i l l s b u t l i f e l o n g l e s s o n s a b o u t h o w t o p r a c t i c e e t h i c a l l y a n d p r o d u c t i v e l y i n a f a u l t y s y s t e m . I n o t h e r w o r d s , l e a r n i n g t o c h a l l e n g e a n d c h a n g e t h e s y s t e m s h o u l d g o h a n d i n h a n d w i t h l e a r n i n g t o o p e r a t e w i t h i n t h e s y s t e m . 9 1 S o m e t i m e s t h i s Ae x p e r i e n c e @ w o u l d c o i n c i d e w i t h t h e v i c t i m s a r t i c u -l a t e d r e q u e s t s o n a p a r t i c u l a r c a s e a n d s o m e t i m e s i t w o u l d n o t . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e v i c -t i m m a y n o t w a n t t o t e s t i f y o r c o o p e r a t e w i t h p r o s e c u t i n g t h e b a t t e r e r . O n e q u e s t i o n i s s h o u l d t h e p r o s e c u t o r f o r c e h e r t o t e s t i f y ? A n o t h e r i s s h o u l d t h e p r o s e c u t o r d r o p t h e c a s e ? H o w e v e r , t h e r e a r e l e s s e x t r e m e a p p r o a c h e s w h i c h r e s p e c t t h e v i c t i m ' s v i e w b u t d o n o t a l l o w t h e b a t t e r e r t o c o n t r o l t h e c a s e t h r o u g h h i s c o n t r o l o f h e r . S e e H a n n a , s u p r a n o t e 7 6 ; L i n d a G . M i l l s , I n t u i t i o n a n d I n s i g h t : A N e w J o b D e s c r i p t i o n f o r t h e B a t t e r e d W o m a n ' s P r o s e c u t o r a n d O t h e r M o r e M o d e s t P r o p o s a l s , 7 U C L A

W O M E N ' S L . J . 1 8 3 , 1 9 6 - 9 9 ( 1 9 9 7 ) ; D o n n a W i l l s , D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e : T h e C a s e f o r A g g r e s s i v e P r o s e c u t i o n , 7 U C L A W O M E N ' S L . J . 1 7 3 , 1 7 4 - 7 5 ( 1 9 9 7 ) ; S a r a h B u e l , F a m i l y V i o l e n c e : H o w t o H o l d t h e O f f e n d e r A c c o u n t a b l e W h i l e T a k i n g t h e V i c t i m O u t o f t h e D a n g e r L o o p : P r o s e c u t e W i t h o u t t h e V i c t i m , T E X A S P R O S E C U T O R 1 8 ( M a r . / A p r . 1 9 9 7 ) .


B. Selection of Educational Model92

9 2 B y d i s c u s s i n g o n l y t h e P a c e a n d B r o o k l y n c l i n i c s , I d o n o t m e a n t o s u g g e s t t h a t o t h e r c l i n i c s c o u l d n o t a l s o b e u s e d a s t h e m o d e l s . F o r e x a m p l e , K a r e n K n i g h t ' s w o r k s e e m s t o b e t h e e a r l i e s t o n t h i s s u b j e c t a n d d e s c r i b e s a v e r y u s e f u l m o d e l . I n d e e d , w h i l e w o r k i n g o n t h i s s y m p o s i u m a r t i c l e , I h a v e l e a r n e d m u c h a b o u t o t h e r m o d e l s s u c h a s t h e Am i d t e r n s h i p @ m o d e l u s e d a t t h e B a l t i m o r e C i t y C h i l d A b u s e P r o s e c u t i o n C l i n i c i n w h i c h a At e a c h i n g s o l i c i t o r @ ( P r o f e s s o r M i l l e m a n n ) a n d a Ab a r r i s t e r @ ( t h e p r o s e c u t o r ) w o r k e d t o g e t h e r . E m a i l f r o m M i c h a e l M i l l e m a n n , P r o -f e s s o r , B a l t i m o r e C i t y C h i l d A b u s e P r o s e c u t i o n C l i n i c t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o -f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( N o v . 1 8 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . P r o f e s s o r M i l l e m a n n n o t e s t h a t h e As u p e r v i s e d t h e s t u d e n t s a n d t h e i r w o r k a s f u l l y a n d r e g u l a r l y ( o n c e a w e e k r e g u l a r m e e t i n g s , i n 2 - 3 s t u d e n t w o r k g r o u p s , w i t h l o t s o f ` a s n e e d e d ' c o n t a c t s ) a s I d i d , a n d d o , i n m y i n - h o u s e c l i n i c s , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n t h a t t h e p r o s e c u t o r d i d i n - c o u r t s u p e r v i s i o n , a s w e l l a s a f a i r a m o u n t a d d i t i o n a l o u t - o f - c o u r t s u p e r v i s i o n . I d . S o m e t i m e s , w e j o i n t l y s u p e r v i s e d t h e s t u d e n t s ( w e r e b o t h p h y s i c a l l y p r e s e n t d u r i n g t h e m e e t i n g ) , b u t m o r e o f t e n i t w a s s e p a r a t e . @ I d . T h i s m o d e l m o s t c l o s e l y r e s e m b l e s m i n e . F o r a l i s t i n g o f o t h e r h y b r i d p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s o f w h i c h I a m a w a r e , s e e i n f r a n o t e s 9 7 , 1 0 2 , 1 1 2 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t .



Although goal setting and Adesign@ is usually a very dynamic process, the assessment of which educational models will work at which institution is generally more practical and concrete. This assessment will be important for anyone designing a prosecution project. Preliminarily, acquisition of a caseload is a very real problem for clinicians designing a hybrid prosecution project. Unlike other in-house projects, a prosecution project cannot simply announce itself open for business but must work with a local prosecutor and/or a district attorney's office. Each community has its own unique characteristics which will pro-vide opportunities and/or obstacles to development of a hybrid prosecution project. Some law schools may be located far from the district attorney's office or courts. Others might be limited to working with a district attorney or a local judge who is dis-inclined to accommodate students' educational needs or is sus-picious of clinic faculty involvement. In another case, the chief district attorney may be supportive, but the line assistants may only find students useful in limited circumstances. Still other law schools might find not only willing prosecutors and district attorneys, but engaged community activists eager to work with the law school in improving the delivery of criminal justice. As I will discuss later, the last scenario was the one in which I found myself. As noted earlier, at the time my clinic started there was a great deal written about how to start and design externships and field placements and much less documented regarding hybrid prosecution projects.93 There were some models from which to learn, however. Two clinicians who have had much experience in teaching and supervising prosecution clinics are Vanessa Merton of Pace Law School94 and Stacy Caplow of Brooklyn Law School.95 Their two models provided a framework

9 3 S e e s u p r a n o t e s 2 2 a n d 2 3 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t . 9 4 P r o f e s s o r V a n e s s a M e r t o n i s t h e A s s o c i a t e D e a n f o r C l i n i c a l E d u -c a t i o n a t P a c e L a w S c h o o l . 9 5 P r o f e s s o r S t a c y C a p l o w i s t h e D i r e c t o r o f t h e C l i n i c a l E d u c a t i o n P r o g r a m a t B r o o k l y n L a w S c h o o l .


against which I could evaluate how to design an Albany model and against which others can frame their own design.96

9 6 I w a s f o r t u n a t e t o b e a b l e t o d i s c u s s m y p r o p o s e d p r o j e c t w i t h b o t h P r o f e s s o r s C a p l o w a n d M e r t o n a n d l e a r n e d m u c h f r o m t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e . I a m v e r y g r a t e f u l t o V a n e s s a M e r t o n f o r g e n e r o u s l y s e n d i n g m e c u r r i c u l u m m a t e r i a l s , h e r s y l l a b u s a n d o t h e r u s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n t o h e l p w i t h m y f i r s t s e m e s t e r o f t e a c h i n g i n t h i s p r o j e c t . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e c l i n i c s m e n t i o n e d i n f r a a t n o t e s 9 8 , 1 0 3 , a n d 1 1 3 , G a b r i e l l e D a v i s d i r e c t s a h y b r i d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f T o l e d o . J o h n AA l o h a @ B a r k a i h a s t a u g h t a p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c f o r t h e p a s t f i f t e e n y e a r s a t H a w a i i i n w h i c h h e d o e s t h e o u t o f c o u r t s u p e r v i s i o n o f s t u d e n t s a n d t e a c h i n g w h i l e t h e d e p u t y p r o s e c u t o r s s u p e r v i s e s t u d e n t s i n c o u r t . S t . J o h n ' s P r o f e s s o r M i c h a e l S i m o n s c o o r d i n a t e s a d j u n c t p r o f e s s o r s / a s s i s t a n t d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s w h o h a v e w o r k e d w i t h h i m i n d e v e l o p i n g t h e c l a s s r o o m p r o g r a m . T h e r e a r e m a n y o t h e r p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s n a t i o n a l l y . A p o l o g i e s t o t e a c h e r s o f a n y h y b r i d c l i n i c s w h o s e p r o g r a m s I h a v e f a i l e d t o m e n t i o n .



1. PACE: AHiring@ a Prosecutor/Teaching Partner and Bringing

Her Specialized Caseload to the Clinic97

9 7 T h i s m o d e l i s s i m i l a r t o o n e u s e d a t O h i o S t a t e . A t O h i o S t a t e , a f u l l t i m e c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r i s s w o r n i n a s a s p e c i a l a s s i s t a n t d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y a n d At a k e s t h e c a s e s h e w a n t s @ f r o m t h e o f f i c e . U n d e r t h i s f a c u l t y m e m b e r ' s s u p e r v i s i o n , s t u d e n t s m o s t l y w o r k a t t h e c l i n i c e x c e p t f o r Ac o u r t m e e t i n g s a n d f a c t i n v e s t i g a t i o n . @ S t u d e n t s e x e r c i s e p r o s e c u t o r i a l d i s c r e t i o n l i m i t e d o n l y b y t h e s u p e r v i s i o n o f t h e c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r ( a l t h o u g h t h e y d o t r y t o Aa l i g n [ t h e i r ] p l e a o f f e r s , e t c . w i t h p l e a o f f e r s [ t h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s ] w o u l d g i v e . @) . E m a i l f r o m R i c S i m m o n s t o M a r y A . L y n c h a n d J e n n i f e r T r o m b l e e ( J a n . 1 0 , 2 0 0 5 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . T h e m a i n d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n P A C E a n d O h i o i s t h a t O h i o d o e s n o t u s e a m o d e l i n w h i c h s t u d e n t s a r e t e a m - t a u g h t b y p r o s e c u t o r s a n d c l i n i c i a n s .


The Pace model was designed by Professor Vanessa Merton, director of the Pace Law Clinical Programs.98 In 1994, Pace Law School began operation of their Prosecution of Domestic Violence Clinic. Under a creative arrangement with the Manhattan District Attorney's office, the clinic was co-taught by Vanessa Merton and a full time assistant district attorney (ADA); the students were designated as special assistant dis-trict attorneys (SADA's) who specialize in Domestic Violence. The model works by having the Manhattan DA's office Alend@ a prosecutor to Pace for one year while Pace Law School pays her salary. The prosecutor then brings a misdemeanor domestic violence caseload with her to the school. Both Vanessa and the co-teacher/ADA directly supervise the students and appear with the students in court on behalf of the People of the State of New York. Students are assigned individual cases and make all decisions on casesCwhether to dismiss, what plea to offer, or whether to demand jail time for the accused. In early conversa-tions with me, Professor Merton emphasized how important it was for her model that the district attorney's office agree to give the clinic total control over the cases, so that it operates like an in-house clinic with students assuming the lawyer/prosecutor role. She said that students often make decisions with which she or the ADA might disagree. For example, students might offer an accused batterer a lenient plea with no jail time in contradiction to the wisdom of the domestic violence community or the wishes of the victim.99 Professor Merton saw that as a necessary part of the clinical experience. The Pace model offers many advantages. Students handle whole cases and are supervised by a collaborative team of a 9 8 P r o f e s s o r M e r t o n d i s c u s s e s t h e w o r k o f t h e c l i n i c a n d t h e p r o v o c a t i v e i s s u e s w h i c h a r o s e i n o n e c a s e . S e e V a n e s s a M e r t o n , W h a t D o Y o u D o W h e n Y o u M e e t a AW a l k i n g V i o l a t i o n o f t h e S i x t h A m e n d m e n t @ I f Y o u ' r e T r y i n g t o P u t t h a t L a w y e r ' s C l i e n t i n J a i l ? , 6 9 F O R D H A M L . R E V . 9 9 7 ( 2 0 0 0 ) . 9 9 S e e g e n e r a l l y L U N D Y B A N C R O F T , W H Y D O E S H E D O T H A T ? : I N S I D E T H E

M I N D S O F A N G R Y A N D C O N T R O L L I N G M E N ( 2 0 0 2 ) ( c o n c l u d i n g t h a t b a t t e r e r s a b u s e b e c a u s e s o c i e t y l e t s t h e m a n d b e c a u s e t h e y g e t m o r e f r o m o t h e r p e o p l e w h e n t h e y i n s p i r e f e a r ) .



professional prosecutor and a professional reflective practitio-ner. Students presumably benefit from more direct supervision, feedback and reflection opportunities than in a traditional field placement. At the same time, students share in a public inter-est mission around the issue of domestic violence and battered women. Administratively there are benefits as well. Students work on an appropriate level of cases (misdemeanors) and an appropriate number as assigned by the professor/prosecutor teachers. The clinical professor does not become overwhelmed by the caseload because of the collaboration with a full time paid practitioner. The prosecutor-supervisor is provided time to truly supervise and mentor. If one's teaching goal is to replicate as much as possible the advantages of the in-house clinical experience, then the Pace model, to my mind, is nearly ideal. Its chief disadvantage is that very few law schools will have the opportunity to create such an arrangement. Many law schools or their clinical pro-grams simply do not have the endowment or the budget to add on the salary of an ADA to the program without cutting back on other essential costs or programs.100 Thus, although Pace's model appears to be ideal for their circumstances, and certainly aspirational, it simply is not practical for many schools.101

1 0 0 T h a t i s n o t t o s a y t h a t w e c l i n i c i a n s s h o u l d n ' t c o n t i n u e t o a d v o c a t e f o r m o r e o f t h e l a w s c h o o l b u d g e t p i e a n d p r o p o s e s u c h a r r a n g e m e n t s w h e n t h e p o l i t i c a l t i m i n g i s r i p e . 1 0 1 I n a d d i t i o n , a s d i s c u s s e d i n f r a , t u r n i n g o v e r d e c i s i o n m a k i n g i s a d i f -f e r e n t i s s u e f o r l a r g e r d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e s . T h e M a n h a t t a n ( N e w Y o r k C o u n t y ) D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e i s o n e o f t h e l a r g e s t , a n d i s f r e q u e n t l y r e f e r r e d t o a s t h e p r e m i e r D . A . ' s o f f i c e i n t h e c o u n t r y . AG r o w i n g u p i n M a n h a t t a n , I h a d s e e n t h e N e w Y o r k C o u n t y D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s O f f i c e C t h e M a n h a t t a n D A C c i t e d a s p e r h a p s t h e m o s t c o m p e t e n t a n d h o n e s t s t a t e p r o s e c u t o r ' s o f f i c e i n t h e c o u n t r y . T h e o f f i c e h a d a r e p u t a t i o n f o r g i v i n g i t s m e m b e r s w i d e l e e w a y i n e x e r c i s i n g d i s c r e t i o n , a n d f a c e d w i t h a d e l u g e o f c r i m e t h e r e w a s r e p u t e d t o b e n o t i m e f o r p u r s u i n g d u b i o u s c h a r g e s . @ H E I L B R O N E R , s u p r a n o t e 8 , a t 1 5 . T h e o f f i c e e m p l o y s m o r e t h a n 5 5 0 a s s i s t a n t d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s a n d i n v e s t i g a t e s a n d p r o s e c u t e s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 3 0 , 0 0 0 c r i m i n a l c a s e s a y e a r , m a n y o f w h i c h a r e m i s d e m e a n o r s . T h e D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y , R o b e r t M o r g e n t h a u , h a s b e e n D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y s i n c e 1 9 7 5 a n d u p u n t i l t h i s y e a r r a n a


2. Brooklyn: Clinical Professor and Students Become the

Prosecution on Selected Cases102

p r a c t i c a l l y u n c o n t e s t e d r a c e e v e r y y e a r . F e a r o f Ab a c k l a s h @ o n a r e l a t i v e l y i n s i g n i f i -c a n t l y s m a l l n u m b e r o f m i s d e m e a n o r s i s n o t a l i k e l y c o n c e r n . D a v i d H e i l b r o n e r q u o t e s h i s d e p u t y b u r e a u c h i e f a s s a y i n g : AF o r t h e f i r s t y e a r , n o o n e c a r e s a b o u t w h a t y o u d o . Y o u ' r e o n l y d e a l i n g w i t h m i s d e m e a n o r s . @ I d . a t 2 1 . T o l e n d a n a s s i s t a n t t o P a c e f o r a y e a r , r e c e i v e a b u d g e t a r y b r e a k i n t h e s a l a r y o f t h e a s s i s t a n t , k n o w t h a t t h e c a s e s w i l l g e t t h e k i n d o f a t t e n t i o n w h i c h c l i n i c s t u d e n t s p r o v i d e a n d w h i c h g e n e r a l l y i s n o t p r o v i d e d b y m i s d e m e a n o r a s s i s t a n t s w o u l d a p p e a r t o b e c o m e a w i n -w i n s i t u a t i o n f o r e v e r y o n e . 1 0 2 T w o o t h e r l a w s c h o o l m o d e l s s i m i l a r t o t h a t u s e d i n B r o o k l y n a r e t h e o n e s u s e d a t M o n t a n a a n d N e b r a s k a . M o n t a n a ' s m o d e l i s d e s c r i b e d i n f r a a t n o t e 1 3 4 . I n N e b r a s k a ' s m o d e l , a f u l l t i m e f a c u l t y m e m b e r b e c o m e s a s p e c i a l l y a p p o i n t e d c o u n t y a t t o r n e y w h o s e l e c t s c a s e s f o r s t u d e n t s a n d g u i d e s s t u d e n t s o n a l l a s p e c t s o f t h e p r o s e c u t i o n , i n c l u d i n g e x e r c i s e o f p r o s e c u t o r i a l d i s c r e t i o n . E m a i l f r o m A l i c i a B . H e n d e r s o n , A s s o c i a t e C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e b r a s k a - L i n c o l n t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( J a n . 1 4 , 2 0 0 5 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) ( r e s p o n d i n g t o s u r v e y s e n t b y a u t h o r ) . S t u d e n t s p e r f o r m a l l t h e i r w o r k o u t o f t h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s o f f i c e . I d . A l t h o u g h t h i s m o d e l p r o v i d e s e x t e n s i v e o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o s t u d e n t s , i t d o e s m a k e i t d i f f i c u l t f o r t h e f a c u l t y m e m b e r t o b e i n t e -g r a t e d w i t h t h e r e s t o f t h e i n - h o u s e p r o g r a m a n d t h e l a w s c h o o l a n d i t d o e s n o t p r o v i d e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r p r o s e c u t i o n s t u d e n t s t o l e a r n f r o m o t h e r i n - h o u s e s t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l t y .



Although it was organized in the reverse of the Pace program, Brooklyn Law's model contained many of the same advantages as the Pace model. Instead of the prosecutor coming to the academy, the academy went to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office103 and provided a full-time faculty member to supervise students on cases from the office. Like the Pace model, the students were sworn in as special assistants and were provided with a caseload. The clinical professor designed the curriculum and student opportunities. An experienced former prosecutor, and also director of the Brooklyn Law School clinical program, Professor Caplow and her students proceeded to work on the cases as the lead prosecutors without much interaction or oversight by prosecutors.104 She found the clinic to be an excellent experience for students.105 I saw great value in the Brooklyn Law model as well. However, the Brooklyn Law model was possible, I think, because of the confidence the district attorney's office had in it's former colleagues, first Professor Caplow and then Professor Lisa Smith,106 who now directs the clinic. My situationBand that of many other cliniciansBis different. Some may come out of de-fense practice and have to address perceptions of bias.107 Others

1 0 3 B r o o k l y n a l s o r u n s a p r o s e c u t o r c l i n i c i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s A t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e o f t h e E a s t e r n D i s t r i c t o f N e w Y o r k . P r o f e s s o r C a p l o w d e s c r i b e s t h a t c l i n i c a s a Ah y b r i d @ s i n c e AA U S A ' s s u p e r v i s e a n d t e a c h t h e c l a s s b u t t h e y h a v e a g r e e d t o b e m o r e i n v o l v e d t h a n t h e t y p i c a l f i e l d w o r k s u p e r v i s o r . @ E m a i l f r o m S t a c y C a p l o w , P r o f e s s o r o f L a w a n d D i r e c t o r o f t h e C l i n i c a l E d u c a t i o n P r o g r a m , B r o o k l y n L a w S c h o o l t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( D e c . 1 4 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . 1 0 4 I d . 1 0 5 C a p l o w d i s c u s s e s t h e c l i n i c a b i t i n h e r a r t i c l e , s u p r a n o t e 2 . 1 0 6 L i s a C . S m i t h i s a n a s s i s t a n t P r o f e s s o r o f C l i n i c a l L a w a t B r o o k l y n L a w S c h o o l . S h e i s t h e f o r m e r E x e c u t i v e A s s i s t a n t D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y f o r D o m e s t i c V i o -l e n c e , S e x C r i m e s a n d C h i l d A b u s e i n t h e K i n g s C o u n t y ( B r o o k l y n ) D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s O f f i c e . 1 0 7 P r o f e s s o r M i c h a e l M i l l e m a n n t a u g h t a n d c o - s u p e r v i s e d a B a l t i m o r e C i t y C h i l d A b u s e P r o s e c u t i o n C l i n i c . S e e O ' S u l l i v a n e t a l . , s u p r a n o t e 2 3 , a t 1 5 4 ( d i s -c u s s i n g P r o f e s s o r M i l l e m a n n ' s e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h t h e c l i n i c ) . I n a d i s c u s s i o n w i t h t h e


may not have practiced as either a criminal defense attorney or a prosecutor. In fact, even though I was a former prosecutor, I was not a prosecutor from a local office and to make matters worse, my former experience was from downstate.108 The expe-rience my colleagues and I had with the field placement pro-gram led us to believe that the local district attorney's offices wouldn't simply hand over a caseload to me. I suspect the reluctance of the district attorney's office to turn over control may be problematic in other localities as well.109 Most of us whose law schools are located in smaller cities and/or rural areas know how tough local politics can be.110 Many non-spectacular local trials, even at the misdemeanor level, are covered by local newspapers and television. There is more scrutiny over decisions made by prosecutors in everyday cases because there is less anonymity for victims, witnesses, defendants and their families. Local people usually know some-one connected to cases B law enforcement, jurors, court person-nel, jail personnel, or teachers of kids connected to cases. Thus, a u t h o r , h e n o t e d t h a t t h e f a c t t h a t h e i s a n Aa g g r e s s i v e c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e l a w y e r @ a n d d o e s c a p i t a l c a s e s i n t h e s a m e j u r i s d i c t i o n i n w h i c h h e t a u g h t t h e c l i n i c w a s a n i s s u e w i t h t h e s u p e r v i s o r s o f t h e p r o s e c u t o r w i t h w h o m h e w o r k e d . M i l l e m a n n , s u p r a n o t e 9 2 . 1 0 8 T h i s u p s t a t e / d o w n s t a t e d i s t i n c t i o n d o e s n o t o n l y a p p l y t o c u l t u r a l a s -s u m p t i o n s a s d i s c u s s e d s u p r a n o t e 1 2 , b u t a l s o i n t h e f e a r t h a t w h a t w o r k s f o r a M a n h a t t a n j u r y w o u l d n o t w o r k u p s t a t e . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , l o c a l p r o s e c u t o r s w e r e a l w a y s v e r y r e s p e c t f u l o f t h e f a c t t h a t m y f o r m e r o f f i c e w a s k n o w n t o h a v e a p r o g r a m / p r o c e s s f o r r e a l l y At r a i n i n g @ i t s d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s . 1 0 9 A l t h o u g h i n s o m e o v e r b u r d e n e d c o u n t i e s , p e r h a p s s t u d e n t s a n d t h e i r i n s t r u c t o r s w o u l d b e s e e n a s c h e a p l a b o r a n d w e l c o m e d t o h a n d l e a c a s e l o a d . I n c o n t r a s t t o t h e a c t i o n s i n l a r g e r o f f i c e s , h o w e v e r , I w o u l d b e s u r p r i s e d i f i n m o s t s m a l l e r d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s o f f i c e s e x t r e m e l i m i t s w e r e n o t p u t o n t h e e x e r c i s e o f p r o s e c u t o r i a l d i s c r e t i o n a s t o c h a r g e s , p l e a s a n d s e n t e n c e s . S e e g e n e r a l l y H E I L B R O N E R , s u p r a n o t e 8 . 1 1 0 S e e P e g g y T o n o n , B e a u t y a n d t h e B e s t C H y b r i d P r o s e c u t i o n E x t e r n s h i p s i n a N o n - U r b a n S e t t i n g , 7 4 M I S S . L . J . 1 0 4 3 ( 2 0 0 5 ) . A l t h o u g h e v e r y y e a r , A L S s e n d s s t u d e n t s t o t h e M a n h a t t a n D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e a n d o t h e r l a r g e u r b a n p r o s e c u t i o n o f f i c e s f o r s u m m e r o r p e r m a n e n t j o b s , m a n y o f o u r s t u d e n t s f a c e a d r a m a t i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t e x p e r i e n c e a s p r o s e c u t o r s i n l o c a l o f f i c e s .



prosecutors generally demand more control over cases and are not inclined to simply hand over part of the misdemeanor case-load when they will be held responsible in the media for any perceived unfairness.111

1 1 1 I n f a c t , o v e r t h e y e a r s d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s h a v e h a d c o n c e r n s a b o u t s t u d e n t s i n o u r f i e l d p l a c e m e n t p r o g r a m . O n e c o u n t y ' s f o r m e r d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s a i d Ah e d i d n ' t w a n t s t u d e n t s i n t h e o f f i c e . @ H e t o l d m e a t o n e p o i n t t h a t n o t o n l y w e r e t h e y a n n o y i n g b u t t h a t t h e y w o u l d b e Ac h e c k i n g o v e r @ a n d As e c o n d g u e s s i n g @w h a t t h e o f f i c e w a s d o i n g . A n o t h e r f o r m e r d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y d e m a n d e d t h a t a l l c a s e f i l e s p a s s t h r o u g h h i s p u b l i c r e l a t i o n s p e r s o n C t h i s i n c l u d e d c e r t a i n m i s d e m e a n o r s C b e f o r e a n o f f e r w a s m a d e . O f c o u r s e , w e h a v e r e v e r s e s i t u a t i o n s a s w e l l i n w h i c h t h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e w a n t s t o j u s t t h r o w s t u d e n t s a l o n e i n t o n i g h t c o u r t i n d i s t a n t t o w n c o u r t s i n o r d e r t o r e l i e v e o v e r w o r k e d a s s i s t a n t s .


3. Albany: Coordinating with the Community, the Courts and

Clinical Alumni112

1 1 2 O t h e r l a w s c h o o l s a l s o u s e m o d e l s w h i c h p a r t n e r p r o s e c u t o r s a n d c l i n i c a l f a c u l t y t o s h a r e s u p e r v i s i o n o f s t u d e n t s . F o r e x a m p l e , a t N e w M e x i c o , t h e c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r t e a c h e s t h e c l a s s e s a n d a c c o m p a n i e s t h e s t u d e n t s t o c o u r t f i f t y p e r c e n t o f t h e t i m e . E m a i l f r o m L i s a T o r r a c o , V i s i t i n g A s s i s t a n t P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w M e x i c o L a w S c h o o l t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( D e c . 3 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . A t S t a n f o r d , t h e f u l l t i m e f a c -u l t y m e m b e r p r e p a r e s s t u d e n t s o n c a s e s , o b s e r v e s s t u d e n t s i n c o u r t a n d Aa r r a n g e s f o r p r i s o n t o u r s , p o l i c e r i d e a l o n g s a n d d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h e x - i n m a t e s , d e f e n s e a t t o r n e y s a n d p o l i c e o f f i c e r s . @ E m a i l f r o m G e o r g e F i s h e r , J u d g e J o h n C r o w n P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , S t a n f o r d L a w S c h o o l t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( J a n . 1 0 , 2 0 0 5 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . A t B o s t o n C o l l e g e , E v a n g e l i n e S a r d a t e a c h e s a h y b r i d p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c i n w h i c h s h e s u p e r v i s e s As t u d e n t s c a s e p r e p o u t o f c o u r t a n d [ ] i n c o u r t @ w h e n s h e h a s n o c o n f l i c t s i n s c h e d u l -i n g . E m a i l f r o m E v a n g e l i n e S a r d a , A s s o c i a t e C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r , B o s t o n C o l l e g e L a w S c h o o l t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( N o v . 1 8 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . M i n n e s o t a o f f e r s s e v e r a l p r o s e c u t i o n o p p o r t u n i t i e s . B e v e r l y B a l o s t e a c h e s a h y b r i d d o m e s t i c a s s a u l t p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c i n w h i c h s h e p r i m a r i l y t e a c h e s t h e c l a s s e s ( s h e c o - t e a c h e s s o m e c l a s s e s w i t h p r o s e c u t i n g a t t o r n e y s ) a n d m e e t s w i t h t h e s t u d e n t s t o Ad i s c u s s t h e c a s e s , t h e o r y o f t h e c a s e , s t r a t e g y , e v i d e n t i a r y q u e s t i o n s e t c . @ E m a i l f r o m B e v e r l y B a l o s , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a L a w S c h o o l t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( N o v . 1 8 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . S h e a l s o m e e t s w i t h t h e m t o r e v i e w a n d d i s c u s s d r a f t s o f t h e i r t r i a l b r i e f s w h i l e At h e f i n a l t r i a l b r i e f a n d t h e i n -c o u r t a p p e a r a n c e s a r e s u p e r v i s e d b y t h e p r o s e c u t i n g a t t o r n e y . @ S t e p h e n S i m o n s ' s p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c a t M i n n e s o t a u t i l i z e s m o r e o f a t r a d i t i o n a l f i e l d p l a c e m e n t m o d e l w i t h s o m e c r e a t i v e m a t c h i n g o f c r i m i n a l d e f e n s e a t t o r n e y s a n d s t u d e n t s w i t h p r o s e c u t i n g a t t o r n e y s a n d s t u d e n t s f o r s k i l l s s i m u l a t i o n s . E m a i l f r o m S t e p h e n M . S i m o n , P r o f e s s o r o f C l i n i c a l I n s t r u c t o r , U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a L a w S c h o o l t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( J a n . 1 0 , 2 0 0 5 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . H e a l s o u t i l i z e s As t u d e n t d i r e c t o r s i n p r o s e c u t i o n @ t o o b t a i n a n d a s s i g n p r o s e c u t i o n c a s e s t o s t u d e n t s . E m a i l f r o m S t e p h e n S i m o n , P r o f e s s o r o f C l i n i c a l I n -s t r u c t i o n , U n i v e r s i t y o f M i n n e s o t a L a w S c h o o l t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( N o v . 1 9 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) ; s e e a l s o s u p r a n o t e 1 0 8 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t ( d i s c u s s i n g P r o f e s s o r M i l l e m a n n ' s c l i n i c a t M a r y l a n d ) ; L a r r y C u n n i n g h a m , T h e U s e o f AB o o t C a m p s @ a n d O r i e n t a t i o n P e r i o d s i n E x t e r n s h i p s



For the Albany clinical program, a more collaborative model was needed with a practitioner/partner who would love the idea of this project and this kind of teaching and a criminal justice and advocacy community that would provide broadly based support for an organized focus on domestic violence prosecution. By collaborating with community organizations, court personnel and the district attorney's office, pieces of a hybrid model came together.

a. Principal Participants

The teaching team includes a Aphilosopher-lawyer@/faculty member113 to encourage institutional critique and critical reflec-tion, and provide the kind of supervision, planning opportuni-ties, evaluation and feedback that most field supervisors are too busy to offer consistently. The next key design component is finding the appropriate prosecutor with whom to work, and from whose caseload the students learn and practice,114 the mentor/supervisor idealized by Liz Ryan Cole. In other words, one needs to find expert practitioners selected for Aexcellence, their experience, their love of their work, and their passion to convey what they know to others.@115 This is the most difficult part of this hybrid model. As Larry Cunningham points out in his article on Aboot camps,@ prosecutors are busy and

a n d C l i n i c s : L e s s o n s L e a r n e d f r o m a C r i m i n a l P r o s e c u t i o n C l i n i c , 7 4 M I S S . L . J . 9 8 3 ( 2 0 0 4 ) ( d e s c r i b i n g h i s r e d e s i g n e d T e x a s T e c h c l i n i c ) . 1 1 3 S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p , s u p r a n o t e 1 4 , a t 5 3 4 . 1 1 4 T h e c o - t e a c h e r / f i e l d s u p e r v i s o r i s c a r e f u l l y s e l e c t e d a s s o m e o n e w h o i s e x p e r t o n D . V . p r o s e c u t i o n , a g o o d t e a c h e r , a n d w i l l i n g t o t a k e p r o f e s s i o n a l t i m e t o a c c o m m o d a t e t h e e d u c a t i o n a l g o a l s . N o t e , t h i s a d i f f i c u l t p a r t o f t h e p r o p o s a l a s e x p l a i n e d i n f r a a t n o t e 1 1 7 . O n e w a y w e f o u n d t o c o m p e n s a t e o u r A D A s w a s t o f i n d m o n e y t o f u n d t h e m a s a d j u n c t s t h r o u g h A L S a n d / o r g r a n t s . 1 1 5 L i z R y a n C o l e , T r a i n i n g t h e M e n t o r : I m p r o v i n g t h e A b i l i t y o f L e g a l E x p e r t s t o T e a c h S t u d e n t s a n d N e w L a w y e r s , 1 9 N . M . L . R E V . 1 6 3 , 1 6 4 ( 1 9 8 9 ) .


d o n o t h a v e t h e t i m e o r r e s o u r c e s t o t r a i n s t u d e n t s e x t e n -s i v e l y . . . C r i m i n a l p r o s e c u t i o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y a t t h e m i s d e -m e a n o r o r p e t t y v i o l a t i o n l e v e l , i s a h i g h l y t e c h n i c a l , p r o c e -d u r e - f o c u s e d a n d r o u t i n e p r a c t i c e . J u n i o r p r o s e c u t o r s t y p i c a l l y h a v e a v o l u m e p r a c t i c e , w h e r e t h e y h a n d l e m a n y c a s e s o v e r a p e r i o d o f t i m e . . . . N o m a t t e r h o w g e n e r o u s a n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g a f i e l d s u -p e r v i s o r m a y b e , t h e f a c t i s t h a t i n t e r n s a r e m o r e o f a b u r -d e n t o t h e s u p e r v i s o r t h a n a n a s s e t . 1 1 6

It is important to find someone who is a good co-teacher, allows students to exercise discretion on her cases, and who is com-fortable working with a clinical faculty member. Contacting alumna of the school who worked in key prosecution positions eventually led me to my partners.117 In addition, under this F o r a m o r e d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n o f t h i s a r t i c l e , s e e B l a n c o & B u h a i , s u p r a n o t e 2 0 , a t 6 1 7 - 1 8 . 1 1 6 C u n n i n g h a m , s u p r a n o t e 1 1 2 . P r o f e s s o r C u n n i n g h a m a l s o n o t e s t h e n e e d f o r h a v i n g t e a c h e r s p r e p a r e d t o l e a r n f r o m t h e i r b u s y f i e l d s u p e r v i s o r s . P a r t i c u -l a r l y , a t t h e m i s d e m e a n o r l e v e l , s t u d e n t s c a n b e c o n f u s e d o r a l i e n a t e d b y t h e h i g h l y t e c h n i c a l p r o c e d u r e , j a r g o n a n d s w i f t p a c e B o r w o r s e j u s t l e a r n t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e b u r e a u c r a t - s p e a k w i t h o u t f u l l y u n d e r s t a n d i n g w h a t ' s h a p p e n i n g i n a c a s e . 1 1 7 M y f i r s t p a r t n e r ( 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 2 ) a n d s e c o n d p a r t n e r ( 2 0 0 2 - 2 0 0 4 ) w e r e i n t e r n s i n t h e f i e l d p l a c e m e n t p r o g r a m y e a r s b e f o r e a n d w a n t e d t o p r o v i d e t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n w i t h a m p l e o p p o r t u n i t y t o e x p l o r e d e c i s i o n m a k i n g a n d t o g e t i n t o c o u r t . W h e n w e d i s c u s s e d m y i d e a s o v e r t h e p h o n e o r i n l u n c h m e e t i n g s , I c o u l d s e n s e t h e y h a d t h e g o o d n o n - i n t e r v e n t i o n i s t a n d m e n t o r i n g i n s t i n c t s o f a c l i n i c a l t e a c h e r a n d p a s s i o n f o r t h i s p r o j e c t . I a l s o d e t e r m i n e d t h a t m y p a r t n e r s v i e w o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e p r o s e c u t i o n a n d r e p u t a t i o n i n t h e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o m m u n i t y w o u l d e n h a n c e t h e p r o j e c t . I n a n i n f o r m a l e m a i l d i s c u s s i o n w i t h m e a b o u t t h e i m p o r -t a n c e o f f i n d i n g t h e r i g h t p a r t n e r , P r o f e s s o r M i c h a e l M i l l e m a n n n o t e d :

G o o d w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h p r o s e c u t o r i s e s s e n t i a l . W e a g r e e d o n w h a t s t u d e n t s w o u l d d o ; t a l k e d r e g u l a r l y a b o u t t h e s t u d e n t s a n d t h e i r w o r k , a n d i n t h o s e r e s p e c t s , a b o u t t h e c a s e s a s w e l l ; w o r k e d h a r d t o a v o i d , e v e n u n c o n s c i o u s l y , u n d e r m i n i n g e a c h o t h e r ; i d e n t i f i e d o u r v i e w s a b o u t s u b s t a n t i v e m a t t e r s , e . g . , a b o u t c h a r g i n g , s e n t e n c i n g , d i s c l o -s u r e / d i s c o v e r y , r e c u r r i n g e t h i c s i s s u e s . W h e r e w e a g r e e d , w e t a u g h t , m e i n t h e c l a s s r o o m a n d s h e i n h e r w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h t h e s t u d e n t s ,



model which focuses on a specialized caseload in domestic vio-lence, it is equally important to find someone whose view of prosecution allows for introduction of a wide range of informa-tion and perspective to students, particularly in the area of social science and the dynamics of domestic violence. Although the prosecutor and the advocates may differ over the wisdom of some of the district attorneys office policies and decisions, those tensions make for fabulous teaching moments. Finding a good specialized prosecutor with whom to collaborate does not resolve all issues and problems. An important part of the design is to negotiate strategic cooperation of the ATop Dog@Cthe district attorneyCso that students are able to perform a full range of prosecutorial activities on cases. The ability to control the caseload, and the allocation of prosecutori-al discretion, can be delicate issues of negotiation.118 In my negotiations with the district attorney's offices, I emphasized the need for our students, once trained by my partner and me, to be able to handle cases alone, conduct plea negotiations, hearings and trials. The result was that although our students would not have the kind of discretion that Pace and Brooklyn students had, as long as my partner, the specialized domestic

w i t h o u r c o m m o n v i e w s . W h e n w e d i s a g r e e d , w e i d e n t i f i e d o u r p o s i t i o n s w i t h e a c h o t h e r , d i s c l o s e d t h e a r g u m e n t s w e w o u l d m a k e , a n d t a u g h t w i t h t h e d i s a g r e e m e n t s . W e c o - t a u g h t a f e w c l a s s e s , i n c l u d i n g i n t h i s w a y . T h i s r e q u i r e s t r u s t , f u l l p r i o r d i s c l o s u r e ( n o g o t - y a a d v o c a c y ) , a n d b o t h r e a l a n d d e m o n s t r a t e d m u t u a l r e s p e c t .

E m a i l f r o m M i c h a e l M i l l e m a n n , P r o f e s s o r , B a l t i m o r e C i t y C h i l d A b u s e P r o s e c u t i o n C l i n -i c t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( N o v . 1 8 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . I c o u l d n o t s a y i t a n y b e t t e r . 1 1 8 I w a n t e d m y s t u d e n t s t o a p p e a r i n c o u r t o n c a s e s a n d a t h e a r i n g s a n d t r i a l a s m u c h a s p o s s i b l e . I a l s o k n e w t h a t t h e r e h a d b e e n i n c o n s i s t e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r s u c h a c t i v i t i e s i n o u r f i e l d p l a c e m e n t s a t t h a t o f f i c e . O v e r t h e y e a r s , I m e t w i t h e a c h d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y a n d w a s a b l e t o p r o m o t e t h e i d e a o f A L S s t u d e n t s a s s i s t i n g m y p a r t n e r - p r o s e c u t o r i n s t a f f i n g t h e c o u r t .


violence prosecutor, Aokayed@ what the students were doing, the district attorney would not oppose.119 The other Ateachers@ under this model are the advocates, the court, and the other policy makers involved in fashioning the court. Thus, it is helpful to reach out to them for support of the involvement of students and for ideas of training for students. This is not to suggest that all parties agreed about how to prosecute domestic violence crimes or how to fashion the court.120 The story of our collaborative is probably typical. Predictably, each player pointed to Afailures@ in other parts of the system. The police complained about the prosecutor not communicating with them and lack of equipment, while my prosecutor-partner pointed to lack of staff and resources and to poor evidence recovery by the police. Advocates complained that the courts and the prosecutors ignored the voice and experience of battered women and domestic violence advocates. Lack of re-sources, lack of coordination and distrust among players was a pervasive problem.121 Nevertheless, and with varying levels of ambivalence, this community coalition moved forward to work together to design a court and to apply for joint funding for additional resources. Most importantly for the educational project, the idea of having well-trained law students work with criminal victims, staff the court, and prosecute certain domestic violence crimes under appropriate supervision was warmly ac- 1 1 9 I n t h e i n i t i a l c o u n t y i n w h i c h w e w o r k e d , I s i g n e d a c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y a g r e e m e n t , a s d i d e a c h o f m y s t u d e n t s . T h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y r e q u i r e d v i c t i m s ' c o n s e n t t o s t u d e n t s p r o s e c u t i n g , b u t a g r e e d t o a l l o w m y p a r t n e r - p r o s e c u t o r t o a b i d e b y t h e e d u c a t i o n a l p a r a m e t e r s o f t h e p r o g r a m . 1 2 0 I n o n e c o u n t y , I o f t e n b e c a m e a n i n t e r m e d i a r y b e t w e e n t h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e a n d t h e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e a d v o c a t e s w h e n t h e y m i s i n t e r p r e t e d e a c h o t h e r ' s j a r g o n o r v i e w p o i n t . 1 2 1 T h i s d i s t r u s t a n d t e n s i o n c a n b e v i e w e d a s f e r t i l e t e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l w i t h o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r g u e s t s e m i n a r s b y a n u m b e r o f p r o f e s s i o n a l s t o b r o a d e n s t u d e n t p e r s p e c t i v e o n t h e p r o j e c t . I a l s o r e c o g n i z e d i t a s a g o o d b e g i n n i n g f o r r e f o r m ; p r o b l e m s a n d l a c k o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n m u s t b e n a m e d b e f o r e a t t e m p t s t o r e m e d y a n d c h a n g e c a n o c c u r .



cepted by all the parties. The design of the court and my clinical program began in tandem.122

b. Educational Parameters In addition to the organization of the teaching team, the course itself is structured in order to achieve the goals described earlier. First, the clinic is offered as a year-long course to allow for building of skills, achievement of more goals, integration of different methods of instruction and increased opportunities to practice and reflect. The year-long commitment allows students to build skills and knowledge, and supervisors to obtain confidence in the students' abilities.123 It increases the likelihood that students see cases through to verdict or plea and sentence, as well as the likelihood that students engage in the full range of prosecutorial duties124 including hearing and trial opportunities. Second, Aclinical methodology@ is used by the full-time faculty member, the field supervisor and students.125 Students and the faculty team utilize planning documents and reflective learning

1 2 2 T h e c r i m i n a l c o u r t j u d g e w a s e x c i t e d b y t h e i d e a o f h a v i n g s t u d e n t s h e l p s t a f f t h e c o u r t a n d w o r k t o b e t t e r p r o s e c u t e t h e c a s e s . H e a g r e e d t o s c h e d u l e c o u r t o n F r i d a y s , w h i c h w o u l d w o r k b e s t w i t h s t u d e n t s c h e d u l e s . T h u s , s t u d e n t s w o u l d b e a s s u r e d o f a s t e a d y s t r e a m o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c a s e s c o m i n g f r o m t h e c o u r t . 1 2 3 F o r a d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n o f c l i n i c a l d e s i g n , s e e P e t e r T o l l H o f f m a n , C l i n i c a l C o u r s e D e s i g n a n d t h e S u p e r v i s o r y P r o c e s s , 1 9 8 2 A R I Z . S T . L . J . 2 7 7 . 1 2 4 P r o f e s s o r C u n n i n g h a m p o i n t s o u t t h a t t h e Aq u i c k e r s t u d e n t s l e a r n t h e p r o c e d u r e a n d l a n g u a g e o f m i s d e m e a n o r p r o s e c u t i o n , t h e q u i c k e r t h e y c a n l e a r n a n d p r a c t i c e t h e m o r e i m p o r t a n t s k i l l s a n d v a l u e s s u c h a s m a k i n g c h a r g i n g d e c i -s i o n s , d e c i d i n g o n p l e a o f f e r s , a n d t r y i n g a c a s e t o v e r d i c t . @ L a r r y C u n n i n g h a m , s u p r a n o t e 1 1 3 , a t 1 0 0 1 - 0 2 . 1 2 5 C l i n i c a l m e t h o d o l o g y j a r g o n h a s b e c o m e Am a i n s t r e a m e d . @ A t t h e A L S C l i n i c H o l i d a y p a r t y t h i s y e a r , P r o f e s s o r J o s e p h C o n n o r s c r e a t e d a c l i n i c j e o p a r d y g a m e i n w h i c h t h e c a t e g o r y o f AC l i n i c a l M e t h o d o l o g y @ i n c l u d e d a n s w e r s s u c h a s Aa c t i v e l i s t e n i n g , @ r e f l e c t i o n o p p o r t u n i t i e s , a n d Ac u l t u r a l c o m p e t e n c e ; @ AB e l l o w a n d M o u l t o n @ w a s a l s o a n a n s w e r .


skills. Students are evaluated and given letter grades under our in-house clinic grading system which emphasizes planning, performing, reflection, ethics and team building.126 Students' performances during simulated exercises and during victim interviews, trials, hearings or court calendar calls are observed in most cases by both the in-house clinical faculty member and the prosecutor-supervisor, and immediate feedback is provided. Third, students enroll in a weekly two hour Domestic Violence Seminar as a co- or pre-requisite so that students can be steeped in the special issues and special knowledge of the dy-namics of domestic violence127 and of the development of laws pertaining to domestic violence.128 In this course, domestic vio-lence advocates and policymakers, survivors, health profession-als, and law enforcement personnel share their interdisciplin-ary perspectives on the issue of domestic violence and the his-tory and development of domestic violence law-both civil and criminal. 1 2 6 F o r a d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e e v a l u a t i o n p r o c e s s f o r t h e D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e C l i n i c , s e e T h e E v a l u a t i o n P r o c e s s , a t h t t p : / / w w w . a l s . e d u / f a c u l t y / m b r e g e r / e v a l p r o c e s s . h t m l ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 2 0 , 2 0 0 5 ) . 1 2 7 I t h a s b e e n a c c e p t e d t h a t t h e g e n e r a l l a y - p e r s o n i s s t i l l i g n o r a n t a b o u t t h i s i s s u e a n d t h a t s o m a n y m y t h s a n d s t e r e o t y p e s s u r r o u n d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e . I n d e e d , t h a t i s w h y e x p e r t t e s t i m o n y i s n e e d e d i n c o u r t s . S e e g e n e r a l l y A u d r e y R o g e r s , P r o s e c u t o r i a l U s e o f E x p e r t T e s t i m o n y i n D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e C a s e s : F r o m R e c a n t a t i o n t o R e f u s a l t o T e s t i f y , 8 C O L U M . J . G E N D E R & L . 6 7 ( 1 9 9 8 ) . T h e r e h a s a l s o b e e n a n e m p h a s i s i n l a w s c h o o l s t o t r a i n s t u d e n t s i n h a n d l i n g d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c a s e s . S e e g e n e r a l l y J o h n F . M a h o n & D a n i e l K . W r i g h t , T h e M i s s i n g I n g r e d i e n t : I n c o r p o r a t i n g D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e I s s u e s I n t o t h e L a w S c h o o l C u r r i c u l u m , 4 8 S T . L O U I S U . L . J . 1 3 5 1 ( 2 0 0 4 ) . 1 2 8 T h e A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l C o u r s e C a t a l o g e x p l a i n s t h a t t h e D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e S e m i n a r A[ e ] x p l o r e s i n d e p t h t h e l e g a l i s s u e s a n d d i s c r e t e p h e n o m e n a o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e . T o p i c s g e n e r a l l y i n c l u d e i n t i m a t e p a r t n e r v i o l e n c e , c r i m i n a l p r o s e c u t i o n o f b a t t e r e r s , c h i l d a b u s e a n d n e g l e c t , g a y a n d l e s b i a n b a t t e r i n g , e l d e r a b u s e , a n d t h e b a s i s f o r i n t e r v e n t i o n o f t h e s t a t e . @ A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l C o u r s e D e -s c r i p t i o n s , a t h t t p : / / w w w . a l s . e d u / a c a d e m i c s / c o u r s e - l i s t i n g s . c f m ? I D = 5 % 2 E 1 ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 2 0 , 2 0 0 5 ) . T h i s c o u r s e w a s a l s o r e q u i r e d f o r F a m i l y V i o l e n c e L i t i g a t i o n c l i n i c s t u d e n t s a n d o p e n t o n o n - c l i n i c s t u d e n t s .



Fourth, the Aclinical class component@129 consists of some front-loaded instruction, courthouse tours/observation sessions at the beginning of the first semester, and a two hour weekly session throughout the rest of the semester.130 During the first semester, students read about pertinent statutes and skills needed to engage in domestic violence prosecution and receive lectures/problems on procedure. In addition, students read codes, cases and articles discussing professionalism, ethics, and institutional critique of prosecution policies and approaches. They also perform case rounds. Fifth, a closed case of the prosecutor-supervisor is used as the basis for a series of simulated activities and assignments in-cluding simulated victim interviews, plea negotiations, court calendar calls, bail hearings, and to draft simulated charging documents and memoranda to a Asupervisor@ analyzing the facts, evidence, and applicable law and recommending how to proceed with the case. Given the other goals for class, class time generally is used to teach about the skill and each student arranged for one-to-one time with the faculty-member professor to conduct the simulations and receive feedback. Both simula-tion and feedback sessions are videotaped so the prosecutor-teacher can review and comment if s/he disagrees and to ob-serve student progress.131 Sixth, the faculty member/philosophy lawyer132 also assists students in preparation for intensive experiences such as hear-ings and trials in order to both encourage the practitioners to provide students with more challenging opportunities and to 1 2 9 S e e g e n e r a l l y E i s i n g e r , s u p r a n o t e 6 1 . 1 3 0 C f . C u n n i n g h a m , s u p r a n o t e 1 1 2 . 1 3 1 S i n c e s t u d e n t s g e n e r a l l y p e r f o r m e d v e r y w e l l o n c e p r e p a r e d , t h e s e v i d e o t a p e s p r o v i d e d t h e s u p e r v i s o r w i t h m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e s t r e n g t h s o f t h e s t u d e n t . I t a l s o p r o v i d e d a n o t h e r o p p o r t u n i t y f o r t h e f a c u l t y m e m b e r a n d s u p e r v i s o r t o d i s c u s s n e e d s a n d g o a l s o f s t u d e n t s a n d c l i n i c a l m e t h o d o l o g y . A n o t h e r u n i n t e n d e d b e n e f i t w a s t h a t s u p e r v i s o r s a p p e a r e d t o b e c o m e m o r e c o n f i d e n t i n s t u d e n t s a n d a l l o w e d g r e a t e r l a t i t u d e o n c a s e s a f t e r v i e w i n g t h e t a p e s . 1 3 2 S e e s u p r a n o t e 1 1 3 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t ( d i s c u s s i n g t h e Ap h i l o s o -p h e r / l a w y e r @ f a c u l t y m e m b e r ) .


help students excel in performance.133 After such experiences, students meet individually with the faculty member for reflec-tion and future planning. Students also meet the faculty mem-ber at the beginning of the semester to identify educational planning goals, at mid-semester (to listen to student feedback, provide general evaluative feedback to the student and to re-view/revise goals), and at the end of semester (to review pro-posed grades and reflective end of semester memos). Seventh, caseload and/or prosecutorial assignments are selected and parsed for educational value.134 We purposely linked ourselves to a specialized caseload and restricted our-selves to working at district attorney's offices staffing domestic violence courts.135 Such courts streamline and organize the pro-cessing of such cases and thus reduce the learning curve and Atransaction costs@ for students.

1 3 3 P r a c t i t i o n e r - s u p e r v i s o r s o f t e n d o n o t h a v e t h e t i m e t o Am o o t @ s t u d e n t s o r a s s i s t s t u d e n t s i n p l a n n i n g t h e i r t a s k s . 1 3 4 I n a d d i t i o n t o m y c o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h P a c e L a w P r o f e s s o r V a n e s s a M e r t o n d e s c r i b e d e a r l i e r , I h a v e a l s o l e a r n e d t h a t M o n t a n a P r o f e s s o r P e g g y T o n o n f i n d s c a s e p a r s i n g , s e l e c t i o n a n d a s s i g n m e n t c r i t i c a l l y i m p o r t a n t . S h e h a s a r r a n g e d t o h a v e o f f i c e h o u r s a t a l o c a l d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y o f f i c e . W h i l e t h e r e , s h e r e v i e w s c a s e d o c k e t s a n d f i l e s i n o r d e r t o s e l e c t a p p r o p r i a t e c a s e s f o r h e r s t u d e n t s . T e l e p h o n e I n t e r v i e w w i t h P r o f e s s o r M a r g a r e t A . ( P e g g y ) T o n o n , D i r e c t o r f o r S t u d e n t A f f a i r s a n d C l i n i c a l S u p e r v i s o r , U n i v e r s i t y o f M o n t a n a S c h o o l o f L a w ( F a l l 2 0 0 4 ) . 1 3 5 T h e r e w a s o n l y o n e o f f i c e i n t h e f i r s t y e a r .



IV. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE ALBANY LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE: RISKS, SUCCESSES, REGRETS AND REWARDS

The Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit evolved over the past four years to meet student demand, changes in domestic violence prosecutors and personnel, and my sense of improving pedagogy. For example, it started in affiliation with one district attorney's office. Last year, however, students were working with three different district attorney's offices.136 The project started as a collaborative teaching effort with one volunteer prosecutor-attorney. Now there is a paid adjunct-partner and networking among and between the adjunct, the other prosecu-tor-field supervisors, and the clinical professor.137 As the educa-tional project became better known and the offices became more comfortable with the expertise of the students in domestic violence cases, more opportunities opened up for students; they tried cases, conducted felony preliminary hearings and exer-cised increasing discretion in plea negotiations and case deci-sion-making. Over the past four years, we have partnered with different counties, cities and agencies to assist in the prosecution of do-mestic violence crimes, the creation of other domestic violence courts, and the acquisition of funding to provide better staffing and resources on domestic violence matters. However, not every evolution has been progress. In one case, looking to expand, I overlooked the District Attorney's tendency to treat domestic

1 3 6 S i n c e t h e C a p i t a l R e g i o n i s e a s y t o t r a v e r s e , i t w a s c o n v e n i e n t e n o u g h f o r m e t o a t t e n d c o u r t s e s s i o n s i n t h e t h r e e p a r t i c i p a t i n g c o u n t i e s . 1 3 7 T h e A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l f a c u l t y a p p r o v e d t h e c l i n i c a l c o u r s e i n t h e s p r i n g o f 2 0 0 0 . B e g i n n i n g i n t h e f a l l o f 2 0 0 0 , i t h a s b e e n o f f e r e d f o r f o u r y e a r s r u n n i n g . A s I w r i t e t h i s a r t i c l e , I a m o n s a b b a t i c a l a n d , h e n c e , t h e h y b r i d p r o j e c t w a s n o t o f f e r e d d u r i n g t h e 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 a c a d e m i c y e a r .


violence crimes less seriously.138 I thought the fact that the assistant district attorney who specialized in domestic violence was eager to partner with us was a good enough link. The District Attorney's disdain, however, permeated the working and resource structure of the entire office, resulting not only in ineffectiveness in the criminal justice response to domestic violence but also a less than ideal experience for the student assigned to work in that county.139 From reviewing student evaluations and community input, and from my perch as Afounder,@ I see continued success in meeting two original goals. The project brought some of the rich experience and perspective of an in-house clinic to students working on prosecution cases and improved, at least on the cases on which students and advocates worked, the criminal justice system's response to battered women. Along the way, some lessons have been learned which may be of use to others considering a hybrid prosecution project. The lessons divide like a compass into four directional areas: (1) there are risks inher-

1 3 8 A s I e x p l a i n l a t e r , I o f t e n f e l t i n t e r n a l p r e s s u r e t o e x p a n d t h e p r o g r a m t o m e e t s t u d e n t d e m a n d o r t o m a k e s u r e t h a t t h e n u m b e r s j u s t i f i e d t h e a s s i g n m e n t o f a f u l l - t i m e f a c u l t y m e m b e r . 1 3 9 T h a t i s n o t t o s a y t h a t w o r k i n g w i t h t h i s o f f i c e d i d n o t o f f e r o t h e r k i n d s o f e d u c a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s . F o r e x a m p l e , o n e o f t h e v i c t i m s w a s a r r e s t e d a n d k e p t i n j a i l f o r f a i l i n g t o r e s p o n d t o a s u b p o e n a b e c a u s e t h e o f f i c e s u s p e c t e d s h e w o u l d n o t s h o w u p f o r t r i a l . H e r c h i l d r e n w e r e t h r o w n i n t o t h e s o c i a l s e r v i c e s s y s t e m a n d t h e a c t i o n s m a d e t h e n e w s . C a r o l D e M a r e , V i c t i m J a i l e d f o r O w n S a f e t y , T I M E S

U N I O N ( A l b a n y , N . Y . ) , S e p t . 1 3 , 2 0 0 3 , a t B 5 , a v a i l a b l e a t 2 0 0 3 W L 5 9 8 9 6 2 0 0 ( d e t a i l i n g t h e e v e n t s w h i c h l e d u p t o t h e v i c t i m b e i n g j a i l e d ) . W e w e r e a b l e t o h a v e b o t h t h e p r o s e c u t o r w h o s a n c t i o n e d t h e a c t i o n c o m e Ad e f e n d @ h e r d e c i s i o n a n d h a v e t h e D V p o l i c e o f f i c e r w h o e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n a b o u t a r r e s t i n g t h e v i c t i m s p e a k i n c l a s s . T h i s s a m e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e w a s e v e n t u a l l y c h a l l e n g e d o n i t s d r u g , c o m m u n i t y a n d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e p o l i c i e s , a n d a c a n d i d a t e b e a t t h e i n c u m b e n t d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n t h e D e m o c r a t i c p r i m a r y b a s e d p r i m a r i l y o n l a c k o f r e s p o n s e t o c o m m u n i t y i s s u e s . S e e M r . S o a r e s ' V i c t o r y : H i s E l e c t i o n S h o u l d B e a L e s s o n f o r T h o s e W h o C l i n g t o t h e M a c h i n e E r a , T I M E S U N I O N ( A l b a n y , N . Y . ) , N o v . 3 , 2 0 0 4 , a t A 1 0 , a v a i l a b l e a t 2 0 0 4 W L 8 8 5 8 4 0 2 4 ( d e s c r i b i n g t h e i s s u e s t h a t h e l p e d t o e l e c t D a v i d S o a r e s A l b a n y C o u n t y D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y ) .



ent in the model, (2) the difficult teaching experiences need to be celebrated, (3) know my regrets so you can have different ones, and (4) the rewards are worth the effort.

A. Risks of Using a Flexible Partnering Model Unlike the models utilized at some other schools including Pace and Brooklyn,140 our model did not require turning all discretion over to the students and the clinic. Instead, it relied on a more flexible approach in which the faculty member partnered with the prosecutor to encourage increased use of students as the lead prosecutor/decisionmaker, but did not require the relinquishment of the partner-prosecutor's discre-tion as a pre-condition of the project. The partnership also was intended to provide more consistent and extensive use of clini-cal methodology and supervision than was typical in our field placement program. However, there are several risks inherent in this flexible approach. First, choosing a partner is a difficult and risky task. Unlike a traditional in-house clinic in which faculty/staff is determined for the academic year, we were subject to the actions of the outside office which were often unrelated to the academic semester and our needs. For example, turnover of the prosecu-tor-partner is a significant problem which can prevent the kind of teacher development that is ideal.141 Student work and much domestic violence work mostly involves a misdemeanor case-load. Experienced assistants are often lured away from the do-mestic violence misdemeanors by offers of more senior positions with more resources and less hassle. Felonies simply have more prestige within the criminal justice world. In fact, over the

1 4 0 S e e d i s c u s s i o n s u p r a P a r t s I I I . B . 1 - 2 ( d i s c u s s i n g s e l e c t i o n o f A l b a n y e d u c a t i o n a l m o d e l b y d e s c r i b i n g P a c e a n d B r o o k l y n m o d e l s ) . 1 4 1 I n t h e f i r s t y e a r o f t h e p r o j e c t , i n t e r n a l e m p l o y e e t u r m o i l w i t h i n t h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e t h r e a t e n e d u s w i t h t h e l o s s o f o u r c o - t e a c h e r . I n t h e e n d , f o r t u i t o u s l y , w e k e p t t h e s e r v i c e s o f t h e c o - t e a c h e r , w h o w a s p r o m o t e d t o h e a d a n e w l y f o r m e d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e u n i t i n t h e o f f i c e .


course of four years of working with one particular office, at least five different prosecutors rotated out of the assignment to the domestic violence court.142 Another lesson concerned the characteristics of a good partner when specializing in a particular area of prosecution, and my assumption that someone who had worked in this area for years would be more likely to be an ideal candidate. My initial instinct had been to work with the senior prosecutor of the ASpecial Victims Unit.@143 I assumed that someone in that position must not only be an expert in domestic violence but must be enthusiastic about the social science of, and the femi-nist perspective on, domestic violence. However, this is not always the case. One special victims prosecutor, for example, also handled child abuse, sexual assault, and other Aspecial victims@ cases. Domestic Violence advocates warned me that her heart lay with the child abuse and sexual assault cases and they perceived her to be judgmental about battered women with children in the home. When I spoke with the prosecutor in greater depth about the project, to her credit, she was com-pletely candid with me. After further discussion, she concluded that she lacked both the passion and time for the domestic violence project I envisioned; she admitted that she was Aburned out@ from Adealing with domestic violence victims.@ Another risk concerns the conflict between asking students to be partnered with a specialized prosecutor to do justice while at the same time, asking the students to be institutional critics in community reform. Earlier I alluded to my mistake in ex-panding the program into an office not known for its utilization of a community-based approach to domestic violence. It was in

1 4 2 T h e p r o s e c u t o r a s s i g n e d t o s t a f f t h e D V c o u r t w a s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y m y c o - t e a c h e r / p a r t n e r . I t w o u l d b e t h a t c a s e l o a d , h o w e v e r , f r o m w h i c h w e w o r k e d . 1 4 3 T e r m i n o l o g y i n s o m e l o c a l d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y s ' o f f i c e s f o r u n i t s t h a t h a n d l e s e x u a l a s s a u l t , c h i l d a b u s e a n d / o r d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c a s e s . A s t h e c h i e f o f t h e AS p e c i a l V i c t i m s U n i t , @ t h i s p r o s e c u t o r w a s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a s s i g n i n g d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e m i s d e m e a n o r s t o o t h e r a s s i s t a n t s a n d w a s , a n d i s , a l o y a l a l u m . M y i n i t i a l h o p e w a s t h a t s h e w o u l d a s s i g n c a s e s t o u s j u s t a s s h e w o u l d t o o t h e r a s s i s t a n t s .



that context that one student became troubled by the conflict between what she learned at the office and what she learned from the clinical professor and other Ateachers.@ The activities of the prosecutor, with whom she was learning about the hotseat of real life prosecution, were being seriously questioned in the domestic violence seminar by domestic violence experts, in the news by our advocate-partners in the battered women's commu-nity, and in the clinical class component by the clinical professor and other clinic students.144 The student appeared to be flustered and very defensive in class and in one-on-one ses-sions. She eventually requested faculty permission to drop the course midway through the yearCalbeit for other logistical reasons. An alternative risk is that in attempting to avoid the kind of difficult tensions this student encountered, the clinic can fail to truly perform institutional critique or thoughtfully engage in a theoretical analysis of the subject matter area.145 I wonder if at times, rather than bringing cross-cultural ideas, new models, and other perspectives to enhance the dominant view held by those in the district attorney's office, the students and I may instead have become pulled into their culture. This risk stemmed from two factors inherent in the model: (1) we genu-inely liked our prosecutor-partner and felt sympathy for the difficult position assistant district attorneys found themselves in, and (2) we first learned of the domestic situations, not from

1 4 4 H o p e f u l l y , t h e h y b r i d p r o j e c t b l e n d e d t h e h o t s e a t e x p e r i e n c e o f p r o s -e c u t i o n w i t h t h e Ah o t - h o u s e @ o f a n i n - h o u s e c l i n i c . S e e D e b o r a h M a r a n v i l l e , P a s s i o n , C o n t e x t , a n d L a w y e r i n g S k i l l s : C h o o s i n g A m o n g S i m u l a t e d a n d R e a l C l i n i c a l E x p e -r i e n c e s , 7 C L I N I C A L L . R E V . 1 2 3 , 1 3 3 ( 2 0 0 0 ) ( d e s c r i b i n g h o w Ai n - h o u s e l a w c l i n i c s a r e a l t e r n a t e l y p r a i s e d a n d d a m n e d f o r t h e i r ` h o t - h o u s e ' c h a r a c t e r @) . 1 4 5 I a m c o g n i z a n t t h a t t h i s s t a t e m e n t f l i e s i n t h e f a c e o f m y e a r l i e r a t -t e m p t t o n o t d i v i d e t h e w o r l d i n t o o b j e c t i v e a n d s u b j e c t i v e w a y s o f t h i n k i n g . S e e s u p r a n o t e 4 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t . M y o n l y d e f e n s e i s t h a t I w e n t t o l a w s c h o o l a n d t e a c h a t a l a w s c h o o l . A s a r e s u l t , I a m n o t i m m u n e t o t h e l a w s c h o o l ' s c u l t u r a l r e i n f o r c e -m e n t o f t h o s e d i s t i n c t i o n s .


victimsCor even defendantsCbut from police reports which cer-tainly colored our view of cases.146 There were risks in the community as well. Sometimes, the domestic violence advocates would trust the district attorney's office or give them a benefit of the doubt because of the clinic's reputation or work. Were we inhibiting a more vigorous attack on that office? Or, I suppose, the students might have been ex-ploited for other political purposes.147 If some or any of this happened, it was not observed by me to any significant ex-tent.148 In addition, there were potential conflict issues with our Family Violence project. Would we have to identify a conflict of interest with every potential family violence client who had a criminal matter in the counties in which the prosecution project operated? That is not what we concluded and instead came up with a way of addressing the issue internally, with clinic clients, and with the selected offices.149 Although we cannot know if there were potential clients who distrusted the clinic's relationship with district attorney's offices and hence failed to access assistance from the clinic's Family Violence Project, that project's reputation seems fairly untarnished by its proximity to the prosecution project.

1 4 6 W e w e r e s u b j e c t t o t h e c r i t i c a l e f f e c t s o f p r i m a c y . O n e c a n o v e r -c o m e t h a t b y s p e n d i n g a l o t o f t i m e w i t h t h e v i c t i m o r a d v o c a t e , b e c o m i n g k n o w l -e d g e a b l e a b o u t t h e d y n a m i c s o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e , a n d b y l i s t e n i n g w i t h a n o p e n e a r t o t h e d e f e n s e p e r s p e c t i v e . 1 4 7 W e d i d n o t e n c o u n t e r t h e p r o b l e m o f s t u d e n t s b e i n g a s s i g n e d i n a p p r o p r i a t e t a s k s a s c h e a p l a b o r . I b e l i e v e t h i s i s b e c a u s e o f t h e p a r t n e r m o d e l i n w h i c h t h e c l i n i c a l f a c u l t y m e m b e r w a s i n t e n s i v e l y i n v o l v e d . 1 4 8 I d i d o b s e r v e , h o w e v e r , t h a t s o m e g o v e r n m e n t a g e n c i e s / a c t o r s b e c a m e m o r e f o c u s e d o n t h e Ab u d g e t r e l i e v i n g @ o p p o r t u n i t i e s o f t h e g r a n t f u n d i n g a n d l e s s f o c u s e d o n t r u l y c h a n g i n g t h e s y s t e m a s i t e x i s t e d . 1 4 9 S e e i n f r a n o t e 1 5 6 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t .



B. Celebrate the Difficult Moments and the Inherent Tensions-

They Are Often the Best Teaching AText@150 The attempts to integrate characteristics of an in house project were successful in many ways. Concerning professionalism, students were exposed not only to the codes and obligations but to the reality of activities such as disclosing material to the defense or trying to effect the prosecutorial ethical mandate to ADo Justice@ in a case in which the victim wants the charges dropped. Not that these lessons were learned in a beautifully orchestrated manner. In fact, it was just the opposite. For example, early on in the project, one student lost contact with the victim, so Ataking some initiative@ as we encouraged in our fact investigation teaching, she decided to leave a message at the defendant's home in case the victim had gone back to the defendant. When she announced this to me in a mentoring session, it was all I could do not to fall off my chair and shout AYou did what?@ I know I wasn't at my best in handling this teaching opportunity. I'm sure I looked upset and concerned and I can't promise that my voice was calm. I did manage to ask her what she thought might happen to the victim if the defendant/batterer deduced that the victim was cooperating with the prosecutor. I reminded her about our discussions of victim safety. Also, I asked what she had learned in her professional responsibility course about the prosecutor talking with the defendant/opposing party who had counsel. She informed me they Ahadn't gotten to that yet@ in her ethics course. We quickly called the prosecutor-supervisor and the do-mestic violence shelter to report what had happened. Unnerv-ing as that experience was for the student and for me,151 the

1 5 0 S e e P e t e r J a s z i e t a l . , s u p r a n o t e 8 7 , a t 4 0 4 ( d e s c r i b i n g h o w A[ s ] t u d e n t s b r i n g t h e i r f i e l d e x p e r i e n c e s b a c k t o t h e l a w s c h o o l a s t h e ` t e x t ' f o r c r i t i c a l a n a l y s i s @) . 1 5 1 I m e n t a l l y k i c k e d m y s e l f a h u n d r e d t i m e s f o r t h a t i n c i d e n t B h a d w e f a i l e d t o p r o p e r l y p r e p a r e t h e s t u d e n t s ? F o r t u n a t e l y , o n c e w e d i s c o v e r e d t h a t t h e


experience was memorable for the students and the class and led to much discussion of safety of victims and obligations of prosecutors in fact investigation. In terms of skill-building opportunities, the hybrid project did provide students the anticipated numerous integrated learning experiences with progressive skill-building and reflective opportunities. Students were able to focus on self-identified goals under structured and direct supervision of a clinician. They were more involved in cases and were offered more inde-pendence on cases than the typical prosecution externs I had supervised. Students appeared in court weekly, interviewed and worked with more victims, negotiated more pleas, and prepared for more hearings and trials than those not working with the project. Once again, this didn't always happen in the perfectly organized chorus line of the simulation course syllabus. Early on in the semester, a case no one expected to go to trial was suddenly set for trial. The assigned student was a second year student who had yet to complete a course in either evidence or trial advocacy.152 The other students, my partner, and I all worked feverishly with her but when the student was mooted, it was clear to everyone that she just wasn't ready for the com-plexity of a trial on what had turned into a very complex and difficult case early in the first semester of her second year.153 She stepped back from the case. However, we ended up using the case as a simulated one for the second semester and had all the students prepare it. It was a great exercise and became more meaningful as a simulation because the students had experienced the ways in which witnesses disappear and contra-dict themselves and facts change without notice. They also had v i c t i m h a d n o t b e e n h a r m e d a s a r e s u l t o f t h e c a l l , m y Ak i c k i n g @ s o o n t u r n e d i n t o t h e h e a l t h i e r r e a c t i o n o f a n a l y z i n g h o w t o b e t t e r p r e p a r e t h e s t u d e n t s i n t h e n e x t y e a r . 1 5 2 I n t h e c l i n i c a l c l a s s , w e h a d o n l y g o t t e n a s f a r a s b a i l o f f e r s a n d p l e a n e g o t i a t i o n . 1 5 3 I n a d d i t i o n t o o t h e r c o m p l e x i t i e s , t h i s w a s a c a s e ( t y p i c a l f o r d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e ) i n w h i c h w e w e r e n o t q u i t e s u r e w h a t t h e v i c t i m w o u l d a d m i t o r d e n y o n t h e d a y o f t r i a l .



experienced the Apanic@ of attempting to prepare for trial on that case and brought that motivation154 into their class prepa-rations and simulated exercises. As in true clinical form, it is impossible to control all the factors which affected the educational model. For example, as we planned our modest little city domestic violence court in Troy, New York, little did we know that the Chief Judge of our high-est court was about to announce a pilot project for the region in which family and criminal matters would be heard almost all at once. One of the locations for the court was New York State Supreme Court in Troy, New York.155 Suddenly, the Troy city criminal court was thrown in confusion, our co-teacher was re-assigned out of the city court, a new assistant was hired, and all was in flux. This sudden chaos put my Aflexible planning@ and Arely on a good partner@ approach to the ultimate test. It was a terrifying prospect at the beginning of the second semes-ter of a year long clinic. It turned out to be a thrilling opportu-nity and teaching moment. The opportunity now presented itself for us to work more closely with our family violence col-leagues who were to represent clients on family matters in this new integrated criminal/civil domestic violence court. We were able to plan joint skill training exercises, to have family violence clinic students learn from our prosecution students, and vice-versa.156 By broadening our goals and teaching ap-proach, we were able to change the range of cases for students to include both felonies and misdemeanors, to teach students to handle cases in city court and assist on the cases in supreme 1 5 4 S e e s u p r a n o t e s 1 3 - 1 4 a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g t e x t . 1 5 5 I n N e w Y o r k , t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t i s t h e t r i a l l e v e l c o u r t , n o t t h e s t a t e ' s h i g h e s t c o u r t . D A V I D D . S I E G E L , N E W Y O R K P R A C T I C E ' 1 2 ( 3 d e d . , S t . P a u l , W e s t P u b l ' g C o . 1 9 9 9 ) ( 1 9 7 8 ) . 1 5 6 W e a l s o h a d t o b e e v e n m o r e c a r e f u l o f c o n f l i c t s , s o w e s e t u p a s y s t e m i n w h i c h m y c l i n i c s t u d e n t s p u t t h e v i c t i m a n d b a t t e r e r s n a m e t h r o u g h o u r c o n f l i c t s y s t e m . I n a d d i t i o n , m y c o l l e a g u e a n d h e r s t u d e n t s i n o u r f a m i l y v i o l e n c e p r o j e c t i n f o r m e d a l l o f t h e i r c l i e n t s a b o u t o u r p r o j e c t a n d h a d t h e m g i v e i n f o r m e d c o n s e n t t o r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . F u r t h e r m o r e , w e m a k e i t a p r a c t i c e t o i n f o r m t h e p r o s e c u t o r - t e a c h e r o f c a s e s t o a v o i d a s s i g n i n g t o p r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c s t u d e n t s .


court, and to work with a number of primary and secondary supervisors. By the next year, we were able to open up more student opportunities. By responding in an inclusive and posi-tive way to changes (and there were personnel Aadjustments@ almost every year) we were able to provide more students with wonderful experiences.157 With respect to integrated learning and thinking, students were able to come to informed opinions about issues such as mandatory arrest of batterers, use of prosecutorial subpoena power to force victims to testify, and whether and how to con-sider victim's requests to excuse batterers in determining plea, dismissal and/or sentence offers. They had not only learned the law and procedure well, they were able to theorize about it and had acquired the skills to actually practice well under those procedures. In the end, the most beneficial learning experience was handling the unexpected exigencies of real practice, observ-ing their work have a real effect on real cases and real human beings motivated students to excel.

1 5 7 C f . i n f r a P a r t I V . D ( d i s c u s s i n g t h e p o t e n t i a l r e w a r d s o f c l i n i c a l e d u -c a t i o n a l p r o j e c t s ) .



C. Regrets : Couldn't We Have Done It Better?

Couldn't We Have Done More? My main regret was that I couldn't figure out how to con-sistently offer enough opportunities for students. Unlike our field placements which broadly offer at least twenty five prose-cution placement opportunities in four or five different offices, I only offered this opportunity to four students in the first exper-imental year. Of course, the domestic violence seminar was open to all students and generally averaged around twenty students. In later years, as the hybrid clinical program expand-ed to work with other prosecutors and linked to other domestic violence courts, it was able to accommodate more students. However, given how strictly I constructed the parameters of the project and how much I tried to replicate an in-house experi-ence, it could only serve an average of six students. The prima-ry limitation was finding willing and appropriate prosecutor-partners. When I did expand the program into several counties in an attempt to find more willing partners and an appropriate level of case activity, I played more of a facilitator role and somewhat less of a role as direct case supervisor.158 Upon reflection, if I had been more comfortable with a broader view of grading and evaluating, and more confident in articulating that view when proposing the course to our curric-ulum committee, I would have been able to be more flexible in my choice of partners. Since students were graded according to the same rubric as our in-house students,159 fairness required,

1 5 8 D u r i n g t h i s t i m e o f e x p a n s i o n , i t a p p e a r e d t o m e t h a t t h e c l i n i c a l p r o -j e c t l o s t s o m e o f t h e Ab a t t e r e d w o m a n a d v o c a c y p e r s p e c t i v e . @ I n a d d i t i o n , I s e n s e d t h e s t u d e n t s b e c a m e m o r e a n n o y e d w i t h m y Ac r i t i c a l @ p h i l o s o p h y - l a w y e r r o l e w h e n I w a s n o t a s i n v o l v e d i n t h e i r c a s e s . 1 5 9 A t A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l , f i e l d p l a c e m e n t s s t u d e n t s a r e g r a d e d p a s s / f a i l a n d s t u d e n t s i n i n - h o u s e c o u r s e s a r e g r a d e d o n f o u r m a j o r a r e a s : P r e -p e r f o r m a n c e S k i l l s / P l a n n i n g , P e r f o r m a n c e S k i l l s , P o s t - p e r f o r m a n c e S k i l l s : C o r r e c t i o n a n d R e f l e c t i o n , a n d P r o f e s s i o n a l R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . S e e T h e E v a l u a t i o n P r o c e s s , a t


to my mind, providing approximately similar opportunities in the differing counties and equally involved prosecutor-part-ners.160 In the last year of the project, when last minute changes in district attorney personnel resulted in two new prosecution partners/supervisors and it was unclear to me that I could appropriately negotiate the caseload and opportunities in one office, I taught the project as a pass/fail field placement course. Of course that presented all the problems that occur when clinical programs are ungraded, including I think a feel-ing by the students of being asked to do too much for simply a AP.@ In retrospect, I should have developed a separate grading rubric and approach for the hybrid project and requested the faculty to approve the course as different from both our in-house and field placement programCas a true hybrid. From the rich resources written about designing field placement clinics, one can more flexibly consider the Adynamic and fluid task [of design] in which students' desires, the placement agencies' needs and work, and the law school's evolving curriculum must be coordinated and adjusted with one another.@161 Clinical scholars have identified a variety of educational goals for field placements such as Aexposure to law practice,@ skills training, Aassumption@ of lawyering roles, Aacting professionally,@ learn-ing to learn from experience162 and institutional critique and have documented the challenges in meeting these goals.163 Be- h t t p : / / w w w 2 . a l s . e d u / f a c u l t y / m b r e g e r / e v a l p r o c e s s . h t m l ( l a s t v i s i t e d A p r . 2 0 , 2 0 0 5 ) . 1 6 0 I a l s o f e l t r e s p o n s i b l e t o p e r s o n a l l y o b s e r v e a s m u c h s t u d e n t a c t i v i t y a s p o s s i b l e . I k n o w t h a t n o t a l l c l i n i c i a n s a g r e e w i t h t h i s v i e w o f g r a d i n g a n d w o u l d a r g u e t h a t c l i n i c a l g r a d i n g s h o u l d b e b a s e d o n p l a n n i n g a n d r e f l e c t i o n m o r e t h a n p e r f o r m a n c e . 1 6 1 S e e S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p , s u p r a n o t e 1 4 , a t 5 2 7 . 1 6 2 S e e g e n e r a l l y s u p r a n o t e 1 5 . 1 6 3 I f i n d L i n d a F . S m i t h ' s a r t i c l e , S o S h a l l Y o u R e a p , s u p r a n o t e 1 4 a n d E y s t e r , s u p r a n o t e 2 0 p a r t i c u l a r l y h e l p f u l i n t h i n k i n g a b o u t c l i n i c d e s i g n . F o r a m o r e r e c e n t u p d a t e w h i c h t h o u g h t f u l l y e v a l u a t e s c o n t r a s t i n g m o d e l s o f s u p e r v i s i o n , o v e r -s i g h t a n d t r a i n i n g , s e e B l a n c o & B u h a i , s u p r a n o t e 2 0 .



cause of its emphasis on replicating as much as possible the in-house model, the Albany model underestimated the value of other goals found in the field placement tradition and the ad-ditional opportunities available when broadening the goals. Another regret is that I didn't work on more of the inter-disciplinary initiatives that could have enhanced the project. Students did participate in theoretical discussions and reflec-tive critique about law/social science, using the clinical expe-rience to enhance the domestic violence seminar and the semi-nar work to enhance the clinical learning and practice.164 How-ever, the project could have benefitted from a more structured collaboration with a social scientist and her students. With such collaboration, the clinic may have been able to perform statistical research on the effectiveness of the domestic violence court initiatives which would have been an ideal interdisciplin-ary learning experience for the students, helpful to the courts, and a wonderful research and scholarship opportunity for the faculty.165 A final regret is that the project did not achieve any significant Arebelliousness.@166 What happened to my desire for a

1 6 4 W h e n d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e a d v o c a t e s , h e a l t h p r o f e s s i o n a l s a n d p o l i c y m a k e r s c a m e t o s e s s i o n s w i t h i d e a s f r o m o t h e r d i s c i p l i n e s , t h e y b e c a m e r e s o u r c e s f o r t h e s t u d e n t s t o u s e i n w o r k i n g o n t h e i r c a s e s . O u r s t u d e n t s ' e x p e r i e n c e s a n d h y p o t h e t i c a l d e s c r i p t i o n s o f t h e i r c a s e s a l s o b e c a m e f a b u l o u s d i s c u s s i o n m a t e r i a l i n t h e s e m i n a r . 1 6 5 F o r a m o r e d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e t o p i c , s e e t h e w o r k o f P r o f e s -s o r s S u z a n n e T o m k i n s a n d C a t h e r i n e C e r u l l i a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B u f f a l o , M O N R O E

C O U N T Y F A M I L Y C O U R T D O M E S T I C V I O L E N C E I N T E N S I V E I N T E R V E N T I O N C O U R T E V A L U A T I O N , M A R . 1 9 9 9 - M A R . 2 0 0 0 ( S u z a n n e T o m k i n s e d . , S p r i n g 2 0 0 0 ) ( p u b l i s h e d b y F a m i l y V i o l e n c e C l i n i c , S U N Y a t B u f f a l o S c h o o l o f L a w ) . O u r p l a n n i n g f o r a d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o u r t w a s a n a d - h o c p r o c e s s a n d a l t h o u g h e a r l y o n I m a d e e f f o r t s t o s y s t e m a t i c a l l y e v a l u a t e o u t c o m e s b y r e a c h i n g o u t t o s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t f r i e n d s a t a l o c a l c o l l e g e , I g o t c a u g h t u p i n t h e t e a c h i n g a n d o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s a n d d i d n o t p u r s u e s u c h a n e v a l u a t i o n . N o r d i d t h e c o u r t e v e r p u r s u e a v i c t i m e v a l u a t i o n o f i t s e f f o r t s , w h i c h w o u l d h a v e b e e n w i s e . 1 6 6 A s I w r i t e t h i s , I a m r e m i n d e d o f t h e h u m o r o u s w o r d s o f o u r D e a n a n d m y f r i e n d T o m G u e r n s e y t o h i s d a u g h t e r A l l i s o n a f t e r h e r s u c c e s s f u l o r g a n i z a t i o n


Arebellious@ versus Aregnant@ design? Remember my hopes that the new court in Rensselaer County

s h o u l d Ac o m e o u t o f a n a t t e m p t t o ` r e - i m a g i n e ' s o c i a l a r r a n g e m e n t s s o t h a t t h e w o m e n w h o e n c o u n t e r e d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e a l o n g w i t h t h e i r s h e l t e r d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e a d v o c a t e s w o u l d b e t h e p r i m a r y p r o b l e m - s o l v e r s i n d e t e r m i n i n g p r o s e c u t o r i a l d e c i s i o n m a k i n g . . . . i t w o u l d g r o w f r o m t h e n e e d s o f t h e l o c a l c o m m u n i t y m e m b e r s a n d b e h e a v i l y i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e w i s d o m o f n o n - l a w y e r d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e a c t i v i s t s @1 6 7

Ah well, life happened. At first, great things happened. We found funding so that a battered women's advocate was hired to work out of the police station and be available on call to victims. Another battered women's advocate was assigned to the court itself. This had a two-fold effect: (1) victims reluctant to talk to the prosecution were, at least, hooked into services and a support system, and (2) the advocate performed court-monitoring and kept the court Ahonest.@168 Partners worked

o f a n a n t i - w a r p r o t e s t s p o n s o r e d b y W o m e n A g a i n s t t h e W a r t o w h i c h I b e l o n g , AS o d i d t h e y e n d t h e w a r , y e t ? @ 1 6 7 S e e s u p r a P a r t I I . A . 1 6 8 A t y p i c a l e x a m p l e o f p r o a c t i v e a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e v i c t i m a d v o c a c y o c c u r r e d i n o n e c a s e i n w h i c h t h e v i c t i m f i r s t m e t t h e a d v o c a t e a t t h e p o l i c e s t a t i o n . T o g e t h e r t h e a d v o c a t e a n d v i c t i m f i l e d t h e p o l i c e r e p o r t t h a t l e d t o t h e a r r e s t o f t h e b a t t e r e r . W h e n i t c a m e t i m e f o r t h e p r e l i m i n a r y h e a r i n g t o e s t a b l i s h p r o b a b l e c a u s e t o p r o c e e d , t h e v i c t i m w a s r e l u c t a n t t o t e s t i f y i n f r o n t o f h e r b a t t e r e r . S h e o n l y a g r e e d t o t e s t i f y a f t e r t h e s a m e a d v o c a t e a n s w e r e d h e r q u e s t i o n s , a n d w i t h t h e a g r e e m e n t t h a t t h e a d v o c a t e c o u l d b e n e a r b y i n c o u r t d u r i n g h e r t e s t i m o n y . R a t h e r t h a n f a l l i n g a p a r t f r o m l a c k o f v i c t i m t e s t i m o n y , t h e c a s e p r o c e e d e d . T h e o f f e n d e r e n d e d u p s e r v i n g j a i l t i m e , a f t e r w h i c h h e w a s r e l e a s e d o n e l e c t r o n i c m o n i t o r i n g . T h e v i c t i m r e m a i n e d s a f e t h r o u g h i t a l l , i n p a r t , b e c a u s e o f t h e c a r e f u l s a f e t y p l a n n i n g c o o r d i n a t e d b y t h e a d v o c a t e a n d h e r s e l f . T h e o t h e r k i n d o f i n t e r v e n t i o n o c c u r r e d w h e n t h e d e f e n d a n t w a s p r e s e n t b u t t h e v i c t i m w a s n o t . I n s u c h c a s e s , m a n y d e f e n d a n t s a t t e m p t i n g t o o b t a i n a b e t t e r p l e a d e a l l i e d a b o u t v i c t i m s . D e f e n d a n t s c l a i m e d i n c o u r t , w h e n t h e v i c t i m w a s a b s e n t , t h a t t h e v i c t i m w a n t e d t h e c a s e d r o p p e d , w a s Al u r i n g @ t h e d e f e n d a n t b a c k t o t h e



collaboratively on cases and in court; there was energy, coordi-nation and progress. Then, bureaucracies did not continue to appropriately staff the domestic court initiatives. Communica-tion broke down.169 The domestic violence prosecutor got burned out and joined the homicide unit. The chief district attorney resigned. The city court judge was removed from the bench. That story is for another day.

D. Rewards: Why You Might Want to Consider This Kind of Educational Project

In the midst of writing this article, a former DVPU student and recent alumna contacted me for some career advice. As she learned about this article and the questions it raises about the success of the project, she described what the course meant to her:

I c a n h o n e s t l y s a y t h a t m y g r e a t e s t l e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e s t h r o u g h l a w s c h o o l o c c u r r e d d u r i n g m y t i m e i n t h e l a w s c h o o l ' s D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e P r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c . N o w h e r e e l s e d i d I h a v e r e a l f a c t s t o w o r k w i t h , r e a l s i t u a t i o n s c o n s t a n t l y u n f o l d i n g , r e a l p e o p l e b e h i n d t h e f a c t s , a n d a r e a l r e a s o n t o c a r e . . . B e i n g p a r t o f t h e c l i n i c a l s o a f f o r d e d a w o n d e r f u l o p p o r t u n i t y f o r m e b e c a u s e I w o r k e d w i t h t w o c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r s w h o c o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n m o r e d i f f e r e n t t h a n o n e a n o t h e r e x c e p t f o r o n e t h i n g : t h e i r d e s i r e t o d o j u s t i c e a n d t o t e a c h o t h e r s t o d o t h e s a m e . T h e p r o f e s s o r w h o i s a n a s s i s t a n t p r o s e c u t o r t a u g h t t h e v a l u e o f s t r a i g h t

h o u s e , o r t h a t t h e v i c t i m w a s c r a z y . O n o n e o c c a s i o n , a d e f e n d a n t p r o d u c e d a l e t t e r h e s a i d w a s s i g n e d b y t h e v i c t i m . H o w e v e r , t h e v i c t i m a d v o c a t e h a d w o r k e d s o c l o s e l y w i t h t h e v i c t i m f r o m t h e m o m e n t t h e f i r s t p o l i c e r e p o r t w a s f i l e d t h a t e v e n t h o u g h t h e d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e h a d n o t y e t h e a r d f r o m t h e v i c t i m , t h e a d v o c a t e w a s a b l e t o i m m e d i a t e l y c o n t a c t t h e v i c t i m , c o n v e y a c c u r a t e i n f o r m a t i o n t o t h e s p e c i a l i z e d a s s i s t a n t d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y a n d r e v e a l t h e f r a u d u l e n t n a t u r e o f t h e l e t t e r . 1 6 9 O n e s o u r c e o f p r o b l e m s c a m e f r o m t h e m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e r o l e s o f l a w y e r s a n d a d v o c a t e s f o r b a t t e r e d w o m e n . I n p a r t i c u l a r , s o m e g o v e r n m e n t a c t o r s p e r c e i v e d d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e a d v o c a t e s a n d l a w y e r s a s An o n - c o o p e r a t i v e @ w h e n t h e y r e f u s e d t o b e t r a y c l i e n t c o n f i d e n c e s .


t a l k a n d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f b e i n g o b j e c t i v e . Y e t b e c a u s e o f h e r r e g u l a r d u t i e s a n d h e r t e a c h i n g r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , t i m e w i t h h e r w a s s h o r t a n d i n d e m a n d . . . . M y t r i a l w a s s o m e t h i n g I k n e w t h e a s s i s t a n t p r o s e c u t o r c o u l d h a v e h a n d l e d i n h e r s l e e p , b u t f o r m e , i t w a s t h e b i g g e s t a n d m o s t e x c i t i n g e v e n t i n m y l a w s c h o o l c a r e e r . . . . . T h e v e r d i c t i n t h i s c a s e w o u l d b e f o r r e a l a n d w o u l d g e n u i n e l y i m p a c t t h o s e p e r s o n s i n v o l v e d . F o r t h e b a t t e r e r , h e f a c e d u p t o a y e a r i n j a i l . F o r t h e v i c t i m , t h i s v e r d i c t w o u l d o f f e r h e r v a l i d a t i o n f o r t h e a b u s e n o o n e e l s e s e e m e d t o b e l i e v e , o r f u r t h e r r e i n f o r c e h e r p e r c e p t i o n t h a t t h e As y s t e m @ w o r k e d o n l y t o p r o t e c t b a t t e r e r s . T h a t ' s w h e r e t h e c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r w a s i n v a l u a b l e . A s a f o r m e r p r o s e c u t o r h e r s e l f , M a r y k n e w w h a t w e w e r e t r y i n g t o d o C a n d h e l p e d u s t o a c t u a l l y l e a r n h o w t o d o i t o u r s e l v e s a s o p p o s e d t o j u s t t e l l i n g u s h o w t o d o i t . A s I p r e p a r e d f o r t h e t r i a l , I s p e n t h o u r s w i t h M a r y , r e f i n i n g t h e s e q u e n c e o f m y d i r e c t , g o i n g t h r o u g h t h e e v i d e n t i a r y i s s u e s . T h o s e h o u r s w e r e n e c e s s a r y , a n d b e c a u s e t h a t w a s h e r r o l e i n t h e c l i n i c , s h e w a s a b l e t o g i v e m e t h e t i m e I n e e d e d t o p r e p a r e f o r t h e t r i a l . N o w h e r e e l s e i n l a w s c h o o l c a n a s t u d e n t s e e s u c h t a n g i -b l e r e s u l t s . O t h e r c l a s s e s s w i r l o n t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e m e s t e r w i t h n o s e n s e o f w h a t t y p e o f l e a r n i n g w a s o c c u r r i n g . I n t h o s e c l a s s e s , i t w a s n o t u n t i l t h e f i n a l e x a m g r a d e s w e r e p o s t e d d i d I f e e l I c o u l d j u d g e m y p e r f o r m a n c e i n a n y m e a n -i n g f u l w a y . H o w e v e r , w i t h t h e c l i n i c , e v e r y d a y p r o v i d e d a n -o t h e r o p p o r t u n i t y f o r s e l f - a s s e s s m e n t . . . I n c a s e a n y o n e i s w o n d e r i n g , I w o n m y t r i a l . I t w a s t h e n , a n d s t i l l i s n o w , m y p r o u d e s t l a w s c h o o l a c c o m p l i s h m e n t . 1 7 0

Clinicians who teach and direct hybrid prosecution clinics elsewhere also find them rewarding and most agree that they provide students better feedback/supervision and more opportu-

1 7 0 E m a i l f r o m L y n n W e l t h y , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l a l u m n a a n d c l i n i c p a r t i c i -p a n t t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( D e c . 1 7 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . M s . W e l t h y , w h o w a s h i g h l y h o n o r e d a c a d e m i c a l l y t h r o u g h o u t h e r l a w s c h o o l c a r e e r c o u l d h a v e c h o s e n m a n y o t h e r m o m e n t s a s h e r p r o u d e s t .



nities for skill building than the typical field placement.171 Stu-dents in such clinics are more receptive to faculty introduction of ideas contrary to the culture and policies of their assigned prosecutor or office. I too found the hybrid prosecution project very rewarding. I was able to balance the project with my other faculty work, family and personal life. I could focus my clinical teaching on the students' case planning, skill-building, and reflective practice, undistracted by a clinic caseload, grant re-quirements or intake concerns. With less time pressure, I was able to be much more Anon-interventive.@ At the same time, since the students were working on real cases, they were ex-posed to the dynamic and unexpected situations that come with real victims, witnesses, and judges, versus the less dimensional ones found in simulated courses or hypothetical situations. Thus, our class sessions were much more intense and dynamic than those I taught in the field placement program. This was because I was privy to all the facts of the cases and had ob-served parts of cases so the students and I shared common experiences. I was also able to integrate my social justice reform work on domestic violence with my teaching.172 Despite the eventual break up of the original coalition in one county, the students and I experienced a great sense of reward for the work done in the community. First, students made a difference in particular cases. They were able to spend more time concentrating on their cases and in contact with the victim than the average prosecutor or in some cases more time than an advocate could 1 7 1 W h i l e w r i t i n g t h i s a r t i c l e , I h a d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o d i s c u s s m y o p i n i o n b y e m a i l a n d t e l e p h o n e w i t h s e v e r a l o t h e r c l i n i c a l p r o f e s s o r s . AH e r e a r e m y t h o u g h t s a b o u t t h e e x p e r i e n c e s t h a t I h a d i n d e v e l o p i n g a n d t e a c h i n g ( B a l t i m o r e C i t y C h i l d A b u s e P r o s e c u t i o n c l i n i c ) : 1 ) G r e a t l e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e f o r t h e s t u d e n t s , e s p e c i a l l y i n s o f a r a s i t a l l o w e d t h e s t u d e n t s t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n e x e r c i s i n g p r o s e c u t o r i a l d i s c r e t i o n , w h i c h o u r s t u d e n t s d i d . T h i s p r o d u c e d s o m e w o n d e r f u l t e a c h i n g m o m e n t s . . . . @ E m a i l f r o m M i c h a e l M i l l e - m a n n , P r o f e s s o r , B a l t i m o r e C i t y C h i l d A b u s e P r o s e c u t i o n C l i n i c t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( N o v . 1 8 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) . 1 7 2 C f . C h a v k i n , s u p r a n o t e 9 0 .


obtain (e.g., cases in which the victim does not identify herself as being in a violent relationship or needing an advocate). Student's work with victims had real and tangible effects on the outcomes on cases. One case typifies the difference students made. The victim's estranged husband attacked her at a shelter-sponsored apart-ment, the location of which she had promised not to disclose to the batterer as a condition of living there. The victim was afraid of many things: the batterer retaliating, cooperating with the prosecution, speaking with the domestic violence advo-cate, and losing her housing. The prosecution student con-sciously employed tools of client-centered counseling173 and spent much time in contact with the victim obtaining a full picture of her life.174 She also linked the victim to a student-lawyer from our Family Violence Clinic, who represented the victim civilly in family court and assisted the victim in finding a divorce lawyer. The two students worked together to assist the victim in facilitating a safe housing situation and repairing relationships with the domestic violence shelter. In addition, the prosecution student used a Avictim-centered approach@ to the prosecution of the case. Because of the victim's history of going back to the defendant, there were times when actors in the system interpreted the victim's failure to appear or late appearance as ambivalence. The student knew so much about the client's lifeCabout the nine-month pregnant daughter who needed attention and the boss who would not allow the victim to place or receive private phone calls. Ultimately, the student had such belief in the victim that she did not assume that the victim was Abacking out,@ but empathized with the

1 7 3 S e e g e n e r a l l y D A V I D C H A V K I N , C L I N I C A L L E G A L E D U C A T I O N : A T E X T B O O K O F

L A W S C H O O L C L I N I C A L P R O G R A M S ( 2 0 0 2 ) . 1 7 4 T h e v i c t i m w a s a l o n g - t e r m s u r v i v o r o f d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e v i s i t e d u p o n h e r b y h e r h u s b a n d , f r o m w h o m s h e h a d s e p a r a t e d s e v e r a l t i m e s o n l y t o a l l o w h i m b a c k i n h e r l i f e a g a i n . I n t h e p a s t , s h e h a d a l s o b e e n a f r a i d t o c o o p e r a t e b e c a u s e t h e b a t t e r e r / d e f e n d a n t h a d t h r e a t e n e d h e r w i t h h i s Ah i g h - p r i c e d @ l a w y e r w h o , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e v i c t i m , l o d g e d c r o s s - p e t i t i o n s a g a i n s t h e r i n f a m i l y c o u r t .



logistical difficulties the victim was having in attending repeated court appearances and interviews. She convinced court actors to give the victim the benefit of the doubt. The student turned out to be right: the victim cooperated; the de-fendant was forced to accept a plea; and the victim saw the system work in her favor for a change. Further, the clinic was a positive part of the domestic violence court planning process. Students offered recommendations about procedures for the new court which clearly came from viewing the process through victims' eyes.175 Because of our ties with local community activists, we were in closer contact with the victim/victim-advocate perspective and were able to lend support to their suggestions and recommendations. In addition, because we were assisting with prosecution of cases, and thus able to understand the prosecution perspective, we were able to hear both sides and have credibility with both prosecutors and advocates. In addition, I believe that our focus on domestic violence encouraged one local district attorneys' office to create a specialized unit for domestic violence crimes.176 As a clinic, we used our experience in developing one domestic violence court to assist in the development of others and to facilitate the acquisition of grant monies and other funding to provide better staffing and resources on domestic violence mat-

1 7 5 T h e y i d e n t i f i e d p h y s i c a l p r o b l e m s w i t h t h e c o u r t h a l l w a y w a i t i n g a r e a a n d t h e c o n t a c t b e t w e e n v i c t i m s a n d d e f e n d a n t s a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n p r o b l e m s i n v o l v -i n g t h e v i c t i m b e i n g c o n f u s e d a b o u t t h e r o l e o f t h e D A ' s Av i c t i m l i a i s o n / a d v o c a t e @ a n d t h e a d v o c a t e f r o m t h e d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o m m u n i t y o r g a n i z a t i o n . I w a s a l s o a b l e t o d o s o b e c a u s e o f m y k n o w l e d g e o f t h e c o u r t s y s t e m , w h i c h c a m e f r o m r e p e a t e d o b s e r v a t i o n s o f t h e s t u d e n t s i n t h e c o u r t . 1 7 6 W e a l s o p e r f o r m e d a Ac o u r t m o n i t o r i n g @ f u n c t i o n . AT r u t h f u l l y , j u d g e s w e r e o n t h e i r ` b e s t b e h a v i o r ' w h e n I w a s i n t h e c o u r t r o o m . I f e l t l i k e I w a s a s u p e r v i -s o r f o r t h e j u d g e s a t t i m e s , i n t h a t t h e i r b e h a v i o r w a s t a i l o r e d t o m y p r e s e n c e . I a m u n s u r e i f t h i s i m p r o v e d t h e D V c o u r t s i n g e n e r a l , b u t a m s u r e i t d i d o n t h e d a y s I w a s t h e r e . @ E m a i l f r o m C h r i s t i n a N o l a n t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( J a n . 5 , 2 0 0 5 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) ( r e s p o n s e f r o m a f o r m e r D V P U s t u d e n t t o t h e s u r v e y s e n t o u t b y t h e a u t h o r ) .


ters.177 Just as one coalition was dying, another blossomed with new energy. A clinic alumnus recently became the district attorney of our home county of Albany and his platform was premised on improved response to domestic violence.178 A young city court judge, also an alumnus, has expressed the desire to institute a domestic violence court. At about the same time, the Albany Coalition Against Domestic Violence, of which the clinic is a member, received funding from the United States Depart-ment of Justice to develop and staff a comprehensive domestic violence court.179 There is more learning and work to be done. V. CONCLUSION: WORK WITH THE BEST YOU HAVE TO CREATE A COMMUNITY BASED APPROACH TO PROSECUTION AND TEACHING

AND HAVE FUN The dynamic confluence of events, people, and issues which created the students' experiences over the past four years in the hybrid prosecution project were often unplanned and unan-ticipated.180 Thus, I do not proscribe pro forma protocols181 or

1 7 7 R e c e n t l y , w e p a r t n e r e d w i t h A l b a n y C o u n t y a n d i t s s e r v i c e p r o v i d e r s t o f o r m a c i t y c o u r t c a l e n d a r . T h e p a r t n e r s h i p w a s s u c c e s s f u l i n o b t a i n i n g f e d e r a l f u n d i n g . 1 7 8 AS o a r e s s a i d h e w i l l a l s o f o c u s o n d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e , a n d f a c e d t e l e v i s i o n c a m e r a s t o a d d r e s s v i c t i m s d i r e c t l y : ` I w a n t y o u t o k n o w y o u h a v e a f r i e n d i n t h e D A ' s o f f i c e . Y o u a r e n o l o n g e r i m p r i s o n e d b y t h e f o u r w a l l s y o u c a l l h o m e . ' @ M i c h e l e M o r g a n B o l t o n , S o a r e s , i n G r a n d S t y l e , B e c o m e s C o u n t y D A , T I M E S U N I O N ( A l b a n y , N . Y . ) , D e c . 2 8 , 2 0 0 4 , a t A 1 . 1 7 9 A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l r e c e i v e d f u n d i n g f o r a d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e p r o s e -c u t i o n a d j u n c t t o t r a i n s t u d e n t s d u r i n g t h e a c a d e m i c y e a r a n d f o r s t u d e n t s t i p e n d s f o r s u m m e r p o s i t i o n s w i t h t h e c i t y ' s n e w d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e c o u r t . 1 8 0 S e e s u p r a P a r t I V . B . 1 8 1 F o r a n a n a l o g o u s c r i t i q u e o f a t t e m p t s t o e n f o r c e d e t a i l e d r e q u i r e -m e n t s o n t h e e l e m e n t s o f a f i e l d p l a c e m e n t p r o g r a m , s e e S e i b e l & M o r t o n , s u p r a n o t e 2 0 . A[ T ] h e s e c o u r s e s , l i k e a l l o t h e r s i n t h e c u r r i c u l u m , [ s h o u l d ] h a v e a d e q u a t e s u p e r v i s i o n b y f a c u l t y m e m b e r s w h o a r e g i v e n t h e t i m e a n d r e s o u r c e s t o s t r u c t u r e t h e i r p r o g r a m s i n w a y s t h a t f i t w i t h t h e c o n s t r a i n t s a n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s i n t h e i r p a r t i c u -l a r s c h o o l s a n d g e o g r a p h i c a l l o c a t i o n s . @ I d . a t 4 1 7 .



insist there are prerequisites for success. I do, however, recom-mend some approaches for creating such a project. First, law school clinics are in a unique position to foster community collaboration both as a bridge between the activist and government sections and through its alumni.182 One of the advantages of running a hybrid prosecution clinic in a commu-nity in which your larger clinical program has deep roots and a good reputation is the ability to forge alliances among Aclinic indoctrinated@ alums.183 As described throughout this article, ALS Clinic's longstanding domestic violence project and other community-based clinics marked it as Acommunity-oriented@ while the statewide reputation of the traditional criminal law faculty helped secure respect from prosecutors. Each law school's story and history can shape a community-orientation to prosecution. There are many types of community-based prose-cution projects worth exploring.184 Perhaps the home clinic's fo-cus on representing people with disabilities or the elderly would 1 8 2 S e e , e . g . , K a n t e r e t a l . , s u p r a n o t e 7 2 . 1 8 3 I n 2 0 0 0 , t h e a c t i v i s t b a t t e r e d w o m e n ' s s h e l t e r I d e s c r i b e d e a r l i e r s t a r t e d a l a w p r o j e c t t o a s s i s t i t s c l i e n t s w i t h l e g a l m a t t e r s o r i n r e f e r r a l s f o r l e g a l m a t t e r s a n d h i r e d a f o r m e r D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e f a m i l y l a w c l i n i c a l u m n a . A n o t h e r c l i n i c a l u m n a , f r o m t h e D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e P o s t c o n v i c t i o n P r o j e c t , w a s h i r e d t o w o r k w i t h t h e N e w Y o r k S t a t e C o a l i t i o n A g a i n s t D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e . A t h i r d a l u m n a , w h o h a d b e e n w o r k i n g i n N e w Y o r k C i t y p r o s e c u t i n g d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e , w a s h i r e d l a t e r a l l y b y o n e o f t h e p a r t i c i p a t i n g d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e t o p r o v i d e e x p e r i e n c e i n a D o m e s t i c V i o l e n c e c o u r t . T h u s , t h r e e c l i n i c a l u m s w h o k n e w e a c h o t h e r o r k n e w a b o u t e a c h o t h e r f r o m t h e c l i n i c , w e r e a b l e t o i n t e r a c t o v e r i m p o r t a n t d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c e i s s u e s w i t h a s h a r e d b a c k g r o u n d a n d v o c a b u l a r y . T h e y w e r e a l s o a b l e t o s u p p o r t t h e w o r k o f m y p r o j e c t a n d p r o v i d e v a l u a b l e s u p e r v i s i o n a n d / o r r e s o u r c e s . I s h o u l d a l s o a d d t h a t i t i s v e r y r e w a r d i n g p e r s o n a l l y t o s e e a n e t w o r k o f f o r m e r s t u d e n t s d o i n g g o o d w o r k t o g e t h e r i n t h e c o m m u n i t y . 1 8 4 F o r e x a m p l e , c l i n i c s m i g h t f o c u s o n t h e p r o s e c u t i o n o f c h i l d a b u s e , s e x u a l a s s a u l t , e l d e r a b u s e o r f r a u d , e n v i r o n m e n t a l c r i m e s o r c o l l a b o r a t e w i t h p r o b -l e m s o l v i n g c o u r t s s u c h a s D r u g C o u r t s . S e e T h e B i r t h o f a P r o b l e m - S o l v i n g C o u r t , 2 9 F O R D H A M U R B . L . J . 1 7 5 8 , 1 7 5 9 , 1 7 6 8 ( 2 0 0 2 ) ; L a n e , s u p r a n o t e 1 7 . C l i n i c s s h o u l d a l s o f o l l o w d e v e l o p m e n t s o f F a m i l y J u s t i c e C e n t e r s f o r o t h e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o c o l l a b o r a t e . S e e g e n e r a l l y C a s e y G w i n n , D r e a m i n g B i g : C r e a t i n g J u s t i c e C e n t e r s A c r o s s A m e r i c a , P a r t I I , 1 0 D O M E S T I C V I O L E N C E R E P . 1 7 ( D e c . / J a n . 2 0 0 5 ) .


enhance the appeal of a prosecution project and provide good partners from outside the district attorneys office. Before a clinic initiates a domestic violence prosecution project, it is essential to have worked closely with the local domestic violence community to gain a full understanding of battered women's and advocates' specific complaints about law enforcement and prosecution issues in the local community. This is important both for identifying needs and for gaining the trust of those partners. Perhaps doing some pro-bono work, serving on an advisory board, or pairing up with a respected civil attorney for battered women or a domestic violence advo-cate would be useful in establishing these connections.185 Finally, make it fun. Find people in the community and in the prosecutors' office who are good to work with, who have a holis-tic view of prosecution, believe in the complexity of human beings' lives and their capacity for goodness,186 and who are passionate about what they do.187 The infectious nature of that kind of passion is synergistic: it will sustain you, it motivates your students, and it gives succor to those in the community and in prosecutors offices who try to do good and hard work day after day and year after year.

1 8 5 S e e g e n e r a l l y L O P E Z , s u p r a n o t e 3 2 . 1 8 6 AT h e f a c t t h e p r o s e c u t o r h a d a M a s t e r s o f S o c i a l W o r k d e g r e e , a s w e l l a s a l a w d e g r e e , m a d e i t e v e n b e t t e r b y a d d i n g s o m e i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y p e r s p e c t i v e . @ E m a i l f r o m M i c h a e l M i l l e m a n n , P r o f e s s o r , B a l t i m o r e C i t y C h i l d A b u s e P r o s e c u t i o n C l i n i c t o M a r y A . L y n c h , C l i n i c a l P r o f e s s o r o f L a w , A l b a n y L a w S c h o o l ( N o v . 1 8 , 2 0 0 4 ) ( o n f i l e w i t h a u t h o r ) ( d i s c u s s i n g t h e p o s i t i v e a t t r i b u t e s o f h i s c l i n i c a l p a r t n e r ) . I n a d d i t i o n , I w o u l d t h i n k t h a t h e r s o c i a l w o r k b a c k g r o u n d l e d t o h e r h a v i n g a m o r e Ah o l i s t i c @ v i e w o f p r o s e c u t i o n . 1 8 7 AT o b e a b l e t o b e e x u b e r a n t a b o u t s o m e t h i n g i s o n e o f l i f e ' s g r e a t e s t g i f t s . N e v e r t a k e i t f o r g r a n t e d . N u r t u r e i t . G i v e i n t o i t a t a l l t i m e s , n o m a t t e r w h o g o e s t s k , t s k b e h i n d y o u . @ W r i t t e n b y m y f a v o r i t e f e m i n i s t a u t h o r o n s p i r i t u a l i t y , J O A N

C H I T T I S T E R , G O S P E L D A Y S : R E F L E C T I O N S F O R E V E R Y D A Y O F T H E Y E A R 1 5 4 ( 1 9 9 9 ) .



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DESIGNING A HYBRID DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ... Issue/08...1177 FILE:C:\WP51\LYNCH.DTP Jan 01/10/06 Tue 10:22AM DESIGNING A HYBRID DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROSECUTION CLINIC: Making Bedfellows