Wayne State University Law School and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan have teamed up to create the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Clinic.
The clinic will allow students to litigate civil rights and civil liberties impact cases before state and federal courts.
Michael Steinberg, legal director of the ACLU of Michigan, will teach the clinic as a visiting professor. Steinberg is a 1989 cum laude graduate of Wayne Law.
“The course will provide an exciting opportunity to work on cutting-edge, high-profile cases that change people’s lives,” Steinberg said in a statement.
Students will be exposed to the full range of issues on the ACLU of Michigan docket. Working in pairs, the students will be the primary handlers for a basic ACLU of Michigan case and participate in all significant events and decisions related to it.
Each student also will be assigned specific duties in one or more complex cases that address issues of particular interest to the student.
“We are excited to partner with the ACLU of Michigan to continue Wayne Law’s emphasis on training students to be leaders in ensuring access to justice,” said Jocelyn Benson, dean of Wayne Law.
A classroom component includes a semester-long simulation of a civil rights case that gives students the opportunity to develop professional skills, including interviewing, counseling, drafting pleadings and discovery requests, taking depositions, preparing and arguing motions, and negotiating with opposing counsel.
Students must apply for a position in the clinic, and those who are accepted will work between 20 and 25 hours per week, including at least 12 hours at the ACLU of Michigan office in Detroit.
