Spring 2017: Criminal Defense Clinic
Year-end Spring 2017 Criminal Defense Clinic report with case statistics, classroom culture, and the closing advice to graduating clinic students.
From the Desk of Patrick S. Metze – Director, Criminal Defense Clinic
As is our custom, the students in the 2016-2017 Criminal Defense Clinic were busy all year representing real people in real cases in real time. This year, the students handled 150 cases for 101 clients. Of these cases, 77 are still pending, 38 were disposed of through some type of negotiated plea, and 35 cases were dismissed. Cases consisted of 111 misdemeanors and 39 felonies. This is an average student case load of over 12 clients per student and almost 19 cases per student, which is well in excess of the clients and cases promised in the clinic catalogue.
This column is reproduced only in brief. Read the whole thing in the Spring 2017 issue at Texas Tech Law.