Spring 2019: Criminal Defense Clinic
Year-end report on the 2018-2019 Criminal Defense Clinic, summarizing caseloads, student attorneys, awards, and the philosophy of teaching and practice.
From the Desk of Patrick S. Metze – Director, Criminal Defense Clinic
As is our custom, the students in the 2018-2019 Criminal Defense Clinic were busy all year representing real people in real cases in real time. This year, the students handled 130 cases for 106 clients. Of these cases, 36 are still pending, 46 were disposed of through some type of negotiated plea, and 48 cases were dismissed. Cases consisted of 95 misdemeanors and 35 felonies. This is an average student case load of over 13 clients per student and over 16 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 2019 issue at Texas Tech Law.