Spring 2020: Criminal Defense Clinic
Recap of the 2019-2020 Criminal Defense Clinic, including pandemic adjustments, the Clifford Brown Award going to Jeff Delman, and the recurring exhortation to students about the practice of law.
From the Desk of Patrick S. Metze – Director, Criminal Defense Clinic
As is our custom, the students in the 2019-2020 Criminal Defense Clinic were busy all year representing real people in real cases in real time. This year, the students handled 110 cases for 83 clients. Of these cases, 20 are still pending, 45 were disposed of through some type of negotiated plea, and 45 cases were dismissed. Cases consisted of 87 misdemeanors and 23 felonies. This is an average student case load of over 15 cases and almost 12 clients 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 2020 issue at Texas Tech Law.