In the Prosecution Clinic, students spend two semesters working
as Assistant District Attorneys in the Queens County District
Attorney’s Office and the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office.
In the seminar portion of the Clinic, students explore the
different functions of the prosecutor and, more fundamentally,
examine the prosecutor’s role in the criminal justice system. The
students will receive 2 credits for the seminar and 2 credits for
the clinic, each semester.
Approximately 16 third-year students participate in the Clinic
each year. The students are selected by the faculty supervisor in
consultation with the Assistant District Attorneys. Students are
selected based upon their academic performance, their participation
in journals, moot court, and mock trial competitions, and their
demonstrated interest in criminal law. The students must have taken
Criminal Procedure I or must take Criminal Procedure I in the fall
semester.
Students work one full day and one half day each week.
Approximately 10 students are placed in the Queens County D.A.’s
office. Those students are assigned to the Domestic Violence
Bureau. In the Bronx, approximately six students are split between
the Appeals Bureau (where they assist A.D.A.’s in drafting
appellate briefs) and Criminal Court (where they handle all aspects
of misdemeanor cases).
The goals of the Prosecution Clinic are two-fold. The first is
skills training focused on the skills necessary to be a prosecutor.
This training is accomplished in a variety of ways. In the
classroom portion of the Clinic, students are introduced to the
various skills and prompted to develop them in a controlled setting
through simulations and written exercises. In their clinical
placements, students are put in “live-client” situations in which
they can exercise the relevant skills. Through frequent contact
with line A.D.A.’s and supervisory A.D.A.’s, students receive
regular feedback. The second goal of the course is to prompt the
students to think critically about their work as prosecutors and
about the role of the prosecutor in the criminal justice system.
These issues are emphasized through the readings and the
discussions in the classroom portion of the course.