Clinics | Simmons Law School | SIU

Clinics

Our students begin to grow into their roles as expert communicators, negotiators, and advocates as participants in a variety of hands-on learning opportunities, including our award-winning clinics. Serving residents in southern Illinois, our legal clinics offer students the opportunity to work closely with clinical faculty while representing clients in a variety of cases. Students who enroll in one of the clinics will work in the Legal Clinic office.

Civil Practice/Elderly

In the Civil Practice Clinic, students under direct attorney supervision provide civil legal services to those 60 years of age and older in the 13 southernmost counties of Illinois. Students receive instruction in substantive areas of the law (basic estate planning, adult and minor guardianships, advance directives, etc.) that are commonly encountered in serving older clients in rural communities. Students are introduced to, and practice, legal skills such as case management, legal drafting, client interviewing, preparing clients for court appearances, and appearing in court, among others. Students handle multiple client matters, manage their own case files, and utilize practice management and other software applications typically used in the actual practice of law.

Juvenile Justice

Students enrolled in the Juvenile Justice Clinic work with an experienced clinic attorney and perform legal services and duties to minors for whom the clinic attorney has been appointed guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem represents the best interests of these minors for whom neglect, abuse or dependency petitions have been filed in Jackson County, Illinois.