青少年及家庭法律诊所

Mission 和客户            

The 青少年及家庭法律诊所 (JFLC) provides legal services for indigent children, 青年, 和家庭. Our clients are referred to us through the courts and Boulder County 法律 Services. Children 和家庭 facing abuse, 贫困, 无家可归, and despair are among the neediest members of our community requiring quality legal representation. Student attorneys in the JFLC help meet that need.              

JFLC clients are predominantly children and 青年 in the child welfare or the juvenile justice system, or low income parents needing divorce or custody assistance. Clinic students act as the lead attorneys on their cases, and work with their clients from the beginning of a family law case through its conclusion. 学生 are responsible for gathering information and documents, 准备法庭文件, appearing at court status conferences, 强制性的中介, 法庭听证会. The JFLC helps students to develop good client relationships, to become competent in 科罗拉多州 juvenile and family law in particular, and in 科罗拉多州 civil practice more broadly.

范围                  

JFLC is a yearlong course so that students are able to work on their cases from start to finish.  通常, students begin by interviewing their clients (this may be during a home visit for child welfare clients), preparing and filing initial court pleadings, and taking the lead at administrative and emergency hearings.  At such hearings, students may present opening and closing statements and examine witnesses. 在春季学期, typically students prepare for and attend mediation on each of their cases, including preparing mediation statements. For cases that are not resolved at mediation, students take the lead on a final contested hearing. Hearings include preparing a pre-hearing brief, 开幕词和结束语, 证人检查.

In addition to casework, students meet weekly in seminar. 在秋天, the seminar focuses on the substantive law in domestic relations and the children's code, while in the spring we focus on juvenile delinquency. 博彩平台推荐探讨法规, case law and law practice issues like ethics, 客户咨询服务, 和谈判, 举几个例子.   在春天, each student teaches a week of class on a topic of her or his choosing, related to clinic work or experiences.

法律援助的种类                    

JFLC exposes students to legal issues surrounding intra-familial disputes, as well as when the government intervenes in the family.  学生律师:

  • Represented children in state court as the child’s guardian ad litem, or legal  representative;
  • Represented  homeless/runaway 青年 and pregnant and parenting teens;
  • Advocated for 青年 clients in mental health institutions;
  • Represented young people charged as juveniles, or as adults, in the criminal justice system;
  • Represented parents and children in adoptions;
  • Represented parties in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases, and Indian Child Welfare Act cases;
  • 处理上诉;
  • Represented respondents in civil child welfare cases;
  • Represented parties in truancy cases;
  • Drafted amici briefs in the 科罗拉多州 Supreme Court on cutting edge child welfare issues; and
  • Presented at statewide legal conferences on engaging and empowering 青年.