Experiential Courses

What are Experiential Courses?

CWSL’s Experiential (EXP) Courses provide you the opportunity to study the law while learning and practicing critical professional skills such as interviewing, counseling, negotiation, fact development and analysis, trial advocacy, document drafting, conflict resolution, organization and management of legal work, collaboration, cultural competency and self-evaluation.

Our educational objective is to ensure that you graduate CWSL with the necessary skills and knowledge to practice law in the 21^st century.  To achieve this goal, our curriculum has been created and sequenced with a wide array of experiential opportunities which integrate doctrine, theory, skills and legal ethics. CWSL’s experiential classes include live-client clinics, simulation courses and externships which will all provide you an opportunity to learn by “doing.”

Students are required to successfully complete 15 units of Experiential (EXP) coursework prior to graduation.  Students will receive 2 units of EXP credit for Legal Skills II and 3 units of EXP credit for STEPPS.    Students may satisfy the remaining 10 units by taking any course designated as an EXP course.  The following courses are EXP courses. 

Clinics

Courses that provide faculty supervised lawyering experience through a combination of a classroom component and representation of real clients with real issues.

Simulation Courses

Classroom courses that provide substantial lawyering experience through in-class practice with hypothetical facts. Students gain professional skills and subject area knowledge that prepare them for clinics and externship placements.

Externship Program

Full or part-time field placements in which students interact with real clients and issues in partnership with a supervising attorney. The Externship Program includes a classroom component in which students discuss and reflect upon their experiences and the practice of law.