PROGRAM GOALS

The program is designed to provide:
1. Support services to the Judiciary of the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, Family Court Division, and
2. Practical legal experience to law students.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
The Family Law Clerkship Program is a collaboration between the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, Family Court Division and the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Law. The program offers students an opportunity to gain practical legal skills, learn about the various programs ordered by the Family Court Division to assist families in crisis, and develop a working knowledge of the Family Court Division.

PROGRAM DETAILS:
Law students can earn either two or three law school credit hours depending on the semester of enrollment.
Fall/Winter Semester - Students earn two credit hours by completing 80 hours of work.
Summer Semester - Students can earn up to a maximum of three credit hours by completing 120 hours of work.

REQUIREMENTS:
To be eligible for the Clerkship Program, law students must have satisfactorily completed Civil Procedure and must be enrolled in or have satisfactorily completed Family Law.

Note from a participant: "I enjoyed the practical experience of writing judgments, observing the good attorneys and the bad ones, seeing how things 'really' work behind closed doors - what judges consider when they make their decision. Just being in court all the time takes the fear and mystique out of being in a courtroom, and you realize the judge is just a person no different than anyone else - they were all lawyers once. Going through the files helped me get familiar with what is required for different proceedings."
Doug Fredrick, Clerkship Student, '03.