.jpg)
What sort of work have you been involved in with the Shriver Landlord Tenant Clinic?
Students primarily assist low-income tenants in participating in their eviction cases by helping them prepare and file an answer. We interview litigants, review their paperwork, and then assist them in asserting the applicable defenses to their case. For example, most of the tenants I worked with this semester had severe habitability issues, which can be asserted as a defense to the amount of rent they owe. I recently got to draft a Motion to Set Aside Judgment for a tenant who was unaware of his eviction trial date because the court mailed the notice but the landlord refused to provide the tenant access to his mailbox. I also got to attend housing court along with a deposition.
Why is the Shriver clinic work so important?
Tenants are much less likely to be evicted and rendered homeless if they have legal representation. Eviction cases, unlike typical civil cases, proceed on an extremely expedited timeline. Once a tenant has been served the Summons and Complaint, they have five days to answer (an approximately 28-page form consisting of legalese that costs $220 to file). If they do not file an answer, they are defaulted out of their case and can be locked out by the Sheriff soon after. Many evictions are based on default judgement, meaning the tenant is not even participating in their case. Unfortunately, there is currently no right to counsel in eviction cases, but the clinic assists tenants in filing their answers so that they are at least able to defend themselves.
What are some skills you've honed/gained in this clinic?
The clinic really helped me feel comfortable interviewing litigants. We speak with litigants one-on-one either in person or over the phone. It is not our job to evaluate the merits of what the litigant is saying or give advice. We listen, ask questions, then fill out the documents accordingly. Any defenses we don’t assert while filing out the answer are waived, so we learn to be very thorough and detail orientated.
Would you recommend the clinic experience to other law students? If so, why?
Absolutely. This is the perfect opportunity to gain hands-on experience interacting with litigants while still having the comfort of attorney supervision. The first few weeks of the semester are spent in lecture, learning about the eviction process and California/Los Angeles tenant protections while the rest of the semester is spent working in the clinic located in the Stanley-Mosk courthouse. Since these cases move so quickly, I got to observe many aspects of the civil litigation process during the semester.