The Civil Litigation & Advocacy Concentration offers students a wide variety of experiential opportunities that enable students to implement and observe the litigation and advocacy skills that they learn about in class. For example, in the Civil Litigation Practice I and Civil Litigation Practice II, students not only learn about litigation skills and interact with practitioners and judges, but the students also put those skills into practice by drafting pleadings, discovery, and motions; arguing a simulated motion; and taking a deposition.
Students can also participate in the Semester-in-Practice (Private Field Placement) program, where each student spends a semester in a law firm in Los Angeles. Students in the program get a first-hand look at the litigation and advocacy work of local litigators and trial attorneys through such opportunities as attending depositions, sitting in on client meetings, and observing court appearances.
Among the many other experiential opportunities available, students also can represent clients in litigation settings under the supervision of attorneys through an externship with The Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic (LIJC) or enrollment in the Youth Justice Education Clinic (YJEC). Participation in LIJC exposes students to the lawyering and advocacy skills necessary to be an effective immigrants’ rights attorney and teaches students about both substantive and procedural law as relates to their client’s cases. LIJC also gives students the opportunity to reflect on the lawyer’s role in direct representation and community-based legal advocacy through reading, classroom discussion, and reflection papers.
Students enrolled in the YJEC represent clients, most of whom are involved with the juvenile delinquency system, with their education needs. Most clients have unmet mental health and learning problems that are addressed through special education and other disability-related advocacy. YJEC students represent clients at IEP meetings, special education due process hearings, and disciplinary hearings, as well as preventing discrimination by school districts based upon the client's homelessness, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a youth on probation.