Course Description: Juvenile Justice Clinic
- Taught by Pamela Jackson Sigman
- 6 credits (pass/fail) — offered Spring only
- FAQs for prospective students
- The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters.
- Recommended (but not required) background classes include criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence.
This program offers litigation experience while exposing students to the operations of the juvenile justice system, by placing them as student attorneys with the Travis County Juvenile Public Defender. Clients are indigent juveniles, aged 10 to 17, who are charged with criminal offenses ranging from Class B misdemeanors to first-degree felonies.
Student attorneys are assigned a caseload (four open cases at all times and approximately 8-10 cases per semester) for which they have primary responsibility under the supervision of an attorney in the public defender’s office. The student attorneys perform all investigation, interview, discovery, plea bargain and litigation functions on their cases.
Student attorneys are required to have at least one morning each week (Monday through Thursday) when they are available to be in court to handle their plea adjudications/dispositions. Contested hearings are scheduled for the afternoon on the student attorney’s designated court day. It is preferable that student attorneys have two days each week when they are available to be in court on either Monday/Tuesday or Wednesday/Thursday. This flexibility provides students with more opportunity for handling a variety of cases and works better with the court’s scheduling of cases. Although this flexibility is preferred, it is not required. In most instances, student attorneys will be in court a maximum of one day per week and be finished by 12:00 p.m. on their designated court day. Thursday is a popular court day for student attorneys; however, please be aware that there are a limited number of students who can be assigned a Thursday court day. Please take this into account when scheduling other classes and contact me if you have questions about your schedule.
Approximately 12-14 hours per week will be required for working cases and for participating in the classroom component. A class that meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays provides academic background.
Each student will complete a mock hearing exercise that is recorded and held in the Eidman Courtroom. The exercise teaches the student to prepare for argument and examination of witnesses in the context of a hearing to suppress illegally seized evidence. The mock hearing occurs outside of the regular class meeting.
Each weekday, Travis County Juvenile Court holds hearings to determine if juveniles who are being detained should be released. A public defender is present to provide representation for each juvenile who has a hearing that day. Student attorneys will each take responsibility as the public defender for two days of the semester. This teaches students to handle a large caseload in a very short time, and to think and act quickly.
During the first month of the semester, the class has meetings on Fridays for tours usually between 11-1. The class travels outside of Austin to tour a Texas Juvenile Justice Department facility and meets with juveniles who have been sentenced to TJJD. Additionally, the class adopts a local middle school at the end of the semester and speaks to seventh-grade students about constitutional rights/protections and the consequences of violating the law.
All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis (six hours). The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters. Recommended (but not required) background classes include criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence. The Juvenile Justice Clinic provides a meaningful opportunity for students to learn juvenile law, interact with clients, advocate for your clients in court proceedings, and participate in educating children about the law.
Please feel free to contact the instructor, Prof. Pam Sigman (psigman@law.utexas.edu, 512-619-3222), directly if you have any questions.