The Lawyering Skills Center was established in 1991 to bring under one heading all of the New York Law School clinical and skills courses: clinics where students represent or work with actual clients under the direct supervision of full-time faculty or attorneys; externships where students are placed in the offices of practicing attorneys or in judicial chambers; and simulation courses where students interact with actors or others in a variety of lawyering situations.  Since 1991, all of these forms of experiential learning have increased significantly and are now an integral part of the NYLS curriculum. 

Beginning with the first-year required course called Lawyering, every student is given  the opportunity to apply her or his legal reasoning and analysis skills in the context  of a simulated interview of a client, then in an interview of a witness and finally in a  session in which they counsel a client. This course is a ground-breaking and innovative way to introduce students to the tasks that lawyers are asked to perform. Building on the Lawyering course, the Lawyering Skills Center offers advanced simulation courses, an extensive Externship Program, and a rich array of  clinics.

Simulation Courses

Second and third-year students may take Negotiating, Counseling and Interviewing (NCI); Trial Advocacy; Advocacy of Criminal Cases and Alternative Dispute Resolution. In these upperclass courses, the students have the  opportunity to perform extensive simulated exercises (often recorded) and receive direct professorial feedback.

Externships

The Externship Program enables second and third-year students to earn two or four credits by working in carefully selected law offices and completing related assignments at the Law School. Students in the four-credit program also participate in a weekly seminar introducing them to legal practice issues through the use of readings, simulations, discussion and video.

Judicial Externships

Upperclass students can earn academic credit by working with judges and their law clerks. Here also, the classroom work includes readings, video and discussion. Students are placed with state and federal judges and federal magistrates in New York City and surrounding jurisdictions.

Clinics

Under the direct supervision of full-time faculty (often working closely with practicing lawyers) upperclass students prepare through extensive simulated practice sessions before meeting clients, interviewing witnesses or appearing in court. Students may work on real cases in the clinics. For a list of the clinics and their course descriptions, please see the list on the right-hand navigation bar.