By Rachel Hugenburg

At the corner of Seventh and Jefferson Streets, family court is in session. The defense attorney is young. In fact, he hasn’t even graduated from law school yet.

Twelve law students who are participating in the University of Louisville’s Law Clinic are getting hands-on experience in the courtrooms of Jefferson County. The Law Clinic is a four credit hour course that can be taken by U of L law students who have a minimum of 60 credit hours.

The Clinic has handled 120 cases this year. These cases are mostly domestic violence, drawn out divorces and forcible detainer.

“It’s designed to help people Legal Aid can’t take,” said Julie Purcell, a third year law student participating in the Clinic.

The clients benefit from free representation, while the students benefit from gaining practical experience with clients and with the difficulties involved in this type of law.

“There’s been some pretty egregious domestic violence cases,” said Kristen Staley, a third year law student in the program.

During the past three semesters, the students taking the Law Clinic have handled 300 cases and have worked with clients of all ages.

The Clinic not only serves the clients and the Louisville community, but it benefits the students as well. Often, recent law graduates are not adequately prepared to practice law in court.

“There’s this common theme that being in law school is nothing like the practice of law,” said Courtney Phelps, a third year law student who works with the Clinic.

The Clinic was started to rectify this problem. It has been growing ever since it was piloted in the spring of 2009 with just six students participating.

Shelley Santry, a law professor and the director of the Law Clinic, ensures that students are prepared and have the proper guidance before and during court proceedings.

“They start the semester with pretty intensive boot camp training,” said Santry.

The students of the Clinic are energetic and dedicated to their work, often putting in 16 or more hours a week on a case and having their clients’ phone numbers and birthdays memorized.

Due to the dedication of the students and their professor, the Law Clinic has a high rate of success. In the end, the Clinic wins more than just its clients’ cases.

“Everyone wins,” said Santry. “Students are getting excellent experience, and clients are getting representation.”