Professors Fisher Page and Guernsey talk with students participating in the clinic

Each semester (September-December and January-April) CELP works with two or three clients on a substantial project. As a client, you will work with a team comprised of three College of Law students and one undergraduate. The team will commit 40-60 hours per week to your representation for the fifteen weeks of the semester. Students receive intensive supervision from an experienced attorney, who reviews all drafts and communications, and moots students in preparation for meetings, interviews, and presentations. The seminar component of CELP focuses on key lawyering and project skills like effective interviewing, problem mapping, collaboration, and oral and written advocacy.

CELP students have worked on matters including assisting clients in the process of creating a new organization or entity, strategic planning for nonprofit organizations, designing advocacy plans, and drafting new legislation. Please visit the Past Work page to see more detailed descriptions of past projects.

Project clients do not have to assign tasks to students; instead, they can present a problem or a goal to the clinic, and the students, with supervisor support, will design and implement a plan to reach that goal or address the problem. The most effective partnerships are those in which the client is open to trusting students to think creatively and strategically, and to represent the client’s interests with a range of stakeholders.

The clinic typically selects our clients for the Fall semester in June or July and our clients for the Spring semester in October or November.

If you are interested in being a CELP client, please send an email to Daria Fisher Page at daria-fisherpage@uiowa.edu with the following information:

  • Individual Name
  • Individual Contact Info.
  • Organization (If relevant)
  • Description of the Project/Work (Only a few sentences!)
  • Timeline (When would you want the students to work on the project and why?)

Questions?

Direct any questions to daria-fisherpage@uiowa.edu or call 319-335-9023.