Waiver of the Clinical Requirement

If a student has fulfilled the educational goals of the clinical programs through comparable lawyering work and reflection, students may be granted a waiver of the clinical requirement. Each waiver request will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but students must have worked under the direct supervision of an attorney or judge doing legal work for at least 12 hours per week for 14 consecutive weeks. To apply for a waiver, students must have completed at least 57 credit hours of course work. If a waiver is granted, the student need not complete a clinical program, will receive no credit for the comparable experience, and must complete 90 credit hours to graduate.

Students must complete a Request to Waive Clinical Requirement and submit a resume, a detailed description of duties in legal employment, and an analysis of how these duties helped the student achieve each of the following goals of Thomas M. Cooley's clinical programs:

• developing a student's lawyering skills
• insight into various aspects of the legal system and profession
• sense of professional responsibility
• the ability to reflect on and learn from experience

Students will be notified of the decision either by e-mail or at the address on the students application and a copy will be placed in your student file. Requests must be approved by Assistant Dean Chris Church and the Cencentration Chair prior to the ninth week of the preceding term if early registration is desired. Approvals received after registration has been completed may be subject to drop/add fees and must be added in person at the Registrar's Office. Allow at least five business days for your paperwork to be processed.

Waiver Application (PDF)