Criminal Defense Clinic
The UCLA Criminal Defense Clinic was established in 2009 to address systemic issues in the criminal legal system.
The clinic has defended political protesters, veterans, sidewalk vendors and mobile catering vendors against harassment and ticketing by police. The clinic has also represented individuals seeking release from the immigration prison in Adelanto, California, and helped community members to obtain post-conviction relief, such as pardons and clemency.
Beyond individual client representation, the clinic seeks to collaborate with community members and service providers on community education initiatives to improve access to justice, as well as policy projects to reform the criminal legal system. As a public resource, the clinic endeavors to involve students in filling gaps in the provision of legal services in Los Angeles.
Each year, the cases and policy projects that the clinic takes on are different and responsive to specific needs in the community.
The seminar associated with the clinic examines the role of the defense lawyer in the criminal justice process. Students develop a range of critical lawyering skills, including trauma-informed investigation, interviewing and counseling, persuasive brief writing and trial techniques. We also seek to expose students to issues of structural racism and other forms of inequality that are embedded in the operation of the criminal and immigration legal systems. Clinic faculty mentor students to practice zealous and client-centered advocacy, while developing techniques to guard against stress and burnout.
Graduates of the Criminal Defense Clinic become part of a vibrant community of more than 100 alumni working all over the country, primarily in public defender offices and at nonprofit organizations focused on immigrant rights.
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In the News
Clinic Gains Release of Clients Serving Life Sentences (UCLA Law News, October 15, 2021)
Law Students, Faculty Secure Release of Inmate Threatened by COVID-19 (UCLA Newsroom, April 17, 2020)
Gov. Brown Grants Pardons to Five Clients of UCLA Law Clinic (Criminal Defense Clinic, Jan. 22, 2019)
Governor Brown Pardons Five Immigrants Facing Deportation (Sacramento Bee, Mar. 30, 2018)
Class Gives UCLA Law Students Experience Defending Real Clients (Daily Bruin, Sept. 4, 2016)
UCLA Law Students Win Clemency for Man Serving Life Sentence for Nonviolent Drug Offense (UCLA Newsroom, Aug. 22, 2016)
Professor Eagly Defends LA Street Vendors in Interview on KPCC's "Take Two" (KPCC 89.3, Apr. 28, 2015)
Great Read: Legal Team Steps in for Street Vendor Facing Hundreds in Fines (Los Angeles Times, Apr. 27, 2015)
UCLA School of Law Report Provides Recommendations to Reform the Unjust Treatment of Sidewalk Vendors (Criminal Defense Clinic, Apr. 7, 2015)
Law Students Champion Cause of Taco Truck Vendors (Criminal Defense Clinic, July 14, 2009)
UCLA Law Students Help Taco Truck Operators Overturn L.A. Ordinance (Los Angeles Times Blog, June 10, 2009)
L.A. Taco Trucks Can Stay Parked for Business (Los Angeles Times, June 11, 2009)
- Clinic Publications
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Clinic Alumni
Kia Hall Hayes '13, Staff Attorney, Innocence Project New Orleans
“The highlight of my time was undoubtedly appearing in federal court and successfully making a Miranda argument on behalf of our client. It was so rewarding to bring the concepts I had learned in class into the real world. The feeling of using my legal skills to help others has continued to drive my work in indigent criminal defense.”
John C. Trang '10, Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice
“I still draw upon lessons learned in the Criminal Defense Clinic. The course covered everything from basic lawyering skills such as client interviewing to the latest scholarship on representing clients in the criminal justice system. All of this learning was fortified by working on real world matters. The clinic demands the best of you. And because you respond in kind, you become an immeasurably more effective advocate very early in your legal career.”
Zain Shirazi ‘13, Assistant Public Defender, Maryland Office of the Public Defender
“The Criminal Defense Clinic taught me everything I needed to know about public defense work -- from the initial client interview, to investigation and trial preparation, all the way through every aspect of the trial. The lessons I learned in the clinic gave me the confidence I needed to provide my clients excellent representation beginning with my very first case.”
Jullian Harris-Calvin '13, Director, Greater Justice New York, Vera Institute of Justice
“The Criminal Defense Clinic solidified my commitment to public defense by giving me the skill, empathy, and confidence to step into a career that demands an abundance of each. Professors Eagly and Cramer's deep knowledge, practical experience, and careful supervision gently ushered me from classroom theory to what became my real world practice through a careful exploration of law, attorney-client relationship, motions practice, and trial in one of the busiest courts in the country. The clinic helped direct my career as a public defender and, now, in criminal justice policy.”
Arienna Grody '14, Deputy Public Defender, Office of the Jefferson County,
Alabama Public Defender
“The Criminal Defense Clinic was the highlight of my time at UCLA. I came to Birmingham, Alabama through Gideon’s Promise after graduation, where I have been a public defender ever since and where I use the skills I acquired in the clinic every day in search of those two beautiful words I first heard at the end of my clinic trial: Not Guilty.”
Sasha Novis '19, Staff Attorney, Al Otro Lado
“The clinic shaped my career path and taught me that innovative legal strategies work. Through our pardon advocacy, I had the chance to meet several amazing individuals and present their stories to the Governor. The professors' hands-on guidance helps students grow and leads to successful outcomes in complex cases. The CDC was a major highlight from my time at UCLA Law!”
Rebecca Kutlow '20, Litigation Fellow, Van Der Hout LLP
“The opportunity to work closely on a real client’s case with the close supervision of incredible faculty mentors and collaboration with fellow students helped me become a better advocate. My clinic partner became one of my closest friends after we represented someone in their immigration bond hearing together. It was amazing to get experience arguing in front of a judge during law school!”