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Children’s Law Center Clinic

Clinic students participate in preparing and presenting cases involving children and teenagers, such as education rights, delinquency, custody, and access to social services. Students can develop skills – including interviewing, investigating, negotiating, and litigating – that apply to many adversarial situations in addition to children’s law.

 

Professor Amy Halbrook

“Students in the Children's Law Center Clinic learn to be competent, zealous advocates and creative problem solvers. They work with professionals across disciplines, including social workers, physicians, educators and other service providers to ensure the best outcomes for their clients.”

     – Professor Amy Halbrook, clinic director 

 


Kentucky Innocence Project

Students assist the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy by investigating credible claims of inmates that they were erroneously convicted of a crime they did not commit. Students interview prisoners and witnesses, examine alleged crime scenes, locate and analyze possible evidence, and prepare relevant documents. Skills students develop can apply in criminal law or civil practices.

 

Professor Michael Mannheimer

“In the Kentucky Innocence Project, students learn how to figure out the facts of a case, something they don’t get in their doctrinal courses. They read police reports and other file papers, interview the client and witnesses, and visit the crime scene. This builds important fact-investigation skills that lawyers need, no matter what type of law they practice.”

     – Professor Michael Mannheimer, project coordinator 

 


Sixth Circuit Clinic
Clinic students gain practical appellate-level experience by working with judges, lawyers, and clients in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Cincinnati. Overall, the clinic helps students develop skills for identifying issues, doing legal research, and drafting and preparing for oral arguments. 

 
Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic
The NKU Chase Small Business and Nonprofit Clinic allows Chase students to learn transactional law by doing real legal work for real clients. The course combines supervised client representation with classwork to provide students with opportunities to develop foundational legal skills such as interviewing, client counseling, and drafting. The Clinic serves small businesses and nonprofit organizations in the Northern Kentucky area.Clinic Director Chris Muzzo has been involved with the clinic since 2018, serving as director since 2021. Professor Muzzo spent the first 25 years of his legal career in private practice, handling commercial litigation and transactional work for business clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 50 companies. He shares his decades of experience with the students as they work together to find solutions for the Clinic clients. Professor Muzzo has assembled a team of volunteer lawyers with key specialties, including nonprofit law and IP, to help supervise the students in matters involving those areas.
 
Professor Chris Muzzo

“The Clinic is all about having our students do actual legal work for real clients. Clinic students meet with clients, hear their stories and their needs, and craft legal solutions that help the clients to thrive. Everything we do is focused on getting our students that real-world experience.”

  – Professor Christopher Muzzo, clinic director


Constitutional Litigation Clinic
The clinic, which is not enrolling students for the 2023-24 academic year, represents prisoner and former offenders in Ohio and federal courts on claims that their civil rights were violated by abuse or other means while incarcerated. Students who have been enrolled handled all aspects of a case, beginning with client interviews and continuing, with a limited law license, through trial and appeal.