Although great thinkers have called experience “the most brutal of teachers,” the lessons learned in the real world – as a supplement to classroom instruction – can be invaluable.

So it is with Clinical Education clerkships and internships for future attorneys at Empire College’s School of Law. The school’s Dean Pat Broderick says through the program, third- and fourth-year law students are provided the opportunity to gain training and education in a clinical setting while earning academic credits.

“Some students have participated in jury trials, handled hearings, or argued motions in front of a judge,” he says.

Clinical Education Professor Holly Rickett calls the program a win-win-win for law firms and agencies, for her students and for the community as a whole.

“Our students work on real legal problems with real people. They enhance their professional portfolio and receive an ocean of experience and make many contacts in the legal community.”
Meanwhile, she says, local law firms and agencies such as Sonoma County’s District Attorney’s Office and Public Defender’s Office receive invaluable assistance from sharp students filling needs where hiring full-time employees isn’t always possible.

Students find their own internship opportunities, and while Clinical Education students meet just once a month, Professor Rickett checks in with her students’ supervisors regularly.

Jeffrey Hoffman of California Rural Legal Assistance, a nonprofit providing free legal assistance to low-income persons, says he believes Empire law students have been interning at CRLA since the Clinical Education program began 25 years ago.

“Interns have provided assistance in … advocacy work, legal research, investigations and outreach and education to the community,” he says.

Santa Rosa attorney Stephen Turer has also been impressed with the caliber of Empire’s Clinical Education students in the five years he’s been participating, saying they’ve all been bright, helpful and hard-working.

Recent Empire graduate Robert Bialkin says Clinical Education provided him meaningful work with an organization that he plans to be a part of long into the future – Santa Rosa’s Council on Aging. Robert intends to return to COA as a volunteer attorney. As a future estate planner, he worked as a paralegal in elder law under the guidance of an attorney.

“Prior legal work is a huge advantage in the job market,” he says when advising new law students. “Internship programs give students without any prior legal work experience a foot in the door.”

Robert’s classmate Mark Bettis says the program opened up and explained the numerous options available in the legal profession.

“The best thing about it was the guidance that the office provided with regard to the day-to-day workings of the District Attorney’s Office,” he says.