Selection Policies

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Due to the enrollment limits and the student demand, the faculty have adopted selection policies for the clinics to meet several goals. A basic goal is to give students who have not taken a clinic priority in admission so that as many students as possible can have supervised legal experience.

• Lottery

  The lottery process is the primary way of selecting students for clinics. It is designed to give students who meet the prerequisites a fair chance of getting into a clinic. Students closest to graduation who have not taken a clinic get first priority in the lottery. Students select the clinic of their first choice, but will be considered for other clinics they designate to broaden their chances of getting in one.

• Access for evening students

  Evening students receive priority treatment for some slots in the Appellate Practice Clinic and the Community Development Clinic since it is difficult for them to participate in the other clinics. The Community Development Clinic, the Mediation Clinic for Families and the Innocence Project Clinic schedule classes to be convenient for both day and evening students.

• Specialization

  A small number of students with demonstrated interest and commitment to certain areas of law are selected outside the lottery process. The Disability Law Clinic procedures regarding selection are described on the pages that follow.

• Restrictions

  Rule 16 ("Student Practice Rule") of the Maryland Rules Governing Admission to the Bar states that students must be in good academic standing. A student who is on academic probation at the time of the lottery will be considered for selection in a clinic in accordance with lottery procedures.  However, students admitted to the Clinic during the lottery will be required to drop the clinic if that student remains on academic probation when grades are posted from the semester preceding clinic enrollment.