U. class giving law students a taste of reality

For first- and second-year law students, their legal experience usually consists of noses in books and days filled with classes. Occasionally they might get to dip a toe into actual law practice, but an innovative new law class at the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law is breaking beyond the books and has students diving headlong into real cases.

In the first class of its kind at the U., and possibly in the nation, the college of law has teamed up with the private law firm of Snell & Wilmer to offer starting law students a chance to set up a legal clinic to work on appeals cases for those who can't afford an attorney.

"We basically treat students as if they were first-year associates at the firm," said attorney and class adviser Troy Booher, who said the class, which was first offered this past summer, offers students a real-world look at how practicing law really works.

While the academic world deals in hypothetical arguments and moot court, Booher said law students need a taste of what working for a real-life client is all about. "Legal education is becoming more and more disconnected from the actual practice of law," Booher said.

Hiram Chodosh, dean of the U.'s law school, said the class gives law students a chance to experience law practice before waiting until they graduate.

"We wanted to create a more diverse and rich array of professional experiences for students coming out of their first year of law school," Chodosh said. "The feedback has been outstanding."

Last summer a group of law students took on the case of Soloman Ford, who served 13 years out of a 15-year prison sentence for being a restricted person in possession of a dangerous weapon. Ford was granted release from prison last year after a district judge ruled that Ford should not have been bound over for trial by a judicial commissioner rather than a district judge.

Now, state prosecutors are seeking to send Ford back to prison. Students must convince the Utah Supreme Court to agree with the district judge's decision.

Second-year law student Jeffery Balls called the experience "intense." He said there is a reality to the actual practice of law that you don't find in the classroom.

"To meet someone who's lost their faith in the justice system" and then try to re-instill that faith is huge, said student Phil Wormdahl.

"We've never worked on anything real," Wormdahl said. Now the group has spent the last few months digging through case law and building a case to take to the Utah Supreme Court.