“Introduction to the Legal Profession and Legal Aid Work” gives students a practical overview of legal professional ethics and the practice of law.  Students will learn the basics of the State Bar of California’s Rules of Professional Conduct, learn practical professional skills valuable to obtaining legal internship placements, and have the opportunity to learn from various local legal professionals in civil, criminal, and transactional law.  

This 2-unit course, cross-listed with Legal Studies, is experiential and based in practical exposure to the realities of practicing law in California, to help students obtain the information they need to make choices about pursuing law school admission or other careers in the legal profession.  This course is offered in conjunction with 188B (“Introduction to the Legal Field”), and is intended to prepare students for local placement in legal internship opportunities.

“Legal Field Practice: Professional Skills and Ethics” supports experiential learning in professional skills and ethics to undergraduates working on projects in the legal field or with legal information to empower under-served communities.

OAKS/LGST188B is a community-engagement course designed to introduce students to social justice work with community organizations advocating for increased access to Know Your Rights material and other legal information.  

The professional skills and experiential training in this course are valuable for any student considering a full legal internship, work with a legal aid organization, or other types of field studies requiring client interaction, legal research, community outreach, and advocacy, and the handling of sensitive information.

Fall quarter, 188B worked concurrently with 188A, and students were placed at local legal aid organizations to include Watsonville Law Center, Conflict Resolution Center, Tenant Sanctuary, and the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project at Davenport Resource Center and the Day Workers Center.  These organizations formed the Puentes Collaborative and students were able to assist local legal aid offices in conducting legal intake and outreach in immigrants’ rights, tenants’ rights, and conflict resolution. 

Spring quarter of 2020, the field practice course was not offered concurrently with 188A but has incorporated similar content to introduce students to the fundamentals of legal aid.  This quarter some students are involved in previously established internships at the Santa Cruz City Council’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office, while other students have used the platform of the legal field practice course to plug into remote work with legal aid community organizations including Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, Tenant Sanctuary in Santa Cruz, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles (CHIRLA), and the Vision for Justice Collaborative in San Diego.

The vision for this course is to continue to build on local and statewide efforts to close the justice gap in legal services and provide students with the professional skills and opportunities to become engaged in community organizations advocating for increased access to legal services.