US · rules
D.D.C. LCvR 83.4
Practice by Law Students
(a) ACTIVITIES.
A law student certified pursuant to this Rule may:
(1) Enter an appearance in this Court in any criminal or civil case if the client on
whose behalf the law student is appearing has consented in writing to that
appearance, and a "supervising lawyer", as hereinafter defined, has also indicated
written approval of that appearance.
(2) Engage in activities on behalf of the client in all ways that a licensed attorney
may, under the general supervision of the supervising lawyer; however, a student
may make no binding commitments on behalf of a client absent prior client and
supervisory approval; and in any matters, including depositions, in which
testimony is taken the student must be accompanied by the supervising lawyer.
Documents or papers filed with the Court must be read, approved, and co-signed
by the supervising lawyer.
(3) The Court retains the authority to establish exceptions to such activities, and also
to limit a student's participation in any individual case.
(b) STUDENT, PROGRAM and SUPERVISOR REQUIREMENTS.
(1) STUDENT REQUIREMENTS.
In order to be certified pursuant to this Rule a law student shall:
(a) Be a law student in good standing, enrolled in and attending a law school
approved by the American Bar Association;
(ii) Have completed at least four semesters of legal studies, or the equivalent;
(iii) Have knowledge of the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure,
Evidence, and the Code of Professional Responsibility;
(iv) Be enrolled for credit in a law school clinical program which has been
certified by this Court;
(v) Be certified by the dean of the law school, or the dean's designee, as being
of good character and sufficient legal ability, and as being adequately
trained, in accordance with paragraphs (i)-(iv) above, to fulfill the
responsibilities as a legal intern to both the client and the Court;
(vi) Be certified by this Court to practice pursuant to this Rule;
(vii) Neither ask for nor receive any fee or compensation of any kind from the
client on whose behalf service is rendered, nor under the Criminal Justice
Act, under this Rule; but this shall not prevent a lawyer, legal aid bureau,
law school, public defender agency or the government from paying
compensation to the eligible law student nor shall it prevent any agency
from making such charges for its services as it may otherwise properly
require.
(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.
The program:
(i) Must be a law school clinical practice program for credit, in which a law
student obtains academic and practice advocacy training, utilizing
attorneys certified by the dean of the law school for practice supervision;
(ii) Must be certified by this Court;
(iii) Must be conducted in such a manner as not to conflict with normal court
schedules;
(iv) May accept compensation other than from a client such as Criminal
Justice Act (CJA) payments;
(v) Must maintain malpractice insurance for its activities.
(3) SUPERVISOR REQUIREMENTS.
The person under whose supervision an eligible law student does any of the things
permitted by this Rule shall:
(i) Be a member in good standing of the Bar of this Court;
(ii) (a) Have faculty or adjunct faculty status at the responsible law school
and be certified by the dean of the law school as being of good
character and sufficient legal ability and as being adequately
trained to fulfill the responsibilities of a supervisor; or
(b) Be a member of the Bar of this Court for at least two years, who
after the certification by the dean of the law school as being of
good character and adequately trained to fulfill the responsibilities
of a supervisor, is determined by the Court to be competent to
carry out the role of supervising attorney;
(iii) Be certified by this Court as a student supervisor;
(iv) Be present with the student at all times in court, and at other proceedings
in which testimony is taken;
(v) Co-sign all pleadings or other documents filed with the Court;
(vi) Supervise concurrently no more than 10 students carrying clinical practice
as their entire academic program, with a proportionate increase in the
number of students as their percentage of time devoted to clinical practice
may be less;
(vii) Assume full personal professional responsibility for student's guidance in
any work undertaken and for the quality of a student's work, and be
available for consultation with represented clients;
(viii) Assist and counsel the student in activities mentioned in this Rule, and
review such activities with the student, all to the extent required for the
proper practical training of the student and the protection of the client;
(ix) Be responsible to supplement oral or written work of the student as
necessary to ensure proper representation of the client
(c) CERTIFICATION OF STUDENT, PROGRAM AND SUPERVISOR.
(1) STUDENT:
(i) Certification by the law school dean and approval by the Court shall be
filed with the Clerk, and unless it is sooner withdrawn, shall remain in
effect until expiration of 18 months;
(ii) Certification to appear in a particular case may be withdrawn by the Court
at any time, in the discretion of the Court, and without any showing of
cause.
(2) PROGRAM:
(i) Certification of a program by the Court shall be filed with the Clerk and
shall remain in effect indefinitely unless withdrawn by the Court;
(ii) Certification of a program may be withdrawn by the Court at the end of
any academic year without cause, or at any time, provided notice stating
the cause for such withdrawal is furnished to the law school dean and
supervisor.
(3) SUPERVISOR:
(i) Certification of a supervisor must be filed with the Clerk, and shall remain
in effect indefinitely unless withdrawn by the Court;
(ii) Certification of a supervisor may be withdrawn by the Court at the end of
any academic year without cause, or at any time upon notice and a
showing of cause;
(iii) Certification of a supervisor may be withdrawn by the dean by mailing a
notice to that effect to the Clerk.
Provenance
- Source
- www.dcd.uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-18
- Edition
- fed-district-2026-09-18
- Content hash
de9573c07cde8035f36ea4e22da58048c430cdeb9f75f92525f0657adea3d3c7
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