Clinic Memories
1950s:
- 1957: Bruce Buell.
Howard Rosenberg and Legal Aid as practiced by students at D. U. Law were drawing cards for some students deciding on a law school and their legal education long before the Clinical Education Program/Student Law Office were formally organized. In the early '50's I was a Colorado native who had drifted off to Princeton for my A.B., then a mixture of active duty Navy, Harvard Law School and George Washington Law School (night division while serving at the Pentagon), before my final push to get my LLB in Colorado. I had one year of law school still remaining and had decided it would be either at C.U. Law or D. U. Law. I wanted a crack at experiencing serving the underprivileged before graduating. D. U. was located then at Court Place in downtown Denver, and it claimed to have connections and a good relatiionship with Denver Legal Aid. Where better to finish my legal education and fulfill my call to try serving the underprivileged? So I chose D. U. Law School over C. U. Law School. The neat thing about this was that the program was not even an official part of the curriculum, as I recall. It was just two organizations in proximity, working together for the common good. During the school year 1957-58, after serving for some period with Howard Rosenberg, assistant Director of the Legal Aid Office as my mentor, I was convinced that a number of other D. U. Law students were there for the same reasons. We had a wonderful experience, counseling clients and occasionally taking misdemeanors and traffic cases to court. Howard was always there encouraging us and, in his usual understated manner, showing us the importance of "pro bono". It has stuck with me for these last 55 years of law practice. I just hope that those law students who have engaged in the Clinical Education Program over the past several decades have had the meaningful experience of serving the underserved and sitting at the feet of Howard Rosenberg that I had.
1990s:
- 1990: Rich Harris.
The SLO was, without question, my singularly the important and most critical experience that I had at DU. It literally helped launch me into my legal career, and I am eternally grateful to Howard, Peggy, Wadine, and all of the other great teachers I had there. In fact, as I am now in the fortunate position of interviewing DU law students interested in family law, I always tell them to take advantage of this great program that the Law School has to offer.
2000s:
- 2006: Dan Schoen.
I am a second career lawyer(JD 06), or rather I am a second career public policy advocate who happens to run an organization filled with lawyers. As Executive Director of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar I have encountered hundreds of lawyers Howard helped shape. As an alum I am proud of the clinical program Howard built, especially at a time when clinical education was held in low regard. The future has proven Howard correct and law schools are rushing to develop something Howard knew more than 50 years ago. Fortunately Howard has built his own enduring monument: The lawyers he trained and the program that trained them. - 2006: Philip Rosmarin.
I was incredibly fortunate to have Howard as my crim defense clinic supervisor. He was always a steadying force to guide a very unsteady student through the morass. He never stood with me at the podium, but he was always just a few rows behind, whispering advice and encouragement: "Waive factual; don't forget to get the judge to drop DV; get that bond down; where'd you pick up that tie?" He was already way past an ordinary mortal's retirement age, and I wasn't always sure he could hear the judge, but his vast experience and real-world counsel were bottomless gifts to his mentees. I have called him for advice many times since I graduated, and I don't care if he is retiring, I still have his private number and will continue to squeeze the man for his invaluable knowledge. I'm just that kind of sleazebag lawyer. - 2008: Lucia Lamprey.
I found law school rootless until my semester in the Civil Litigation Clinic. The SLO was a place of calm in the shuffle of lecture classes. Working with clients taught me practical lessons I use to this day. Working with the other student-attorneys in the Office, which held an array of personality types, was a valuable experience, and as luck would have it I was partnered with a thoughtful and skilled student lawyer who shared my sense of humor. When the semester ended, I was sorry to leave the "firm".
Fill out the form below to submit a clinic memory: