1. Only students in good academic standing are eligible to participate in a clinic course. This is a requirement of South Carolina Student Practice Rule 401 as all clinic students must be certified by the Dean of the Law School under this
2. Students cannot enroll in clinic and externship, ICN, or capstones in the same semester except that students may enroll in Clinics II for up to one (1) credit with the permission of the Associates Deans of Clinics & Externships and Academic Affairs.
3. Students must meet all pre and co-requisites for the clinic they are interested in. (Please see clinic course descriptions for individual clinic requirements). 
4. By participating in the clinic lottery, a student is certifying that they are in good academic standing and will have met the pre-requisites or co-requisites affiliated with each clinic that is applied for by the first date of clinic orientation or class, whichever comes first.
5. Per the SC Student Practice Rule, a student must have completed at least 50% of the total credits needed for graduation and completed professional responsibility to enroll in clinic. In certain clinics students must also have completed evidence before beginning clinic.

Registration for Fall 2023 & Spring 2024 Clinics. The Clinic lottery is separate from and precedes the Law School’s general registration process.

Starts (Registrar’s Office emails lottery form link):  March 14 (3Ls), March 15 (2Ls)
Ends (link closed):  March 20 at 1:00 p.m.
Announcements* (Registrar’s Office emails students to notify them of clinic selection): March 22

The Clinic Lottery is a fair, randomized process that assigns students to open Clinic courses according to students’ ranked course bids.  Students will be emailed a link to the Clinic Lottery Registration Form after the mandatory registration meetings.  Students will be able to sign up for clinic and rank their top clinic choices.  After the lottery closes, the lottery randomization will run and students will be enrolled into a clinic using the following system:

• Clinic seats will be awarded based on the random lottery order with a preference for 3L students with no prior clinic enrollment.
• Students sorted by class year and clinic preference. Students are randomly assigned number and will be registered for a clinic in that order with a preference for 3Ls. For example, all students who list the Domestic Violence Clinic first will be randomly assigned a number and will be selected for that clinic in order of assigned number. Students will receive email notice of their clinic placement on March 22 prior to the Law School’s open registration period. Students accepted into a clinic will be automatically enrolled in that Clinic by the Registrar’s office.

Students who were not enrolled into a clinic will receive an email with a link to an online waitlist form for all clinics.  Students will be able to add themselves to any clinic’s wait list.  The waitlist link will be open the day after the registration closes and will be first come/first serve; however, 3Ls with no previous clinic experience will receive preference over 2Ls.  The waitlist link will be shared with students who participated in the lottery before it is distributed to the general student population.  Students who are selected for a clinic from the waitlist will be notified via email and will have 24 hours to accept their spot.  If the clinic does not hear from the student within 24 hours, the spot will be offered to the next student on the waitlist.  Students who are offered enrollment from the wait list and decline or are non-responsive will be removed from that clinic’s wait lists.  Please think carefully about which clinics you wish to sign up and be prepared to accept enrollment if offered.

Review this guide, the Law School Registration packet, clinic course descriptions, and attend the Registrar’s mandatory information session. 

Think carefully about how you choose and rank your clinic choices:

• If you are selected for enrollment in a clinic you will be pre-registered for that clinic. Thus, if you are only interested in one particular clinic and no other, you should only sign up for that one clinic. 
• If you elect to drop a clinic, you must notify the clinic professor as soon as possible to allow for students to be chosen from the waitlist.
• If you drop a clinic, you will not be offered a spot on the waitlist until all students who were not assigned a clinic have the opportunity to sign up for the waitlist. In other words, you will have to go to the back of the line.
• A student may only take one clinic course at a time and may NOT take a clinic course and externship, ICN, or capstone in the same semester except that students may enroll in Clinics II for up to one credit with the permission of the Associate Deans of Clinics & Externships and Academic Affairs.
• At least one or two spots open in clinics each semester. Therefore, if you are on the waitlist for a clinic and want the opportunity to be able to accept a clinic spot should it open, consider your course schedule carefully to ensure that you do not have conflicts with scheduled clinic seminar times and have met the clinic pre-requisites.
• Some students maintain paid positions while enrolled in clinic. While this is allowed, work conflicts will not be considered an appropriate excuse for de-prioritizing clinic obligations.

The Clinic has a mandatory Orientation for enrolled students which occurs one or two days before the start of each semester. Orientation topics include: ethical responsibilities, case management software, administrative responsibilities, and basic lawyering skills. The exact date will be provided to enrolled clinic students once Orientation is scheduled.

Once you have been assigned a clinic, you must notify the clinic professor if you choose to drop it.  If you are considering dropping a clinic, we highly encourage you to get in touch with the clinical professor as soon as possible.  This will allow for faster movement off the waitlist and help with general clinic administration.

* CHAMPS Clinic - An enrolled student must start participating in the security clearances in October of each year or they will be removed from this Clinic.