About the Family Law Clinic Section
Students in the family law practice section represent clients by court appointment (children, absent defendants, and interdicts in interdiction cases). The student practitioners also represent indigent persons (mothers, fathers, grandparents) in custody, divorce, continuing tutorship, and paternity cases. Students interview clients, conduct fact investigation, discovery, and legal research, prepare and file pleadings in court, develop a theory of their case, and prepare memorandums. The students make court appearances and participate in settlement conferences with opposing attorneys. Students make several court appearances to argue their cases at hearings and trials in Orleans and Jefferson Parish Courts. Supervised by Professor Tobie Tranchina.
Section Success
Family Law Clinic student practitioner Alexandra Morris successfully petitioned the court on behalf of a young man seeking custody of his 5- and 7-year-old sisters after the death of their mother. Judge Bernadette D’Souza of Orleans Parish Civil District Court granted sole and permanent custody to our client and commended him on his efforts to care for his little sisters after the loss of their mother. Our client and his grandmother were all smiles outside of the courthouse with the judgment in hand.
Supervised by Professor Tobie Tranchina
