• Skills Classes
• Pacific McGeorge Legal Clinics
  • Administrative Adjudication Clinic
  • Appellate Advocacy Clinic
  • Bankruptcy Clinic
  • Elder and Health Law Clinic
  • Federal Defender Clinic
  • Housing Mediation Clinic
  • Immigration Law Clinic
  • Prisoner Civil Rights Mediation Clinic
  • Victims of Crime Clinic
• Field Placement/Externships
• Competition Teams
• Law Review & "The Globe" Journal

Housing Mediation Clinic

Goal of Clinic

The Housing Mediation Clinic provides students with the opportunity to mediate landlord/tenant cases working closely with experienced mediators. This Clinic is part of an innovative Housing Court project funded by the Shriver Civil Counsel Act. Students will gain a working knowledge of landlord/tenant law and will learn effective mediation techniques. Students will have an opportunity to select one afternoon a week to conduct their scheduled mediations, beginning in February.

Structure of Clinic

During the first four weeks only (on Fridays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) of the Housing Mediation Clinic, students will learn the basics of landlord/tenant law and will participate in landlord/tenant mediation simulations. Students will then spend the rest of the semester mediating landlord/tenant cases under the joint supervision of Professors Michael Colatrella, Dorothy Landsberg, and Pauline Nguyen, an experienced mediator hired under the Shriver grant. The mediations will take place at an off-campus Pacific McGeorge Housing Mediation Center, with a flexible schedule. Students will also present at community outreach events.

Prerequisites for Enrollment

A written application is required for this Clinic. Download the application.

This Clinic is limited to third- and fourth-year students.

Prerequisite: Mediation, Negotiation, or Alternative Dispute Resolution, or a non-credit basic 40-hour Mediation Workshop with the consent of the instructors.

Instructors

The Clinic is taught by Professor Michael Colatrella, Director of Legal Clinics Dorothy Landsberg, and Mediator Pauline Nguyen. Professor Colatrella is a faculty member at Pacific McGeorge and a nationally recognized mediator. Landsberg practiced employment and education law with a large law firm in Sacramento for mroe than 20 years and is also experienced in mediation. Pauline Nguyen is an experienced mediator.

Unit Credit and Limit on Enrollment

• The Housing Mediation Clinic is a semester course for three (3) units (honors/pass/fail).
• Enrollment in the Clinic is limited to 10 students.

Why This Clinic Is Valuable

This Clinic provides an outstanding opportunity for students to learn both the theory and practice of mediation and to develop the skills necessary to serve as mediators, an essential skill for successful lawyers. Students will have the added benefit of working closely with experienced mediators and attorneys.

Download the clinic's information sheet.