Law Clinic in Houston

Law School students Rachel Smyth (right) and Chanda Glidden make their presentations.

Published 11th April 2006, 12:52pm

A team from CILS recently competed in the American Caribbean Law Clinic held at the Thurgood Marshall Law School in Houston in November 2009; seven other law schools from the Caribbean and the US took part in the competition. The next such Clinic is due to be held at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad in March 2010." "Mooting: CILS is sending teams to compete in two international moots in 2010: The Susan J Ferrell Inter Cultural Human Rights Moot, being held in Miami during the period January 29th - 31st; and the Willem C Viz International Commercial Arbitration Moot, being held in Vienna, Austria during the period March 24th - 31st."

Representing the Cayman Islands Law School (CILS) at the Thurgood Marshall Law School in Houston from 22 to 24 March were Ms Chanda Glidden, a 4th year Professional Practice Course student, and 2nd year LL.B students Ms Rachel Smyth and Ms Marlene Bovell. According to Mr. Mitchell Davies, the Director of the Cayman Islands Law School, who accompanied the students to the law clinic, the Cayman team acquitted itself well.

"The unique experience of interacting on these legal problems with students from a number of different law schools was an invaluable one. The CILS students demonstrated maturity and confidence in their presentations and in dealing with questions, and in doing so raised awareness both of the CILS and the quality of its students," Mr Davies commented.

Next spring, the beneficial experience from such an attendance is hoped to be shared with all CILS students. The venue for the next clinic scheduled for spring 2007 is expected to move to Cayman for the first time, according to a CILS media release.

All of the West Indies Council of Legal Education law schools, consisting of the Norman Manley Law School (Jamaica), the Hugh Wooding Law School (Trinidad) and the Eugene Dupuch Law School (Bahamas), were represented at this year's clinic. Also represented were the following US law schools: Florida Coastal School of Law, Nova Southeastern University Law School, Stetson Law School, and the Thurgood Marshall Law School.

On 23 March, students in combined teams, drawn from all the law schools represented at the clinic, made presentations to the Assistant Attorneys-General from the Texas Attorney General's office. The five separate presentations involved different problems which had been drafted by the Attorney General's office. These were based on real problems, focused on different aspects of Texas family law, being encountered by that office.

Each problem had a Private International Law dimension, making the issues of particular relevance to the Cayman team, noted CILS Director Davies. Private International Law is a discrete subject taught in Year 3 at CILS. "It involves private law issues such as contract law or, in this case family law, having foreign elements; for example: whether a maintenance order made by the Florida court is enforceable in Texas," Mr. Davies explained.