Colorado

Civil Procedure

Civil Procedure

Rule 205.7 – Law Student Practice

(1)Legal Aid Clinics. Students of any law school that maintains a legal aid clinic where poor or legally underserved persons receive legal advice and services shall, when representing the clinic and its clients, be authorized to advise clients on legal matters and appear in any court or before any administrative tribunals or arbitration panels in Colorado as if licensed to practice law.
(2)Law Student Externs.

(a)Practice by Law Student Extern. (formerly section 12-5-116.1 )

(i) An eligible law student extern, as specified in subsection (2)(b), may appear and participate in any civil proceeding in any municipal, county, or district court (including domestic relations proceedings) or before any administrative tribunal in Colorado, or in any county or municipal court criminal proceedings, except when the defendant has been charged with a felony, or in any juvenile proceeding in any municipal, county, or district court, or before any magistrate in any juvenile or other proceeding or any parole revocation as if licensed to practice law under the following circumstances:

(A) If the person on whose behalf the extern is appearing has provided written consent to that appearance and the law student extern is under the supervision of a supervising lawyer, as specified in section (2)(d).
(B) When representing the office of the state public defender and its clients, if the person on whose behalf the extern is appearing has provided written consent to that appearance and the law student extern is under the supervision of the public defender or one of his or her deputies. In such case, the record shall reflect the name of a supervising lawyer, and a supervising lawyer must be available, but not necessarily physically present in the courtroom, if the person wants to consult with him or her. However, a supervising lawyer must be physically present in the courtroom if the proceeding is a testimonial motions hearing or trial.
(C) On behalf of the state or any of its departments, agencies, or institutions, a county, a city, or a municipality, with the written approval and under the supervision of the attorney general, attorney for the state, county attorney, district attorney, city attorney, or municipal attorney. A general approval for the law student extern to appear, executed by the appropriate supervising attorney pursuant to this paragraph (C), shall be filed with the clerk of the applicable court/administrative tribunal and brought to the attention of the judge/presiding officer thereof.
(D) On behalf of a nonprofit legal services organization where poor or legally underserved persons receive legal advice and services if the person on whose behalf the student is appearing has provided written consent to that appearance and the law student extern is under the supervision of a supervising lawyer, as specified in section (2)(d).
(ii) The consent or approval referred to in subsection (2)(a)(i)(A), except a general approval, shall be made in the record of the case and shall be brought to the attention of the judge of the court or the presiding officer of the administrative tribunal.
(iii) In addition to the activities authorized in subsection (2)(a), an eligible law student extern may engage in other activities under the supervision of a supervising lawyer, including but not limited to the preparation of pleadings, briefs, and other legal documents, which must be approved and signed by the supervising lawyer. However, acknowledgments and advisements relating to pleas in criminal cases may be signed by the extern alone. Additionally, the eligible law student may, under the supervision of a supervising lawyer, assist indigent inmates of correctional institutions who have no attorney of record and who request such assistance in preparing applications and supporting documents for postconviction relief.
(b)Eligibility requirements for law student extern practice. (formerly section 12-5-116.2 )

(i) In order to be eligible to make an appearance and participate pursuant to section (2)(a), a law student must:

(A) Be duly enrolled in an ABA accredited law school, or a recent graduate of such a law school who has applied for admission to the Colorado Bar. For purposes of this rule, the “law student’s” eligibility continues after graduation from law school and until the announcement of the results of the first bar examination following the student’s graduation, provided that for anyone who passes that examination, eligibility shall continue in effect through the date of the first swearing-in ceremony following the examination.
(B) Have completed a minimum of two years of legal studies;
(C) Have the certification of the dean of such law school that the dean has no personal knowledge of and knows of nothing of record indicating that the student is not of good moral character and, in addition, that the law student has completed the requirements specified in subsection (2)(b)(i)(B) and is a student in good standing, or recently graduated. The dean of such law school has no continuing duty to certify the student’s good moral character after the student has graduated from law school, at which point the law student/applicant to the Colorado Bar has obligations to maintain the integrity of the profession pursuant to Colo. RPC 8.1.
(D) Be introduced to the court or administrative tribunal in which the extern is appearing as a law student extern by an attorney authorized to practice law in Colorado;
(E) Neither ask for nor receive any compensation or remuneration of any kind for the extern’s services from the person on whose behalf the extern renders services; but such limitation shall not prevent the law student extern from receiving credit for participation in the law school externship program upon prior approval of the law school, nor shall it prevent the law school, the state, a county, a city, a municipality, or the office of the district attorney or the public defender from paying compensation to the law school extern nor shall it prevent any agency from making such charges for its services as it may otherwise properly require; and
(F) State that the extern has read, is familiar with, and will be governed in the conduct of the extern’s activities under subsection (2)(a) by the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct.
(c)Certification of Law Student Extern by Law School Dean Filing Effective Period of Withdrawal by Dean or Termination. (formerly section 12-5-116.3 )

(i) The certification by the law school dean, pursuant to subsection (2)(b)(i)(C), required in order for a law student extern to appear and participate in proceedings:

(A) Shall be filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court Office of Attorney Registration, and unless it is sooner withdrawn, shall remain in effect until the student’s graduation.
(B) May be withdrawn by the dean at any time by mailing a notice to that effect to the Clerk of the Supreme Court Office of Attorney Registration, and such withdrawal may be without notice or hearing and without any showing of cause; and
(C) May be terminated by the Supreme Court at any time without notice or hearing and without any showing of cause.
(d)Qualifications and Requirements of Supervising Lawyer. (formerly section 12-5-116.4 )

(i) A supervising lawyer, under whose supervision an eligible law student extern appears and participates pursuant to section (2)(a), shall be authorized to practice law in the state and:

(A) Shall be a lawyer working for or on behalf of an organization identified in subsection (2)(a)(i)(B) – (D);
(B) Shall assume personal professional responsibility for the conduct of the law student extern; and
(C) Shall assist the law student extern in the extern’s preparation to the extent the supervising lawyer considers it necessary.

C.R.C.P. 205.7

Source: Entire rule added and effective September 1, 2014; amended and adopted April 11, 2019, effective April 11, 2019.