Eligible student practitioners who wish to renew their certification as a supervised practitioner or college graduates who wish to become certified after graduating from law school must submit the following to the Dean of Students (lynn.lemone@mitchellhamline.edu): Under Minnesota`s rules of supervised practice, a supervised practitioner may, under the supervision of a supervising lawyer, perform all the functions that a lawyer performs as a representative and representation of a client. A law student may be recertified as a supervised practitioner after graduating from an ABA-accredited law school. and a supervised physician may be certified for a period of 18 months from the date of graduation. The supervised practitioner must be certified by the Dean or appointee at the Faculty of Law as qualified to participate in supervised employment or legal placement, paid or unpaid, to provide legal services to clients as a supervised practitioner. An observant student may observe all of a member of the Bar Association as part of a program of study or credit course, including communications with clients. Communication between the client and the student is privileged according to the same rules that govern solicitor-client privilege and the doctrine of work product, and the presence of a student during the communication between lawyer and client does not waive these only privileges of evidence. The application for certification must be made by the law school and submitted to the Board of Law Examiners for approval. According to Minnesota`s Rules of Supervised Practice, there are two circumstances in which Minnesota students can be certified (students applying for certification from a jurisdiction other than Minnesota should contact the student dean). Eligible students enrolled in a clinic where it is possible to represent a client are automatically subject to law student certification. Student observer certification ends when the course ends, the student withdraws from the course, or the student is placed on academic probation. The Minnesota Board of Bar Examiners administers the rules of supervised practice.

The Supervised Practice Rules allow law students to practise law to a limited extent. It is the student`s duty to review and abide by the rules of supervised practice. The Administrative Coordinator of Clinics and Rotations handles these requests. To be eligible, a student must currently be enrolled, have completed the equivalent of two full semesters of full-time study, be in good standing academically (minimum cumulative average of 2.2), and be qualified to participate in a paid or unpaid capacity in an internship or clinical program to provide legal services to clients as a law student. The supervising lawyer must make a written request on company letterhead for a student to become a student observer – if eligible. All requests should be directed to Jean Backes, Clinic and Trainee Administrative Coordinator, for processing. Law students are initially certified for one year and can renew the certification for a period of 12 months. It is the student`s responsibility to follow the expiration date. A law student, under the supervision of a supervising lawyer, may perform all the duties that a lawyer may perform in representing and representing a client. The application for certification must be made by the law school and submitted to the Board of Law Examiners for approval.