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College of Law NewsStudent NewsHasti Barahmand, ’12,volunteered to work in theJohnson County PublicDefender’s Office her firstyear and came away witha greater understandingof the job.By Nathan Legue, ’12, Law Clerk,7th Judicial District of Iowa in DavenportCitizen Lawyer Program provides lawstudents with practical legal skillsWhen law students first cometo law school, they often are eager forhands-on legal experience. For Iowastudents, the Citizen Lawyer Program’spro bono projects provide an opportunityto get that experience. This opportunityis especially important for 1Ls whocan participate as soon as they startlaw school.“That was one of the things thatsealed me coming here, the ability to dosomething practical even in your firstyear,” says Ryan Melcher, ’12. “Most1Ls probably do not get a lot of chancesto do that.”While a major goal of the CitizenLawyer Program is to help law studentsunderstand the importance of communityservice, the goal of developing skillsfor future lawyers is another essentialbenefit of its projects.For instance, Hasti Barahmand, ’12,volunteered to work in the JohnsonCounty Public Defender’s Office herfirst year and came away with a greaterunderstanding of the job.“I expected it all to be office work,”says Barahmand. “We got to do research,we got to tag along on a jail interview,and we even got to see a pretty freshhomicide scene.”The hands-on experience of a dayto-daypublic defender’s job so strengthenedBarahmand’s desire and her abilityto do public interest work, that sheapplied for and was awarded a two-yearEqual Justice Works Fellowship. Aftergraduation, she began work in theMiami, Florida, Public Defender’s Officeas a liaison for children in the foster caresystem who face juvenile delinquencycharges. Barahmand developed the ideafor the position on her own, and wasinformed in part by her work for theCitizen Lawyer Program project.Melcher came to law school interestedprimarily in alternative disputeresolution and less enthused about theHasti Barahmand, ’12more confrontational aspects of the law,like litigation. But after spending partof his first year assisting the JohnsonCounty Public Defender’s Office withcases, he walked away with less antipathytoward trial work and more confidence.“It instilled some of the desires todo advocacy because of some of theproblems with the system,” saysMelcher. “I’ve always rooted for the underdog,but I always saw others as doingit, not myself.”Mark Van Heukelom, ’14, joined theVolunteer Income Tax Assistance projectboth because of his interest in tax lawand a desire to develop his client skills.In that project, law students help lowincometaxpayers fill out theirtax returns.“It helped me become more articulate,more capable of breaking downtopics in a way that is understandable tonon-legal minds,” says Van Heukelom.22 Iowa Advocate 2013