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About the Program

Founded in 2014, the award-winning Cooley Law School Debt Relief Clinic provides free legal assistance to low-income individuals throughout the Tampa Bay region, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Polk, and Sarasota counties. The clinic helps clients facing debt-related and bankruptcy issues involving medical bills, loans, predatory lending, unfair collection practices, and other financial challenges. Most clients are unemployed, elderly, disabled, living on fixed incomes, or qualify under the clinic's income guidelines of 175% of the federal poverty level.

The clinic offers Tampa campus students a unique opportunity to represent real clients under the direct supervision of an experienced Florida attorney and Clinic Director. Unlike traditional externships or shadowing experiences, students actively practice law under Local Bankruptcy Rules that permit supervised representation through the clinic's pro bono status. During the one-semester program, with an optional second term, students primarily assist clients in Chapter 7 bankruptcy matters and gain practical experience handling cases from intake through resolution. The clinic brings foundational legal concepts to life, including constitutional law, contracts, property, wills and trusts, probate, and secured transactions.

Qualified students may participate with or without Certified Legal Intern (CLI) status. Clinic participants may be eligible to practice before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida and, with CLI certification, in Florida state courts before graduation and before passing the bar exam. Students who enter qualifying government positions after graduation may continue using their CLI designation until they pass the bar within the applicable timeframe.

Through hands-on client representation, students develop the core competencies expected of entry-level attorneys, including:

  • Client interviewing and counseling
  • Fact investigation and case assessment
  • Legal research, analysis, and problem-solving
  • Drafting legal documents and professional communications
  • Understanding substantive and procedural law
  • Case strategy development
  • Time management and organization
  • Alternative dispute resolution
  • Professionalism, ethics, and client advocacy
  • Court representation under attorney supervision