As student-attorneys in the Veterans Legal Clinic, Andrew Schreder (left) and Ryan Stults (right) conducted a three-day jury trial under the supervision of the clinic’s director, Matthew Andres (center).
By Amy Spooner
Michigan Law
The jury sat in the box, anticipating the opening statement. The client, a Vietnam veteran, sat at the table with his service dog, Dottie. But the attorney who stood up next to him at the Jackson County Circuit Court last April to address the judge and jury was not a seasoned litigator. He was a third-year law student and student-attorney in the Veterans Legal Clinic.
“That morning, I had some of the most intense nerves I’ve ever had,” said Andrew Schreder, who delivered that opening statement just weeks before graduation. “But we had done a ton of prep. I knew exactly what themes I wanted to highlight. It was my job to advocate for my client, and doing so was a powerful experience.”
Each year, student-attorneys in the Veteran Legal Clinic (VLC) pour hundreds of hours into providing free legal aid to those who have served in the military and to their families. They handle a variety of civil cases ranging from family law to civil rights claims.
A jury trial, though, is rare. In fact, Matt Andres, the clinic’s director and a clinical assistant professor of law, said that it was the first time in his 17 years of teaching that his students tried a case to a jury.
And they nailed it.
“Andrew and Ryan [Stults, Schreder’s co-counsel on the case] did a fantastic job. They handled every aspect of the trial—I objected twice, and otherwise I did not say anything on the record—over the three days that it lasted,” Andres said.
—————
Three days in court
Ryan Stults knew he wanted a clinical experience where he could focus on litigation. Since his grandfather had served in the military, the VLC seemed like the perfect way to “give back to people who have given so much for us,” Stults said.
He paired up with Schreder, whom he had known from being in the same 1L supersection. Both had participated in the Law School’s Campbell Moot Court competition as 2Ls, and Schreder was in the process of competing again. (Schreder eventually reached the semifinals as a 3L.)
“Our personalities blended well, and we were 3Ls who were seasoned in oral advocacy,” said Stults. “So while, technically, we were voluntold that this would be our case, we were excited to take it on.”
The case involved a contract dispute between a veteran and a family member over the deed to a house and whether or not that family member could force its sale and subsequent division of proceeds.
The veteran had been the clinic’s client since February 2024; Schreder and Stults inherited the case near the end of the discovery process. Their early work included defending a deposition of their client and then taking a deposition of the opposing party.
With the aid of the faculty and their fellow clinical students, Schreder and Stults conducted a mock deposition with their client and, later, a mock trial. Stults told their client the goal of the mock deposition was to make it harder than the real thing. Later, the client told Stults that he had succeeded.
“The opportunities to practice these types of skills and develop in a safe environment can help your first rep not really be your first rep,” Stults said.
Through the mock trial, “We got the benefit of the entire clinic’s brain: how they would cross, how they would take testimony, what issues they thought were important,” said Schreder. “I took stuff directly from people’s questioning, directly from their opening and closing statements. Contributions from everyone in the clinic made it into our final trial presentation.”
At trial, Schreder kicked off with the opening statement and conducted the direct examination of the VLC’s client. Stults cross-examined the opposing party and her witness and delivered the closing. Throughout, they and Andres passed notes back and forth across their table; during breaks and at the end of the day, they debriefed and strategized.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever felt a more collaborative experience,” Stults said. “You think of something and pass it along, and you could almost intuit what the person was going to say as they were writing.”
Ultimately, the jury did find the family member liable for breach of contract and forcible detainer. But they awarded the VLC’s client $0 in damages, and the judge found that the deed the client had signed was enforceable and ordered that his house be sold and the proceeds divided with his daughter. The clinic—led by a new team of student-attorneys—is now appealing the decisions of both the judge and the jury before the Michigan Court of Appeals.
—————
A settlement six years in the making
During the summer of 2025, Kyle Brinker, now a 2L, might not have appeared before a jury. But he scored a win for his client by securing a settlement in a drawn-out case.
For six years, the clinic had been litigating on behalf of a veteran who had taken his classic car to a local mechanic who failed to properly attach the fuel line. The car later exploded when the client was driving it. The opposing party, who was the mechanic, originally represented himself, and in six years the court had issued multiple judgments against the defendant and the defendant had appealed to two different courts. The opposing party finally hired an attorney after his most recent appeal had been rejected.
“I don’t know that we were confident there would be a quick resolution; in fact, I definitely didn’t think it would happen while I was working on it,” said Brinker. “We were looking at other ways of collecting on the judgment we had, when opposing counsel reached out about a possible settlement.”
The settlement, which Brinker drafted and negotiated with opposing counsel, resulted in his client receiving $11,000—more than the value of his car that had been destroyed.
“In law school, you learn to draft briefs and motions; I even drafted a settlement agreement for a hypothetical case. But to have an actual case means you’re talking to the client, understanding their needs, and then applying that to your approach,”
Brinker said. “When I brokered the settlement agreement, I had to keep my client’s goals in mind. It was really cool to bridge that gap.”
—————
The team, the team, the team
For the student-attorneys who worked on these cases, the benefits and lessons are many.
Brinker said he doesn’t yet know his career path but is leaning toward plaintiff-side work, like he performed in the VLC last summer. “Some legal work can be tedious, but in this case, I felt the urgency to get my client what he deserved. I liked that motivation.”
Stults, a first-year associate at Honigman in Detroit, said he was proud to be able to raise his hand when another attorney in his practice group asked if, by any chance, anyone had been involved in a jury trial. “Jury trials are dinosaurs these days,” Stults said. “The fact that I’ve had the chance to sit as co-first chair on one is incredible.”
And Schreder, a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said the trial experience gave him the confidence to jump in and advocate for his clients in his new job from day one, especially in a fast-paced environment where even young lawyers are expected to carry their own caseload. “I realized that I can actually go out and help someone. I can stand up in court and be effective. So whatever intake happens today, my mindset is, ‘Let’s just dive in and figure it out.’”
But all three stress that the VLC experience is about much more than confidence boosts and resume building.
There was a moment in the jury trial—after he endured a few hours of testimony and cross-examination, and after the jury had been dismissed for lunch—where Stults and Schreder’s client still sat slumped in the witness box, with Dottie the service dog stationed nearby. Schreder approached the box and gave his client a hug. The client said that was exactly what he’d needed.
“It’s not just about us, as law students, getting experience,” said Stults. “We care about these people. We—and by that I mean our client and those of us who represented him as well as Matt [Andres] and the whole clinic who helped us prepare—are in this together as a team. That’s what the VLC is all about.”
Michigan Law
The jury sat in the box, anticipating the opening statement. The client, a Vietnam veteran, sat at the table with his service dog, Dottie. But the attorney who stood up next to him at the Jackson County Circuit Court last April to address the judge and jury was not a seasoned litigator. He was a third-year law student and student-attorney in the Veterans Legal Clinic.
“That morning, I had some of the most intense nerves I’ve ever had,” said Andrew Schreder, who delivered that opening statement just weeks before graduation. “But we had done a ton of prep. I knew exactly what themes I wanted to highlight. It was my job to advocate for my client, and doing so was a powerful experience.”
Each year, student-attorneys in the Veteran Legal Clinic (VLC) pour hundreds of hours into providing free legal aid to those who have served in the military and to their families. They handle a variety of civil cases ranging from family law to civil rights claims.
A jury trial, though, is rare. In fact, Matt Andres, the clinic’s director and a clinical assistant professor of law, said that it was the first time in his 17 years of teaching that his students tried a case to a jury.
And they nailed it.
“Andrew and Ryan [Stults, Schreder’s co-counsel on the case] did a fantastic job. They handled every aspect of the trial—I objected twice, and otherwise I did not say anything on the record—over the three days that it lasted,” Andres said.
—————
Three days in court
Ryan Stults knew he wanted a clinical experience where he could focus on litigation. Since his grandfather had served in the military, the VLC seemed like the perfect way to “give back to people who have given so much for us,” Stults said.
He paired up with Schreder, whom he had known from being in the same 1L supersection. Both had participated in the Law School’s Campbell Moot Court competition as 2Ls, and Schreder was in the process of competing again. (Schreder eventually reached the semifinals as a 3L.)
“Our personalities blended well, and we were 3Ls who were seasoned in oral advocacy,” said Stults. “So while, technically, we were voluntold that this would be our case, we were excited to take it on.”
The case involved a contract dispute between a veteran and a family member over the deed to a house and whether or not that family member could force its sale and subsequent division of proceeds.
The veteran had been the clinic’s client since February 2024; Schreder and Stults inherited the case near the end of the discovery process. Their early work included defending a deposition of their client and then taking a deposition of the opposing party.
With the aid of the faculty and their fellow clinical students, Schreder and Stults conducted a mock deposition with their client and, later, a mock trial. Stults told their client the goal of the mock deposition was to make it harder than the real thing. Later, the client told Stults that he had succeeded.
“The opportunities to practice these types of skills and develop in a safe environment can help your first rep not really be your first rep,” Stults said.
Through the mock trial, “We got the benefit of the entire clinic’s brain: how they would cross, how they would take testimony, what issues they thought were important,” said Schreder. “I took stuff directly from people’s questioning, directly from their opening and closing statements. Contributions from everyone in the clinic made it into our final trial presentation.”
At trial, Schreder kicked off with the opening statement and conducted the direct examination of the VLC’s client. Stults cross-examined the opposing party and her witness and delivered the closing. Throughout, they and Andres passed notes back and forth across their table; during breaks and at the end of the day, they debriefed and strategized.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever felt a more collaborative experience,” Stults said. “You think of something and pass it along, and you could almost intuit what the person was going to say as they were writing.”
Ultimately, the jury did find the family member liable for breach of contract and forcible detainer. But they awarded the VLC’s client $0 in damages, and the judge found that the deed the client had signed was enforceable and ordered that his house be sold and the proceeds divided with his daughter. The clinic—led by a new team of student-attorneys—is now appealing the decisions of both the judge and the jury before the Michigan Court of Appeals.
—————
A settlement six years in the making
During the summer of 2025, Kyle Brinker, now a 2L, might not have appeared before a jury. But he scored a win for his client by securing a settlement in a drawn-out case.
For six years, the clinic had been litigating on behalf of a veteran who had taken his classic car to a local mechanic who failed to properly attach the fuel line. The car later exploded when the client was driving it. The opposing party, who was the mechanic, originally represented himself, and in six years the court had issued multiple judgments against the defendant and the defendant had appealed to two different courts. The opposing party finally hired an attorney after his most recent appeal had been rejected.
“I don’t know that we were confident there would be a quick resolution; in fact, I definitely didn’t think it would happen while I was working on it,” said Brinker. “We were looking at other ways of collecting on the judgment we had, when opposing counsel reached out about a possible settlement.”
The settlement, which Brinker drafted and negotiated with opposing counsel, resulted in his client receiving $11,000—more than the value of his car that had been destroyed.
“In law school, you learn to draft briefs and motions; I even drafted a settlement agreement for a hypothetical case. But to have an actual case means you’re talking to the client, understanding their needs, and then applying that to your approach,”
Brinker said. “When I brokered the settlement agreement, I had to keep my client’s goals in mind. It was really cool to bridge that gap.”
—————
The team, the team, the team
For the student-attorneys who worked on these cases, the benefits and lessons are many.
Brinker said he doesn’t yet know his career path but is leaning toward plaintiff-side work, like he performed in the VLC last summer. “Some legal work can be tedious, but in this case, I felt the urgency to get my client what he deserved. I liked that motivation.”
Stults, a first-year associate at Honigman in Detroit, said he was proud to be able to raise his hand when another attorney in his practice group asked if, by any chance, anyone had been involved in a jury trial. “Jury trials are dinosaurs these days,” Stults said. “The fact that I’ve had the chance to sit as co-first chair on one is incredible.”
And Schreder, a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said the trial experience gave him the confidence to jump in and advocate for his clients in his new job from day one, especially in a fast-paced environment where even young lawyers are expected to carry their own caseload. “I realized that I can actually go out and help someone. I can stand up in court and be effective. So whatever intake happens today, my mindset is, ‘Let’s just dive in and figure it out.’”
But all three stress that the VLC experience is about much more than confidence boosts and resume building.
There was a moment in the jury trial—after he endured a few hours of testimony and cross-examination, and after the jury had been dismissed for lunch—where Stults and Schreder’s client still sat slumped in the witness box, with Dottie the service dog stationed nearby. Schreder approached the box and gave his client a hug. The client said that was exactly what he’d needed.
“It’s not just about us, as law students, getting experience,” said Stults. “We care about these people. We—and by that I mean our client and those of us who represented him as well as Matt [Andres] and the whole clinic who helped us prepare—are in this together as a team. That’s what the VLC is all about.”
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