Yale University School of Law student Shannon Price. Courtesy photo

In the beginning, it did not appear that two young Yale Law School students—trying their first-ever case in court—would have much of a chance going up against an attorney with more than 25 years of experience.

Shannon Price, who teamed up with Nathan Leys to represent a New Haven tenant who was living with an infestation of mice and roaches, said she saw the task ahead as daunting and challenging. After all, Kensington Square Apartments is one of New Haven's largest landlords, and its lawyer, Glastonbury-based solo practitioner Michael Clinton, has been an attorney before Price was even born.

But in the end, the two budding litigators prevailed.

After a two-day trial in New Haven Housing Court, Kensington was ordered to clean the whole complex to eradicate the rodent problem. In addition, presiding Judge John Cordani told tenant Regina Mention in April that she'd be given a check for $1,130, or six months' rent. Mention has a project-based housing subsidy and pays reduced rent due to her income. The payment and the abatement of the six-unit complex, however, is on hold, pending a challenge before the Connecticut Appellate Court.

Price and Leys, under the guidance of their professor, Jay Pottenger Jr., will continue representing Mention through the process.

A third-year law student, Price, 24, is a member of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization within Yale University. Numerous students take part and provide free legal representation in a number of specialties to predominantly poor clients who can't afford an attorney.

From the get-go, Price said, she and Leys learned everything they could about the rules and regulations within the New Haven Housing Code. They also spent several months before trial negotiating with the landlord, visiting the apartment complex, and doing a lot of research on whether similar cases had reached the trial stage.

"We found that many cases, like Ms. Mention's, had not made it to court because tenants often do not make it into the courthouse doors because of financial issues," said Price, an Illinois native who is set to clerk for an Ohio Court of Appeals judge soon after she graduates in May 2020.

Next came the trial, and Price said she was nervous, but prepared.

Price conducted witness examinations, direct and cross-examination, and delivered opening and closing statements. Leys did the bulk of the research, drafted and prepared the materials, and made sure the interpretation of the law was on point.

"On the eve of the trial we had to have a lot of strategic conversations on who'd we call for witnesses and how we could really show the judge that a certain part of the housing code was important enough to enforce," Price told the Connecticut Law Tribune Friday.

Price called Mention to the stand as well as another tenant with similar rodent problems and a representative from New Haven's Livable Cities Initiative, which is responsible for housing code enforcement in New Haven.

"We heard our witnesses stories before, especially the two tenants, and just told them to go to court and tell the court the same story they told us," Price said.

In the end, Price said, she believes they prevailed because the city's housing code was clear.

"It plainly says that landlords must take care of an infested unit," Price said. "It says the tenant has the responsibility to keep the premises clean to the degree pests don't move in. The code also says that when more than one unit is infested the burden to address the problem shifts to the landlord."

Price continued: "Our point was that calling an exterminator every few months is fine, but it does not solve the problem. It's just not good enough." The only answer was to abate the whole complex, and get rid of the mice and roaches, Price said.

Clinton declined to comment Friday, and no one from Kensington responded to a request for comment.

Pottenger called Price "a natural trial lawyer."

"She has interpersonal skills, tenacity and humor," he said. "I had really high expectations, and she lived up to them. She has a lot of poise."

Pottenger said he believes the students won their case because they understood the fundamentals, and how to convey that in a succinct narrative.

"They managed to research, investigate and prepare in order to tell our client's story," he said.

The biggest thing Price said she learned about herself during her first courtroom experience was that "I have the trial bug. I really love doing direct services work with a client and making sure those clients can be heard in court, because so often, they are not."