Understanding Myanmar and the Way Forward for Legal Education: From Rote Learning to Community Engagement Through Clinical Legal Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-115
Author(s):  
Nicholas Ross ◽  
Carly Ardussi ◽  
David Tushaus ◽  
Soe Thiri Win ◽  
Zwe Pyae Sone Lwin
Keyword(s):  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
State University ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Western State ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Community Needs Assessment

The aim of this article is to use a community needs assessment to teach law students knowledge, skills and values while identifying the areas of greatest need for access to justice services in the community. To begin, the international team of US and Myanmar law faculty and students researched literature on the country of Myanmar and various issues facing Myanmar’s citizens and its legal education system. We also had a team from Missouri Western State University on the ground in Myanmar working with the international non-governmental organization (NGO) BABSEACLE (formerly, Bridges Across Borders South East Asia Clinical Legal Education) to work with faculty and students at the Department of Law, Taunggyi. The team conducted a community needs assessment (CNA) on legal needs in Taunggyi, Myanmar, to better understand community teaching needs. BABSEACLE provides law schools with the tools and opportunities to expand clinical legal education (CLE). The team in Myanmar from Missouri Western State University consisted of Professor David Tushaus and two undergraduate students, Britane Hubbard and Kaylee Sharp, who had the opportunity to teach CLE in English to law students at Taunggyi University. Professor Tushaus served as an international clinician in residence (ICIR). BABSEACLE, operating in Myanmar since 2013, has successfully used ICIRs to introduce and strengthen CLE, by embedding experienced law professors and practitioners at local universities to serve as mentors to neophyte clinical faculty.5

scholarly journals Conducting a community needs assessment: a student-client approach to clinic research

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Shristi Banerjee ◽  
Raveena Rao Kallakuru ◽  
Ambedkar Bhavan ◽  
Yamini Kumar ◽  
Maithili Pai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Law School ◽  
Legal Issue ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Minimal Basis ◽  
Community Or ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Community Needs Assessment

<p align="JUSTIFY">This paper will discuss how to create a research team and conduct a community needs assessment. The focus will be primarily on the process of conducting such research. The process is adaptable to either an international team of academics, professionals and students or it can be conducted by a clinic in its community without outside collaboration. Results of the research will be discussed on a minimal basis.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">The goals of a law school legal aid clinic should include at least two things. One is to improve the education of students. The other is to provide access to justice for members of the community. These goals may be met in many ways and through many different projects. Forming a research team of academics, professionals and law students to study a legal issue, develop a survey and find out what the community needs are in terms of legal assistance provides many excellent learning tools for students.</p><p align="JUSTIFY">Students develop research and writing skills over the course of a research project that includes conducting a literature review, interviewing skills when they survey the community, best practices in being client/community centered and presentation skills if they present their results at a conference as was the case in the study to be discussed here. We often think we know what is needed in our community, or by our client, from our experience; but best practices and professional responsibility point toward finding out what the community or client wants in order to serve their legal needs.</p>

scholarly journals Experience the Future of Legal Education

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 849
Author(s):  
Lorne Sossin
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Education ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law School ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
The Future ◽  
Law And Justice ◽  
Research Initiatives

This article examines the shift towards experiential legal education and its implications. While others have focused on experiential education as a means of training better lawyers, the author advances the argument for experiential education because it is rooted in substantive problem-solving, access to justice, engagement with communities, and greater opportunities for reflective and critical thinking about law and justice. Drawing on examples from Osgoode Hall Law School, which adopted an experiential curricular requirement in 2012, the article explores the ways in which experiential education may change law school and law students. The article also canvasses the implications of the experiential shift for the future of legal education, and the blurring lines between law school and transitional professional education in law such as articling and Practical/Professional Legal Training Courses (PLTCs). Finally, a number of perspectives and research initiatives are presented to suggest that the benefits of an effectively designed experiential model are far reaching, from a learning environment that caters most effectively to the way in which students learn and access information, to increasing engagement with community needs, to the positive impacts on student wellness. Therefore, the article illustrates the significance of the experiential shift in legal education in the Canadian context as a critical driver in the evolution of the law school and professional legal education.

scholarly journals Keeping up with change: no alternative to teaching ADR in clinic. An Australian perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Weinberg
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Clinical Education ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Client Needs

<p>Over the last 30 years alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has become more prominent in Australian legal practice due to the need to reduce the cost of access to justice and to provide more expedient and informal alternatives to litigation. As legal educators, we need to ask: how should we be preparing law students entering practice for these changes? How can we ensure that once they become lawyers, our students will not rely entirely on litigious methods to assist their clients but instead look at alternatives for dispute resolution?</p><p>In this paper, I argue that there is no alternative to teaching ADR in clinic in order to address client needs and to ensure that students engaged in clinical education are prepared for changes in legal practice today. I show that the increasing focus upon ADR in Australian legal practice represents a challenge for law schools, and that legal educators need to ensure they are educating students about ADR.</p><p>I argue that it is important to determine whether ADR is being taught to students undertaking clinical legal education in ways that will enhance their preparation for legal practice. I will show that there is a need to explore: whether ADR is being taught within clinical legal education, the strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, and how the teaching of ADR within clinics can be improved.</p>

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