Improving Access to Justice Through Compulsory Student Work at University Law Clinics

In this paper an analysis is offered of compulsory so-called "live client" clinical legal education as part of the LLB as a means of improving access to justice for the indigent. This study first explores the factors which motivate which the establishment of a year’s compulsory community service during the LLB studies, and making clinical legal education compulsory. The motivation includes inducing law students and graduates to aid in the achievement of access to justice. The research then focuses on what the value of community service is in higher education generally. In the South African civil justice system many ordinary people cannot afford to use the courts because of the expense involved, or because they are ignorant of their rights. This is particularly the case in civil as opposed to criminal matters, as legal aid is more frequently focused on criminal than on civil matters in this country. This paper will consider the role which senior law students may play in rendering pro bono work as part of clinical legal education in their LLB studies. In this regard particular focus will be made on the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), the only university offering law studies in greater Durban. As for pro bono work by students during their LLB, consideration could be given to making clinical legal education a compulsory part of such students' curricula. Possible compulsory community service for law graduates (ie post-LLB) as envisaged in the proposed Legal Practice Bill falls beyond the ambit of this paper.

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Towards Designing a Validated Framework for Improved Clinical Legal Education: Empirical Research on Student and Alumni Feedback

Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad ◽

10.17159/1727-3781/2020/v23i0a8144 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

pp. 1-31

Author(s):

Stephan Van der Merwe

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Empirical Research ◽

Student Evaluation ◽

Legal Education ◽

The Body ◽

Law Students ◽

Access To Justice ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Implementation Framework ◽

The University

The pedagogical advantages of employing a Clinical Legal Education (“CLE”) teaching and learning strategy have been acclaimed in literature for almost a century and it continues to be ideally suited to cater to modern education expectations. As an agent for social change, CLE offers law students an effective gateway to participate in, and be influenced by, fundamental social justice problems while it also improves access to justice for the indigent. Though the clinical literature is replete on expected benefits for clinical law students, very little (if any) verifiable empirical research, independently sourced and evaluated, has been published to assess the veracity of these claims in support of CLE. After receiving a funding grant from the University of Stellenbosch Fund for Innovation and Research into Learning and Teaching, the University of Stellenbosch Law Clinic appointed an independent, external agency to conduct empirical research through an extensive measure and evaluation exercise. The aim of the project was to source, document and analyse robust empirical research data about the Faculty of Law’s CLE module, Practical Legal Training 471. The project involved the sourcing and collation of formal student evaluation feedback reports spanning a period of nine years. Additional alumni and current student data were gathered either by online questionnaire or by telephonic interview. The research was aimed at eliciting quantitative as well as qualitative responses. The purpose of this article is to describe the applicable methodology and aims of the research project, to unpack and discuss the resulting empirical data, and to draw certain conclusions based on the findings of this research about CLE’s impact on law students’ experience specifically relating to their practice-readiness and social justice sensitivities. It is suggested that this research will prove both interesting and useful to law teachers involved in relevant programmes at other higher education institutions. The data and evidence detailed herein will assist them to conduct their research and to make substantiated recommendations for the development of CLE programs on a broader national and international level. This research will also add to the body of knowledge on students and student learning and allow for recommendations regarding the creation of a broader implementation framework for improved CLE.

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Measuring Law Students’ Attitudes Towards and Experiences of Clinical Legal Education at The University of Hong Kong

International Journal of Clinical Legal Education ◽

10.19164/ijcle.v27i1.890 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 47-100

Author(s):

Claudia Man-yiu Tam

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Legal Education ◽

Law Students ◽

Educational Models ◽

Public Interest Law ◽

Passive Learning ◽

Pro Bono ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

Survey Responses ◽

The University

As law schools in Hong Kong begin to integrate experiential learning into their educational models, clinical legal education (CLE) has symbiotically gained traction as an effective way for students to apply their legal knowledge in a skills-based and client-centered environment. This empirical study is the first of its kind to evaluate the impacts of CLE at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) over the past ten years, by analyzing the survey responses provided by 125 law students regarding their attitudes towards and experiences of CLE. The article traces the birth and development of CLE at HKU, turning first to its theoretical basis to make the case for its importance, and placing emphasis on the ability of CLE’s teaching-service pedagogy to alleviate the public interest law deficit and supplement passive learning as an engaging instructional method in the Hong Kong context. The survey results are then discussed in light of the doctrinal analysis to illustrate that clinic and non-clinic students alike are generally satisfied that HKU’s CLE program has achieved its skills, cognitive, and civic aims, and notably, that clinic students had a statistically significant higher intention to participate in pro bono work after graduation than non-clinic students or students engaged in volunteering.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE PRETORIA STUDENT LAW REVIEW: SPECIAL EDITION ON THE DECOLONISATION AND AFRICANISATION OF LEGAL EDUCATION

Pretoria Student Law Review ◽

10.29053/pslr.v14i1.1844 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Annette Lansink ◽

Ademola Oluborode Jegede

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Legal Education ◽

Law Students ◽

Special Edition ◽

The South ◽

The Third ◽

The University

This special edition of the Pretoria Student Law Review (PSLR) is devoted to papers presented at a Conference on Decolonisation and Africanisation of Legal Education hosted by the University of Venda and the South African Law Deans Association (SALDA).1 This was the third event on decolonisation and Africanisation under the umbrella of SALDA in the period 2016 to 2019 and the first devoted to law students.

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The Relationship Between Social Justice and Clinical Legal Education: A Case Study of The Women’s Law Clinic, Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

International Journal of Clinical Legal Education ◽

10.19164/ijcle.v20i2.22 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 563

Author(s):

Ibijoke Patricia Byron

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Legal Education ◽

Law Students ◽

Access To Justice ◽

Legal Services ◽

Guided Practice ◽

The University ◽

The Relationship ◽

University Of Ibadan ◽

Ibadan Nigeria

There is a vital connection between legal education, public interest and social justice because lawyers use their education for the benefit of the society. They render their services to those who are unable to afford legal services and in addition, challenge injustice under the justice system. Law students are trained by utilizing the techniques of clinical legal education and they are imbued with a social and professional responsibility to pursue social justice in society.Much of the literature which propounds clinical methodologies in legal education implicitly understands that exposure to a social justice mission within a guided practice setting provides students not only with a key linkage between their legal education and their practice competence, but also with the intellectual foundation for a long-term engagement with the advancement of social justice.The proponents of a social justice dimension and clinical legal education often refer to the “dual goals of hands-on-training in lawyering skills and provision of access to justice for traditionally unrepresented clients”.This paper seeks to explore the relationship between clinical legal education and social justice using the Women’s Law Clinic in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria as an illustration.

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

International Journal of Clinical Legal Education ◽

10.19164/ijcle.v25i1.694 ◽

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

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?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.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.

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Lawyering in a Digital Age: A Practice Report on the Design of a Virtual Law Clinic at Cumbria

International Journal of Clinical Legal Education ◽

10.19164/ijcle.v22i3.471 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 334 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ann Thanaraj ◽

Michael Sales

Keyword(s):

Core Competencies ◽

Legal Education ◽

Digital Age ◽

Law Students ◽

Access To Justice ◽

Legal Services ◽

Law Schools ◽

Efficient Manner ◽

New Type

This practice paper offers a modest proposition that could make law graduates more capable of serving their clients in a modernised and efficient manner. We propose that in addition to law clinics and other forms of experiential activities, law schools could add a new type of clinical component to their curriculum that teaches students to use technology to assist in the delivery of legal services. Digital lawyering skills will help law students learn core competencies needed in an increasingly technological profession, and it may help close the gap between offering access to justice by making legal services available online in the most accessible and convenient way possible and in equipping law graduates with a modernised and digital legal education.

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Disability Human Rights Clinics as a model for teaching Participatory International Human Rights Lawyering

International Journal of Clinical Legal Education ◽

10.19164/ijcle.v25i3.767 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 23-52

Author(s):

Yvette Maker ◽

Jana Offergeld ◽

Anna Arstein-Kerslake

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Legal Education ◽

Law School ◽

Law Students ◽

Legal Analysis ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

Community Based ◽

Scholarly Output ◽

The University ◽

New Generation

The Disability Human Rights Clinic (DHRC) was established at Melbourne Law School, the University of Melbourne, in 2015. Its supervisors and students conduct legislative and policy reform projects as well as strategic litigation. The DHRC was created by Anna Arstein-Kerslake to address a significant lack of resources in community-based organisations to undertake in-depth legal analysis. It uses an innovative model of clinical legal education to harness the skills of law students to fill that gap and to expose a new generation of lawyers to the emerging field of disability human rights law. In this article, we draw on our experiences running the DHRC to argue that the model it establishes can create significant scholarly output in the human rights field, direct engagement with the community, and rich doctrinal and experiential learning for students.

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The Opportunities and Challenges of Student Paralegal within University Legal Clinic at PTKIN

AL- ADALAH ◽

10.24042/adalah.v16i2.5659 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 225-248

Author(s):

Deni K Yusup ◽

Burhanuddin Hamnach ◽

Cate Sumner

Keyword(s):

Community Service ◽

Access To Justice ◽

Limited Time ◽

Legal Assistance ◽

Legal Aid ◽

The Third ◽

Strong Motivation ◽

The University ◽

Clinic Program

This paper is motivated by the role of the university legal clinic under the spirit of implementing the third of university role in the field of community service. In practice, legal aid services at universities are not different from general aid agencies in general. One of the uniqueness of the university legal clinic program is the direct involvement of student paralegal in helping the clients to get legal aid services within the university and court. The student paralegal encounters various opportunities and challenges. The main opportunities, they have their passion and strong motivation to become justice fighters for justice seekers, while they have also the main challenges such as limited time, facilities, knowledge, and legal skills. However, the existence of student paralegal has proven to be very helpful for the clients not only in processing applications and registering cases in court but also in assisting clients in the form of consultation and legal assistance during non-litigation and litigation. Therefore, the university legal clinic program needs to be further strengthened and developed at PTKIN because it has proven positive implications for helping underprivileged people and justice seekers to get access to justice.

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Co-creating with BAME students in legal education

Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning ◽

10.5456/wpll.23.3.80 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 80-91

Author(s):

Fatmata Daramy ◽

Morag Duffin ◽

Ibrahim Ilyas ◽

David Taylor

Keyword(s):

Sense Of Belonging ◽

Educational Institution ◽

Legal Education ◽

Law Students ◽

Institutional Racism ◽

Student Body ◽

Raising Awareness ◽

Employer Engagement ◽

The University

This article explores the challenges of addressing inequitable outcomes and experiences for BAME Law students. It considers the specific challenges BAME students face in entering a profession that is highly competitive, and which has traditionally lacked diversity. It details the approach that The University of Law, as a specialist legal educational institution, has taken to work and co-create with its student body to reduce these inequitable outcomes and experiences, as well as to improve a wider sense of belonging between students, their educational institution and the legal sector. It takes, as a case study, The University of Law's BAME Student Advocate scheme, which was established in the spring of 2020, and spotlights a few key projects delivered by the BAME Advocates: an employer engagement project, a Ramadan project and a project on raising awareness of institutional racism through the Stephen Lawrence case.

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