scholarly journals Pushing The Boundaries or Preserving the Status Quo? Designing Clinical Programs to Teach Law Students a Deep Understanding of Ethical Practice

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Curran ◽  
Judith Dickson ◽  
Mary Anne Noone

The clinical legal education environment is one that is ripe with professional and ethical situations. Students involved in this educational experience inevitably are exposed to ethical dilemmas and choices. In this paper we examine the role played by clinical legal education programs in the development of ethical awareness among those law students. Within the context of the well documented concerns in the wider legal profession as to the standard of ethics teaching and ethical practice we assert that the clinical environment provides a rich opportunity for a deep learning experience about the nature and extent of a legal practitioner’s professional and ethical responsibilities.

De Jure ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
M A (Riette) du Plessis

Training in legal professionalism and ethics is a vital part of any legal education. Teaching these aspects according to the Socratic method generally proves to be ineffective in producing the desired result. A lawyer's actual life experience, which include happiness and career satisfaction, is rarely included. This article will explore on what it means to be an ethical human being and consider the teaching of professionalism and ethics by way of the clinical legal education methodology. Clinics have particular riches to offer and discussing professionalism, values and ethics in a clinical setting can assist students to begin to identify their own professional sense. University law clinics serve as a role model in legal practice about how a legal practitioner should behave and what ethical decision-making means. The link between culture and ethics, which informs a person's sense of morality and ethics, is explored, with application to diversity and multiculturalism. In clinical context, students assume a high degree of responsibility by taking instructions from clients and they will benefit from cooperative learning where they will begin to develop a deep understanding of professionalism and ethical practice. Through tutorials and debriefing sessions and later in their reflection assignments, students discuss and reflect on aspects of the law, the legal system, their own interviewing skills and the experience of the client. In their reflection assignments, students readily identify areas for improvement but also refer to what they are able to achieve in their interview, building their motivation and sense of autonomy. Ongoing reflection and constructive feedback thereon will support a commitment to ethical and professionally competent, self-directed and autonomous lawyering. Clinical training affords students the opportunity to explore their legal professional and ethical behaviours and values, allowing them to develop in capable, self-directed and independent practitioners who will not only assume responsibility for their individual clients, but also contribute to their communities.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Abikan Abdulqadir ◽  
Hussein Ahmad Folorunsho

The stiff competition between the English Common Law and the Shari'ah (Islamic Law) throughout the colonial administration in Nigeria to date, has created a gap between the need for expertise in Shari'ah in the nation’s social and judicio-legal environment and the level of training provided by the Nigerian legal education system. This article studies the gap and contends that the Shari'ah content of the curriculum of the institutions offering Common and Islamic Law in particular, is not sufficient to enable its graduates to suitably handle the legion of Islamic legal matters in all levels of courts and other social services in the country. The madaris (Islamic Basic Schools) that should provide basic education to the LL.B Shari'ah or LL.B Common and Islamic law students are disintegrated from the mainstream of the admission requirements for the undergraduate degree programs. It concludes that unless the string between the madÉris and the degree awarding institutions is connected, great disservice will continue to be done not only to the Islamic legal and judicial system but also to the cause of justice.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Karen Clubb

<p>Increasingly students are looking to their undergraduate law degrees to do more than provide them with a qualification which acts a ‘stepping stone’ to further legal vocational training. The provision of law degrees across the sector includes both qualifying and non-qualifying degrees where the study of law is combined with other subjects, vocational and non-vocational. Not all students who obtain a qualifying law degree will continue to the vocational stage of training, but all degrees need to address the employability agenda, and law students in particular need to consider future career aspirations early on in their degree.</p><p>Clinical legal education as a teaching methodology has received considerable academic attention for the benefits student engagement can yield in enhancing the overall student learning experience This paper briefly reviews the benefits of undergraduate clinical legal education (CLE) and considers the benefits of developing this at post graduate level in a Masters in Law programme This paper considers the distinction between the two approaches and the need for a different approach to the provision of a law clinic module within a postgraduate law Masters programme, identifying a possible model of delivery.</p><p>The paper further presents some of the potential challenges in developing and maintaining this provision over time and attempts to offer some insight into how these have been considered in the development of a postgraduate law clinic module at the University of Derby.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-46
Author(s):  
Norsuhaida Che Musa ◽  
Nor Fadzlina Nawi

Various research has given valuable insights into the positive role of Clinical Legal Education (CLE). However, there is a dearth of empirical data reviewing the set-up of CLE in public law schools in Malaysia and assessing its role as a teaching and learning strategy in legal education. This paper summarises the development and structure of the Faculty of Syariah and Law's Legal Clinic pilot initiative at the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). It assesses the impacts of the initiative on students' learning experience. The assessment involved a content analysis of written feedback given by a batch of pioneer students selected to join the FSU Legal Clinics pilot project in 2019. The findings indicated that the students believe exposure to the legal clinic increases their comprehension of the law's application and provides awareness of the professional skills and values involved in the legal profession. The sample is small, and the findings are preliminary. However, it is hoped that the results will inform legal curriculum developers of the benefits that law students derived from their clinical experience and provide a basis for further research into formally including clinical legal education in the FSU legal curriculum. This paper also advocates that although setting up, planning and organising activities for a successful legal clinic involved a great deal of preparation, it would benefit students and be integral to teaching and learning strategy in legal education in FSU USIM.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-348
Author(s):  
Fatma ZAGHAR ◽  
El-Alia Wafaâ ZAGHAR

In this increasingly interconnected epoch, the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) along with culture that is considered as a fifth skill has become inevitable. Therefore, EFL teachers are impelled to introduce cultural instruction in their classes. They are then advised to combine the teaching of language skills with the foreign culture because it prepares their learners to behave successfully in intercultural encounters, gain solid cultural knowledge, overcome cultural obstacles, and promote their cultural awareness. The main questions addressed in this research focus on the inclusion of the cultural component in language subjects’ syllabuses, and the type of teaching strategies that can ameliorate the status of cultural instruction. This study points out the key importance of implementing intercultural information in EFL contexts founded on a case study undertaken at the University of Oran 2 in Algeria. This paper targeted a group of Master II students by using an array of data collection means including a questionnaire given to the learners, an interview done with the teachers, and classroom observation sessions carried out by the researchers. The major aims of this work were to verify the learners’ perceptions of cultural learning, and outfit students with core foundations of culture. The results demonstrated that the incorporated teaching techniques have enriched the students’ cultural understanding and intensified their linguistic adeptnesses. It is suggested that these teaching initiatives can aid learners be compassionate, understandable, and tolerant human beings.


2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 225
Author(s):  
Lorne Sossin

Legal education is in the midst of a range of challenges and disruptions. This address outlines these dynamics, and explores the potential of social innovation as a model for law schools which both responds to current challenges and enhances resilience in the face of disruption. By reframing legal education as facing outward, and advancing its public interest mandate through partnerships, collaboration and academic initiatives designed to solve social problems, law schools can enhance the student learning experience, generate new forms of legal knowledge and thrive at a time of rapid change. Address delivered at the Australian Law Teachers Association (ALTA) 2016 Conference in Wellington on 8 July 2016.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Weinberg

<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>


2021 ◽  
pp. 000370282110431
Author(s):  
Veronica Nava ◽  
Maria Luce Frezzotti ◽  
Barbara Leoni

Raman spectroscopy is gaining ground in the analysis of microplastics, especially due to its high spatial resolution that allows the investigation of small plastic particles, whose numeric abundance is argued to be particularly relevant in aquatic systems. Here, we aimed at outlining the status of Raman analysis of microplastics from aquatic systems, highlighting the advantages and the drawbacks of this technique and critically presenting tools and ways to effectively employ this instrument and to improve the spectra obtained and their interpretation. In particular, we summarized procedural information for the use of Raman spectroscopy, and we discussed issues linked to fluorescence interference and the analysis of weathered polymers, which may complicate the interpretation of Raman signatures. In this context, a deep understanding of the different plastic polymers and their Raman peaks and chemical fingerprints is fundamental to avoid misidentification. Therefore, we provided a catalog with detailed information about peaks of most common plastic polymers, and this represents, to the best of our knowledge, the first comprehensive resource that systematically synthesized plastic Raman peaks. Additionally, we focused on plastic additives, which are contained in the majority of plastics. These compounds are often intense in Raman scattering and may partly or completely overlie the actual material types, resulting in the identification of additives alone or misidentification issue. For these reasons, we also presented a new R package “RamanMP” that includes a database of 356 spectra (325 of which are additives). This will help to foster the use of this technique, which is becoming especially relevant in microplastic analysis.


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