Literature Review: Assessing Skills-Based Learning in Clinical Legal Education (original) (raw)
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Legal education in Ireland has long been characterised by the separation between the legal academy and legal practice. The recent growth in clinical legal education programmes in Irish universities signals a welcome shift in focus, from separation to synergy. This shift in focus is also evident in draft legislation currently before the Oireachtas, notably section 9(2)(ii)(II) of the Legal Services Regulation Bill, which envisages a review of arrangements for practical legal education in Irish universities. Yet the integration of clinical legal education in Ireland remains at a critical early stage.In this paper, I will draw on scholarship on the experiences in other jurisdictions, in particular the United Kingdom and the United States, in integrating clinical legal education into the law school curriculum. More specifically, I will explore the educational added value of clinical legal education or what Professor Anthony Amsterdam has termed learning how to learn from experience.1 While the practical exposure to, and experience of, clinical practice – whether it takes the form of a clinic as such or a placement/externship – plays in itself a vital role in developing students’ practical legal and problem-solving skills, in order to be of real educational value, a clinical legal education programme must give students an opportunity to reflect critically on this practical experience. It is in learning how to learn from experience that students develop skills which are truly formative and of lasting value. Drawing on the scholarship and experience of other jurisdictions, the paper will conclude by suggesting practical ways in which Irish clinical legal education programmes can fulfil this objective, empowering students to ‘learn how to learn from experience’ and thereby playing a vital role in students’ professional formation.
Clinical and Experiential Learning in Canadian Law Schools: Current Perspectives
2018
What are some of the challenges and possibilities animating modern Canadian clinical and experiential learning in law? This question was the starting point for our research, which examined two sets of data. In the first part of this project, we analyzed available information on existing clinical and experiential learning programs in Canadian law schools. This data revealed a growing quantity and variety of programs across the country. We then held qualitative interviews with deans, professors, and clinicians across Canada regarding their views of clinical and experiential learning. While the interviews suggested that many of the same financial and curricular challenges that dominated early debates remain stubbornly entrenched, there are also significant promising views and practices. No longer regarded by most as a legal education outlier, clinical and experiential learning has come out of the curricular shadows and taken a prominent place in most law schools in Canada. Nuanced ques...
Clinical Legal Education at the Faculty of Law: An Initial Review
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2011
The main objective of this paper is to examine the extent of clinical work undertaken by the final year students enrolled in the Sarjanamuda Undang-undang (Bachelor of Laws) at the Faculty of Law at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). An understanding of clinical legal education ('CLE') as commonly practised in the United States is first briefly discussed in order to provide a clear picture of the extent and how 'CLE' is practised in Malaysia and at UKM. This discussion is then followed by the rise of a need to review CLE practices in UKM and in Malaysia. However, the scope of this initial review is limited to professional practise modules and activities bearing clinical elements for these are the subject of concerns in light of the legal profession requirement in Malaysia. Working on the belief that law students learning experience could be further enhanced, The results of this initial review will be employed as an initial report for a comprehensive review exercise to be undertaken by the Faculty of Law of UKM in 2011 to enhance quality in curriculum delivery and in support of widening students' clinical experience to meet the needs of the legal fraternity and industry.
Clinical Legal Education: A Student Perspective
Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies, 1993
Fiscal restraint has forced many law schools to reconsider funding clinical education programs. Using the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service (DLAS) as an example, the educational effectiveness of clinical legal education is examined. Clinical education provides a context in which students can learn and apply the traditional law school curriculum. There is a danger, however, that clinical education will focus on technical skills without honing analytical skills such as ends-means analysis. The supervisor plays a crucial role in structuring the clinical experience into an educational one, from which students develop approaches to solving legal problems in practice. If the pitfalls are avoided, clinical education can be invaluable to the student and can enhance traditional programs. Although there are weaknesses in DLAS's program, its educational value warrants its continued existence. *** La contrainte fiscale a impose a de nombreuses facultes de droit une reconsideration de la question ...
Clinical and Experiential Learning Programs in Canadian Law Schools
2016
Information for this chart is from law school and clinic websites as well as from follow-up interviews with Deans or Deans' Designates of 13 of the 16 common law schools in Canada. Programs were deemed "Experiential" if the majority of the activities and/or assessment in a class is taught or practiced experientially. Only credit-bearing programs are included here. Updates to this list can be sent to
Developing ethics, professional skills and competencies through clinical legal education
2006
Clinical Legal Education (CLE) is a significant teaching and learning method widely practised and implemented in America, United Kingdom and other countries but relatively new in Malaysia. This method will enable students to experience the law in action where knowledge gained inside the lecture hall is applied outside in real world and in simulation set up. Researches have shown that CLE increases commitment level as it engages full range of abilities, builds ethical awareness, improve the spirit of voluntariness, encourage students to become active learners and further develop other generic skills, professional skills and competencies and thus enhance their employability. This paper will explore this method; its theory and practice, its advantages and pitfalls, benefit and challenges of CLE. Discussion will focus on the model of clinical activities and student assessment. It will also come up with suggestion on how we should adopt CLE in Malaysian setting. To endeavour applying CLE...
Clinical Legal Education Models: Recommended Assessment Regimes
Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 2016
Clinical legal education (CLE) forms part of the LLB curriculum at most South African Universities. There are many similarities in the approach to CLE, but often also many differences. The clinical models of four South African university law clinics are reviewed in an effort to find suitable models. It is indicated that formulating a mission for the law clinic will have a direct impact on the clinical model chosen. The integration of CLE courses into the core curriculum of the law school will reveal CLE's value as a teaching methodology. Pedagogic aims can be set and achieved as CLE has intellectual worth in that it enables students to better understand concepts and principles of law and the application thereof in practice. It is therefore recommended that CLE courses be mandatory. The pedagogy of CLE is comprised of three basic components, namely clinical experience, tutorial sessions, and classroom instruction. The extent to which these three components find application in the...
Teaching Law and Legal Practice in a Live Client Clinic
The Newcastle Law Review
The law ceases to be a purely academic learning exercise, and becomes a very real means by which human problems are resolved. It is the human aspect that provides the most important element in the live client clinic, and with proper care the issues of control and management of experiential learning which arise in undergraduate CLE programs can be fully addressed. The live client model elevates the clinical area of legal education from mere vocational training for a professional group, to proper preparation of lawyers for their role in society, which includes the provision of community service and the development of professional and ethical attitudes.