Law School Companion

A legal clinic is a program organized through a law school, which provides hands-on-legal experience to students and services to several clients. It also allows students to receive law school credit as they work part-time in real legal service environments. It is also referred as a law clinic or law school clinic.

In law clinics, students perform various tasks such as drafting legal documents or briefs, doing legal research and meeting with or interviewing clients. Many authorities even allow students to appear in court on behalf of clients, even in criminal defense. Most law clinics are open only to 3L (third year) law students, while some schools may provide opportunities for 2L (second year) students as well. Legal clinics typically do pro bono (offering free legal services to clients) work in a particular area.

Legal clinics are available in many areas of law, including but not limited to:

• Tax law
• Community legal services
• Elder law
• Criminal law
• Family law
• Environmental law
• Immigration law
• Human rights

Legal Clinic Activities

• Legal Aid Clinic – It is the most common type of Clinical education in which students provide pro bono legal aid to general public, under the supervision of lectors.
• Stimulation – In this activity, students can learn from a variety of simulations of what happens in legal practice i.e. client interviewing exercises, legal drafting and writing programs, negotiation exercises, and transaction exercises.
• Placements – Students can be sent out to work with legal professionals or attorneys for a short period of time to encounter courts, clients and real problems.

Benefits of Legal Clinic

Participating in a legal clinic is a great way for students to gain hands-on experience before heading off into the job market.

• Learning by experience – Students are much pro-active participants in the learning process rather than learning by lecturers.
• Acquisition of skills – It embraces a skill-based approach. These skills include –
  • Interpersonal and organizational skills
  • Research skill
  • Interviewing
  • Communication skills
  • Drafting
  • Counseling
  • Negotiating
  • Problem solving

• Student development and motivation – Students who work in a law school clinic are passionate about their experience. They are responsible for how they do it and what they do, and are also often highly committed to the work.