LAU44012 Clinical Legal Education

Learning Outcomes  

By the end of this module, students should be able to:

• Understand the range of persons and organisations engaged in legal practice and their role in the legal system and in society;
• Apply core legal skills in a practical context;
• Apply legal knowledge in a practical context;
• Develop their knowledge and skills through practical experience;
• Reflect upon practical experience in order to broaden and deepen their understanding of the law;
• Understand fundamental principles of legal ethics;
• Recognise and respond to ethical issues arising in legal practice;
• Work effectively in a professional setting and develop skills useful in a wide range of professional settings.

Module Learning Aims   

This module offers students an introduction to legal practice, allowing students the opportunity to develop core professional skills essential for a lawyer as well as to gain valuable practical experience in a legal environment. Students will undertake placements in a variety of organisations in the not-for-profit, private and public sectors.

Module Content       

Under the supervision of experienced professionals, students will gain first-hand experience of legal practice, observing, assisting and participating in the organisations’ work. This gives students an opportunity to apply and develop their legal skills and knowledge in a practical way and to learn from this experience. Students will also attend a lawyering class which will focus on developing students’ professional legal skills, fostering an understanding of legal ethics and more broadly developing students’ understanding of the role of the lawyer in society. Students will give presentations on their experiences and engage in a process of reflection on these experiences, individually and as a group.

Module Pre-requisite       

Students must have completed the summer placement in order to select this module in Online Module Enrolment