A legal clinic (also law clinic or law school clinic) is a

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to c ...

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

program providing services to various clients and often hands-on-legal experience to law school students. Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors. Legal clinics typically do ''

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

'' work in a particular area, providing free legal services to clients. Legal clinics originated as a method of practical teaching of law school students, but today they encompass also free

with no academic links. There are practice-based law clinics with no academic link which provide hands-on skills to lawyers, judges and non-lawyers on practical ethical dimensions of the law at the same time offer free public defence legal services.

Need and importance

According to Avani Bansal, in cases where parties cannot afford a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

and are provided legal services by the state, the quality of that legal representation is often questionable. Therefore the need for clinical legal education, or establishing

clinics at law schools, where law students can provide legal advice to indigent people.

Goals, objectives and methods

Students typically provide assistance with research, drafting legal arguments, and meeting with clients. In many cases, one of the clinic's professors will show up for

oral argument Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also a ...

before the Court. However, many jurisdictions have "student practice" rules that allow law-clinic students to appear and argue in court.

Areas of service

Clinical legal studies exist in diverse areas such as immigration law,

environmental law Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental Legal doctrine, legal principles, focu ...

, intellectual property, housing, criminal defense, criminal prosecution, American Indian law, human rights and international criminal law. Clinics sometimes sue big companies and government entities, which has led to pushback in courts and legislatures, including attempts to put limits on whom clinics can sue without losing state subsidies.

Obstacles

While many jurisdictions have "student practice" rules that allow law-clinic students to appear and argue in court, in some countries like India law students are still studying at law schools and cannot represent the clients in courts by themselves. According to Avani Bansal in many law schools, clinical legal education is imparted without the support of practical component and lacks policy. Participation in many of these legal clinics lacks academic credits. Lack of resources, lack of trained faculty for the purpose, lack of involvement of Bar Council Members leads to ineffective and weak clinical legal education in countries like India. Communities around are not informed so are not involved. All these aspects frustrate the effective purpose of the Legal clinic in the sense that it neither trains students in practice nor it reaches to the public.

Notable legal clinics

Netherlands

* Utrecht School of Law Clinical Programme on Conflict, Human Rights and International Justice

United States

Harvard Legal Aid Bureau The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau ("HLAB") is the oldest student-run legal services office in the United States, founded in 1913. The bureau is one of three honors societies at the law school, along with the ''Harvard Law Review'' and the Board of Stu ...

* Harvard Election Law Clinic * Stanford Law School Three Strikes Project * Supreme Court Clinic * Tulane Environmental Law Clinic * Yale Law School Supreme Court Clinic

References

{{Law Legal aid Legal education