2. Hon’ble Chief Justice of
Pakistan while addressing
a stone-laying ceremony
of phase-II of the Federal
Judicial Academy (FJA),
said that
“judicial education and
research in the field of
administration of justice
are matters of prime
importance. The quality of
administration of justice
and the structure of
judicial system stand
firmly on the quality of
education in professional
training institutions.”
3. Law & Justice view point
The law students of today are the judges
and lawyers of tomorrow. In fact, the
performance of the justice sector is
dependent on the quality of their
professionalism, skills and knowledge.
Thus there is a strong linkage between the
quality of human resources available to
judiciary and the functionality, integrity and
legitimacy of the courts system.
4. Law Clinics - An attempt to
upgrade judicial system and
facilitate law students in
developing their
professional skills and
capabilities to handle court
proceedings
5. Definition and Concept
The phrase legal clinic' (or law clinic)
may refer to any private, nonprofit law
practice serving the public interest.
In the academic context, these law school
clinics provide hands-on experience to law
school students and services to various
(typically indigent) clients. Academic
Clinics are usually directed by clinical
professors.
Many legal clinics offer pro bono work in
one or more particular areas, providing
free legal services to clients.
6. Definition and Concept
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 before the Court. However,
many jurisdictions have "student
practice" rules that allow law-clinic
students to appear and argue in court.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_clinic
7. Countries running the Clinics
USA
United Kingdom
Russia
Czech Republic
Poland
Belarus
France
Slovakia
Somaliland
Croatia
Germany
India
Serbia
Romania
Hungary
Moldova
Spain
Latvia
Israel
Canada
8. Michigan Law School
For 30 years, Michigan Law School has
offered clinical programs designed to hone
tangible legal skills. They allow students to
provide direct representation to clients
under the supervision of experienced, full-
time faculty. Under the State of Michigan's
court rules, students may begin practicing
law as early as their 2L year and receive
course credit for the experience.
9. Indian initiative
One of the avowed objectives of the
National Law School of India University is to
promote legal education and research. In
pursuance of the same the Legal Services
Clinic offers legal and paralegal services by
the faculty and the students. It not only
provides a centre for practical professional
training for students of law, but more
importantly, provides free legal services to
the socially and the economically backward
sections of the society who have difficulty
accessing the judicial system..
10. Skill-Building Opportunities
With clinical faculty supervising,
students may prepare for each
aspect of their cases, from
interviewing clients and witnesses
to negotiating with opposing
counsel, drafting pleadings and
conducting trials. They may move
beyond the theory of the classroom
into the real-world practice of law.
11. FAQs About the Clinic
http://www.law.umi
ch.edu/clinical/gen
eralclinic/Pages/FA
Qs.aspx
12. FAQs About the Clinic
Q What kind of legal work does the clinic
do?
A Clinic handles a lot of different kinds
of court cases, but not everything. Our
caseload usually includes landlord-
tenant, consumer fraud, contract
disputes, prisoners' civil rights,
discrimination and sexual harassment,
political asylum and refugee, mortgage
foreclosure, criminal misdemeanor
defense, mortgage, torts, habeas
corpus, debt collection defense, social
security, or other public benefits
claims.
13. Q Who are the lawyers in the
clinic?
A Law students, supervised by
faculty members who are
experienced practicing lawyers.
Q Who are the clients that the clinic
represents?
A People who have a legal problem
but cannot afford to hire a private
lawyer.
14. Who are the clients that the clinic
represents?
People who have a legal problem
but cannot afford to hire a private
lawyer.
What courts do clinic students go
to?
Almost any of the state or federal
courts or agencies in Michigan, at
both the trial and appellate levels.
15. Do the law students go to court?
Yes, the student lawyers take primary
responsibility for representing the clients and do
all the work on the cases, including courtroom
appearances. Faculty supervisors work closely
with the student lawyers every step of the way to
ensure quality representation.
Can the students actually give good
representation to clients?
Definitely. Judges and lawyers who see clinic
students regularly comment that clinic clients are
getting representation as good as or better than
many "real" lawyers because of the time that the
student lawyers and their faculty supervisors put
into careful preparation.
16. How do students get into the clinic?
Students in their second or third year of law
school register for a seven-credit course
and the law school's computerized
registration system either admits them or
puts them on a waitlist.
Does the clinic win most of the cases?
No lawyer wins every case. Most cases
actually get settled without going to trial.
The clinic's pattern of winning, losing, or
settling is roughly the same as that of
private lawyers handling similar cases.
17. Will the clinic keep clients' information
confidential?
Of course. In fact, the student lawyers in the clinic
are subject to the same ethical rules as all lawyers
and the clinic has careful procedures to protect
client information. Not even the dean of the Law
School or the president of the University has
access to information about clinic clients.
How many cases do the clinic students work on?
Usually, about five or six, but that can vary a lot
depending on how complicated the cases are. The
faculty supervisors monitor the workload
constantly to make sure that student lawyers do
not get overloaded.
18. How much does the clinic charge?
No client is required to pay any fee to
the clinic for the legal work. Sometimes
cases have some costs, like court filing
fees, which clients are asked to pay if
they are able. In a small number of
cases, where the client receives an
award of money, the client may be
asked to pay a small percentage of the
money to the clinic as a fee, which
goes into the Law School's general
fund. Neither the student lawyers nor
the faculty supervisors take any
compensation from clients, except a
"thank you."
