Abstract
This paper focuses on certain key elements of student supervision in Community Legal Services at Western University in London, Canada. Our clinic offers a very broad range of legal services, ranging from criminal law to wills, and consumer law to housing, with 125-150 students taking part in 800-1,000 files per year.The first part of this paper will examine compliance with the supervision requirements of the profession’s governing body. Clinic supervision in a clinic must start with compliance with the regulator. The supervision requirements of the Law Society of Ontario are set out to demonstrate the standards Community Legal Services must meet.This paper will then discuss the classroom component consisting of lectures and simulation exercises where we deal with professional identity, ethical issues, sensitization to the lives of our clients, awareness of the importance of access to justice, and the capacity of legal processes.I will discuss our online materials for the classroom, including our Caseworker Manual which provides guidance in substantive law, court/tribunal rules, and clinic policies and procedures.
Highlights
Student supervision by clinicians is a constant for lawyers and staff in every aspect of clinic life
This paper will be referring to the materials for Litigation Practice, which is based on civil matters. In this course, students are expected to carry 3-5 active civil files, comprising 60% of their grade
Supervision in this context can be immensely gratifying, when supervisors are able to participate in the development of the generation of social activist lawyers
Summary
Student supervision by clinicians is a constant for lawyers and staff in every aspect of clinic life. In engaging the whole student, her thoughts, feelings, hopes and fears, the supervisor simultaneously engages the already stimulated affect and intellect of the student in her quest to deliver signal service In this model, the student’s experiences as primary actor and her thinking and feeling about them before action, in action and upon reflection are the focal point for guided debriefings and interpretations by the supervisor and often by the student herself once she has been trained to reflect in and on action.. This paper will be referring to the materials for Litigation Practice, which is based on civil matters In this course, students are expected to carry 3-5 active civil files, comprising 60% of their grade. This paper will discuss the classroom component consisting of lectures and simulation exercises where we deal with professional identity, ethical issues, sensitization to the lives of our clients, awareness of the importance of access to justice, and the capacity of legal processes. I will discuss our online materials for the classroom, including our Caseworker Manual which provides guidance in substantive law, court/tribunal rules, and clinic policies and procedures
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