Abstract
In some law schools legal ethics have been taught very conservatively, focussed on the law of lawyering with a heavy emphasis on ‘professional rules’ and how to ensure solicitors and barristers behave within the professional rules. Others however have proposed different models for thinking about lawyering, lawyers’ ethical duties and the role of lawyers within the legal system. In this article, legal ethics, ethical decision making and values are explored. I ask what value can be gained by including a clinical component within a standard legal ethics course even when it is a short exposure experience. I explore the range of meanings ascribed to ethics and professional responsibility, and the connection between personal and professional identities. Finally using three vital elements within the definition of an ethical legal professional, I evaluate whether the clinical component contributes to teaching students about how to be an ethical legal professional. I draw from the Best Practices of Australian clinical legal education to assist with this process, and discuss some additional learnings which students gain from seeing legal practice modelled for them in a community legal centre, located within a university faculty of law. Some of the challenges of developing an effective clinical component are explored such as the importance of training volunteer lawyer supervisors and how to assess the learning by students. The ways of sharing the individual learning across the student cohort is also a further challenge.
Highlights
DEFINING LEGAL PROFESSIONALISMIn England[4], as well as in Australia, there is frequently a lack of clearly defined goals about the teaching of ethics, nor are there clearly defined values to teach
In England[4], as well as in Australia, there is frequently a lack of clearly defined goals about the teaching of ethics, nor are there clearly defined values to teach. This is in part due to the fact that the “written ethics are found in what are essentially disciplinary, as opposed to aspirational, codes.”[5]. Ethics teaching frequently focuses on professional responsibility rules[6] or law rather than a discussion of the sort of lawyers we want to produce in our law schools, and the ethical frameworks to use when making decisions
It is apparent that ethics training and awareness is a vital part of any legal education and career
Summary
In England[4], as well as in Australia, there is frequently a lack of clearly defined goals about the teaching of ethics, nor are there clearly defined values to teach. Autonomy and self direction is only an element in the Hyams definition and yet if autonomy is understood as being connected to motivation theory and an expression of self (discussed below), it unites individual values with professional work and is a vital element of a responsible lawyer These 3 points that I have identified. See Alex Steel, Julian Laurens and Anna Huggins, Class Participation as a Learning and Assessment Strategy in Law: Facilitating Students’ Engagement, Skills Development and Deep Learning (2012) 36(1) UNSW Law Journal 30 19 Larry Krieger, ‘The Inseparability of Professionalism and Personal Satisfaction: perspectives on Values, Integrity and Happiness, 11 Clinical L.Rev. 4125 (2005) Tony Foley, Margie Rowe, Vivien Holmes and Stephen Tang “Teaching professionalism in legal clinic- what new practitioners say is important” International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, Vol 17, 2012 Paula Lundstad, Walk the Talk: Creating Learning Communities to Promote a Pedagogy of Justice, 4 Seattle J. Students have the opportunity to explore ethical frameworks through the clinical component of their legal ethics course
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