Clinical Legal Education

Study Clinical Legal Education (CLE) single subjects ('units') at the School of Law

Clinical Legal Education (CLE) has a long history at La Trobe University, dating back to 1978 when the then Department of Legal Studies at the Melbourne (Bundoora) campus appointed a solicitor/lecturer to establish the West Heidelberg Legal Service. This relationship continues today. The School of Law also works with the Victoria Legal Aid and a number of non-profit and government agencies in both Melbourne and Bendigo. In this way students provide services to the local and wider communities whilst enriching their understanding of legal theory through their practical experience.

What is CLE?

It is a legal practice based method of legal education. At La Trobe Law we offer a number of practically based subjects. However, our clinical legal education programs have the following characteristics:

  • Students either interact directly with real clients in a lawyer/client relationship or, with agency staff, work with client groups on legal issues of public interest.
  • Substantial practical legal skills are required but skills training is not the primary focus.
  • Students are supervised by a School of Law teacher/legal practitioner.
  • Students clinical work is complemented and informed by classroom learning.
  • Students are actively involved in providing a service to the community.

CLE aims to enhance students learning of law by exposing them to the realities of the law in practice. Students are guided to use their experiences to analyse the legal principles they learn in the classroom and reflect on the values and dynamics of the legal system. They are encouraged to assess the effectiveness or otherwise both of the legal remedies available to clients and of the legal system in which they operate. In a clinical environment, students also have the opportunity to confront the ethical dimension of the lawyer-client relationship and develop the skills necessary to resolve ethical dilemmas.

Significant demands of time and responsibility are placed on students in clinical programs. In representing clients, they must display commitment, imagination, legal skills, intelligence and compassion. However, the educational, personal and professional rewards are considerable.
Being a lawyer can be exciting, frustrating, and immensely satisfying. Students in a clinical program have the support of their peers and their supervisor in confronting and evaluating this experience and striving for a personal vision of legal practice. For those students who decide not to practise law, the experience can provide insights into other career opportunities.

Service to people who do not have the resources to access the legal system have been a long standing characteristic of clinical legal education programs in Australia and overseas and this intertwining of service and education is a continuing feature of the programmes developed at La Trobe.

Further information

For further information, download the Clinical Legal Education promotional flyer [PDF 505KB]

Subjects in 2010

  • Clinical Legal Education (LAW2CLE) - (semester 1 and 2)(30 credit points)
    Twelve students a semester work at the West Heidelberg Community Legal Service under the supervision of Peggy Kerdo, lecturer and legal practitioner. Classes are also held on campus. This unit counts as two law electives and has a human rights and law reform focus.
  • Legal Practice and Conduct Placement (LAW4LPP) - (semester 1 and 2)(30 credit points)
    Twelve students a semester work at the Preston office of Victoria Legal Aid under the supervision of Ben Walsh, lecturer and legal practitioner. Classes are also held on campus. This unit counts as the core unit LAW4LPC plus one law elective and has an ethical legal practice and conduct focus.
  • Public Interest Law Practice (LAW2PLP/LAW3PLP) - (Semester 1)(15 credit points)
    Up to twenty students are placed with outside legal agencies (see subheading below), usually not for profit or public interest (including government) during the semester. There is a supervisor with the host agencies and Mary Anne Noone is the academic supervisor on campus. Fortnightly classes are also held on campus. This subject counts as one law elective and has a public interest lawyering focus.
  • Rural and Regional Issues in Justice (LAW2RRJ) - (semester 2)(15 credit points)
    Up to ten Bendigo students are placed during the semester with outside legal agencies including Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Service, Victoria Legal Aid and the Advocacy and Rights Centre in Bendigo. There is a supervisor with the host agencies and Fran Gibson is the academic supervisor on campus. Classes are held on campus on topics such as Interviewing, Drafting, the Legal Aid System and its law,Intervention Orders and Family Violence, and Residential Tenancy Law. This unit counts as one law elective.
Information session for 2010 subjects:

Date: Tuesday 22 September 2009
Time: 12.30 – 1.30
Venue: Moot Court room, School of Law, 2nd level Social Sciences building.

Placement at outside Legal Agencies

Students have been placed at the following agencies. Placements may differ each year:

  • Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH)
  • Consumer Law Action Centre Inc (Vic)
  • Victoria Legal Aid (policy, research & community education)
  • Environment Defenders Office
  • JobWatch
  • Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
  • Arnold Bloch Liebler
  • Federation of Community Legal Centres
  • Office of the Public Advocate
  • Human Rights Legal Resource Centre

How to apply

Bundoora campus (LAW2CLE, LAW4LPP, LAW2PLP/LAW3PLP):
Information and application forms (2010) [PDF 55KB]

Bendigo campus (LAW2RRJ):
Information and application forms (2010) [PDF 29KB]