"Does a tension exist between the educational aims of a clinic and the legal service needs of clients? - A Reflective Essay"
It may seem at first that there is a clear tension between the educational aims and the legal service needs of clients when working within a clinic. In fact, the York law School Clinic Handbook makes this friction clear in stating that students have to allow their professional obligations to the client to take precedence over the intended educational outcomes of the module. Nevertheless, I feel that my time in clinic has shown that the tension between these two aspects is entirely superficial - I can say this with confidence.
Students may have an overriding duty to their clients' but the International Clinical Education Conference in 2005, Law Schools themselves stated that a clinic 'must be sustainable both educationally and …show more content…
Nicolson purports that whilst clinics offer legal advice to those in need, there is an unjustifiable 'exploitation of clients' because clinics may reject those who are in dire need of legal advice, in favour of helping those whose cases may have more educational benefit. As a result of this, the academic suggests that clinic students may 'learn that their interests are predominant' and that the clients are simply a 'means to their ends'. Indeed, it could be seen clinics have the capacity to lack an essential element of philanthropy when compared to other legal services. Nicolson's view, perhaps, is that the educational objectives of a clinic take precedent over the legal obligations of students to provide legal advice their clients; then tension is tangible and overshadows the helps that clinics aim to
It may seem at first that there is a clear tension between the educational aims and the legal service needs of clients when working within a clinic. In fact, the York law School Clinic Handbook makes this friction clear in stating that students have to allow their professional obligations to the client to take precedence over the intended educational outcomes of the module. Nevertheless, I feel that my time in clinic has shown that the tension between these two aspects is entirely superficial - I can say this with confidence.
Students may have an overriding duty to their clients' but the International Clinical Education Conference in 2005, Law Schools themselves stated that a clinic 'must be sustainable both educationally and …show more content…
Nicolson purports that whilst clinics offer legal advice to those in need, there is an unjustifiable 'exploitation of clients' because clinics may reject those who are in dire need of legal advice, in favour of helping those whose cases may have more educational benefit. As a result of this, the academic suggests that clinic students may 'learn that their interests are predominant' and that the clients are simply a 'means to their ends'. Indeed, it could be seen clinics have the capacity to lack an essential element of philanthropy when compared to other legal services. Nicolson's view, perhaps, is that the educational objectives of a clinic take precedent over the legal obligations of students to provide legal advice their clients; then tension is tangible and overshadows the helps that clinics aim to