ABSTRACT

Law students face challenges when entering the employment market irrespective of where they reside. Apart from increasing competition from their peers, there is often a disconnect between theory in law courses and the realities of legal practice. The significant leap from “student” to “early career lawyer” or “graduate lawyer” requires law schools to be more proactive in incorporating practice-based legal skills. Whether experience is gained through clinical education, external work experience or pro bono programmes, the effect of practical work experience is to increase self-confidence, practice knowledge and, consequently, employability in students. Extracurricular community engagement has been widely recognised as enhancing graduate employability by combining experiential learning, coursework and community service, with teaching clinics providing suitable learning opportunities for law students. This paper focuses on the perceived benefits of experiential learning in pro bono teaching clinics with reference to three case studies of successful law faculty teaching clinics in different jurisdictions: an established law clinic in Australia; an established law clinic in South Africa; and an emerging law clinic in Chile. The results of the study indicate that students in all three jurisdictions – Australia, Chile and South Africa – will reap advantageous benefits from their clinical experience when entering the workplace.

摘要

无论身在何处，法学院学生在进入就业市场时都面临挑战。除了来自同行的竞争加剧之外，法律课程中的理论与法律实践的现实之间往往存在脱节。从“学生”到“早期职业律师”或“研究生律师”的重大飞跃要求法学院更加积极主动地融入基于实践的法律技能。无论经验是通过临床教育、外部工作经验还是公益计划获得的，实际工作经验的作用都是增强学生的自信心、实践知识，从而提高学生的就业能力。课外社区参与已被广泛认为通过结合体验式学习、课程作业和社区服务来提高毕业生的就业能力，教学诊所为法学院学生提供合适的学习机会。本文参考了不同司法管辖区成功的法学院教学诊所的三个案例研究，重点介绍了体验式学习在公益教学诊所中的感知好处：澳大利亚已建立的法律诊所；在南非成立的法律诊所；以及智利新兴的法律诊所。研究结果表明，澳大利亚、智利和南非这三个司法管辖区的学生在进入工作场所时将从他们的临床经验中获益。本文参考了不同司法管辖区成功的法学院教学诊所的三个案例研究，重点介绍了体验式学习在公益教学诊所中的感知好处：澳大利亚已建立的法律诊所；在南非成立的法律诊所；以及智利新兴的法律诊所。研究结果表明，澳大利亚、智利和南非这三个司法管辖区的学生在进入工作场所时将从他们的临床经验中获益。本文参考了不同司法管辖区成功的法学院教学诊所的三个案例研究，重点介绍了体验式学习在公益教学诊所中的感知好处：澳大利亚已建立的法律诊所；在南非成立的法律诊所；以及智利新兴的法律诊所。研究结果表明，澳大利亚、智利和南非这三个司法管辖区的学生在进入工作场所时将从他们的临床经验中获益。