Court is in Session: Integrating the Courtroom Experience into the Law School Classroom - The Australian Experience and the Aspirations of a Clinical Law School.
11 Pages Posted: 29 May 2014
Date Written: September 6, 2013
Abstract
Increasing attention has been paid to strategies for bridging the gap between legal education and legal practice. In bringing the courtroom to the classroom various strategies have been utilised by law schools, including court visits, observations, judicial lectures, simulated court cases and other experiences.
This paper will examine collaboration with the courts as an innovative strategy. Of particular interest in implementing this strategy is co-location of the law school with the court house.
The court collaboration model set up by the Touro College, Jacob D Fuchsberg Law Center, New York, USA will be considered and compared to the emerging program in the Newcastle Law School, Australia where co-location of the Law School with the new NSW State Court complex is anticipated in the near future. The benefits of a court collaboration program involving co-location of the court house and law school are identified as the students being socialised into a community of discourse by those who constitute the community, important relationships with the judiciary, students as part of the court and legal community and exposure to court cases on a daily basis. The proximity allows increased opportunities for access by students and faculty members to the court and for close liaison with judicial officers and court personnel. Immersion in the work and culture of the courts equate to the mantle of an ‘educational laboratory’.
A strong impetus for this project is that Newcastle Law School is known as the ‘Professional Law School’ and is a national and international leader in clinical legal education with a unique ‘Professional Program’ where the doctrinal study of law is already integrated with legal practice.
To begin an incremental implementation of the court collaboration project in the Newcastle Law School some small-scale pilot projects have been undertaken in existing courses throughout 2011 and 2013 to test the benefits and effectiveness of such collaboration for law students and for the courts.
Keywords: Court collaboration, Legal education, Clinical Law School
JEL Classification: K49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation