What Does a Social Justice Lawyer Need to Know?

13 Pages Posted: 12 Sep 2017

See all articles by Simon Rice

Simon Rice

Professor of Law, The University of Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia – Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group

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Date Written: August 29, 2017

Abstract

In this paper I share some thoughts about knowledge and abilities that could and perhaps should inform the practice of a social justice lawyer. These thoughts come from my own lawyering, from my research into alternative law degree curriculums and my teaching of law as a tool for social change, and from my working with law students on social justice projects. It is apparent from that work that very little in a student’s law studies prepares them to use their legal knowledge to pursue justice outside the confines of conventional private practice. This is so despite the fact that only a minority of law graduates go into conventional private practice. What, I asked myself, could we be teaching that would better prepare students to use their law degrees to pursue justice?

Keywords: Social justice lawyering, legal education, critical legal theory, law curriculum

JEL Classification: K10, K30

Suggested Citation

Rice, Simon, What Does a Social Justice Lawyer Need to Know? (August 29, 2017). Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 17/70, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3029034 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3029034

Simon Rice (Contact Author)

Professor of Law, The University of Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia – Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group ( email )

New Law Building, F10
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

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