Legal clinics in the UK and Ireland: past, present and future

TY - CHAP

T1 - Legal clinics in the UK and Ireland

T2 - past, present and future

AU - Grimes, Richard

AU - Dunn, Rachel

AU - Samaras, Rebecca

AU - Price, Julie

AU - Donnelly, Larry

PY - 2024/12/31

Y1 - 2024/12/31

N2 - In keeping with the overall theme of this book – an examination of the factors influencing the form and content of law clinic development and resultant diversity in specific jurisdiction and regions – this chapter looks at one particular example, that of mainland UK or Great Britain as it is technically known. We suggest that the picture here is of interest in part because of the range of clinical initiatives that has steadily grown over the past 50 years but also because of the extent to which clinics, in their various guises, have increasingly become an integral part of law school offerings across the vast majority of law schools in the UK and perhaps to a lesser extent the island of Ireland. This is we think important not just because of the scope and extent involved but also for the evidenced sustainability that has emerged. It is also worth saying, without any colonising intent (the UK has done more than enough of that historically!) that many aspects of clinic and related educational development have also been exported and have proven helpful especially through training and other support projects. In this chapter we set out the key developmental issues that appear to have shaped clinical provision in Britain including the overall aim of clinics – be those educationally and/or social justice-oriented, the often dramatic changes to the legal education landscape, particularly in terms of regulatory changes and educational practices in the past 20 years or so, across the constituent countries of the UK and the implications all of this had had and may well have in the future. First however, let us recall, briefly, the history of clinical legal education (CLE) in general and law clinics in particular, in the UK and Ireland. Because of jurisdictional divides we differentiate between the position as it has been and now is in England and Wales, then Scotland, followed by some specific comments on the Welsh clinical scene and finally CLE on the island of Ireland – that is both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.

AB - In keeping with the overall theme of this book – an examination of the factors influencing the form and content of law clinic development and resultant diversity in specific jurisdiction and regions – this chapter looks at one particular example, that of mainland UK or Great Britain as it is technically known. We suggest that the picture here is of interest in part because of the range of clinical initiatives that has steadily grown over the past 50 years but also because of the extent to which clinics, in their various guises, have increasingly become an integral part of law school offerings across the vast majority of law schools in the UK and perhaps to a lesser extent the island of Ireland. This is we think important not just because of the scope and extent involved but also for the evidenced sustainability that has emerged. It is also worth saying, without any colonising intent (the UK has done more than enough of that historically!) that many aspects of clinic and related educational development have also been exported and have proven helpful especially through training and other support projects. In this chapter we set out the key developmental issues that appear to have shaped clinical provision in Britain including the overall aim of clinics – be those educationally and/or social justice-oriented, the often dramatic changes to the legal education landscape, particularly in terms of regulatory changes and educational practices in the past 20 years or so, across the constituent countries of the UK and the implications all of this had had and may well have in the future. First however, let us recall, briefly, the history of clinical legal education (CLE) in general and law clinics in particular, in the UK and Ireland. Because of jurisdictional divides we differentiate between the position as it has been and now is in England and Wales, then Scotland, followed by some specific comments on the Welsh clinical scene and finally CLE on the island of Ireland – that is both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.

KW - Legal Education

KW - Experiential learning

KW - global perspective

UR - https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003348399-17/legal-clinics-uk-ireland-richard-grimes-rachel-dunn-rebecca-samaras-julie-price-larry-donnelly?context=ubx&refId=27c15c9d-4b48-4027-a9c2-0b1aa4a8f8b1

U2 - 10.4324/9781003348399

DO - 10.4324/9781003348399

M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)

SN - 9781032390987 (hbk)

SN - 9781032391007 (pbk)

T3 - Emerging Legal Education

BT - Global Clinical Legal Education

A2 - Giddings, Jeff

PB - Routledge

CY - London

ER -