As you may already know, PILA is passionate about getting public interest law into tertiary legal education all around Ireland! In our second spotlight on thriving clinical legal education (CLE) programmes throughout the country, we look at how clinical legal education and public interest law have been incorporated into programmes at University College Cork (UCC), specifically the BCL Clinical programme.
Clinical legal education at UCC was established in 2004, and Professor Caroline Fennell was the driving force behind the establishment of the programme. Also in 2004, the first full-time Clinical Legal Education Co-Ordinator was appointed in the UCC Law Faculty, with responsibility for the development of a programme.
While clinical legal education has become a central part of UCC's undergraduate and postgraduate law programmes, the BCL Clinical is more aligned to the traditional CLE course and involves students spending 24 weeks on work placement or "externship" with a firm or organisation during their third year. The two-12 week placements coincide with the academic terms. These students have a slightly broader subject choice in their second year to support their placement the following year. When the programme was launched, first year BCL students were invited apply to transfer to the BCL Clinical in their second year. Those students then went on placement in their third year. The programme went from strength to strength and in 2009, it became a direct entry programme.
To date, students have been placed with firms and organisations operating in the commercial, criminal, immigration, environmental, medical and family law areas. In the past year, students have been placed with the Medical Council, Free Legal Advice Centres, the Department of Justice & Equality, William Fry Solicitors, FitzGerald Solicitors, O'Hanlon O'Dowd Solicitors, Ronan Daly Jermyn Solicitors, McGuire Desmond Solicitors, NASC Irish Immigrant Support Centre and Sean Kelly MEP.
"The BCL Clinical programme offers students the opportunity to consider both the theory and practice of law and the correlation or divergence of same. It also affords them the chance to accumulate, develop and hone professional skills from an early stage in their legal training." - Dorothy Appelbe, Clinical Education Coordinator, UCC Faculty of Law.
"I am more confident as a person: the sense of achievement of working in a law firm alone was huge - let alone a law firm in Luxembourg. I have met some fantastic people who had a huge influence on me and who I am. I would recommend it to anyone." - Eleanor Kearney, BCL (Clinical) Graduate 2009.
"It is hard to extrapolate the breadth and length of the entire learning experience..." - Joanne Wilford, BCL (Clinical) Graduate 2009.
"It was great to see the law in context, and gain a new perspective on it- outside of the lecture room!" - Mairead Reidy, BCL (Clinical) Graduate 2009.
"The programme opened my mind to the variety and possibilities which working in the law provides. I worked alongside dedicated and talented professionals. I met with clients - the people behind their work. All of this inspired me for my final year of study and brought my career aspirations into focus. I believe choosing the BCL Clinical has provided me with a perfect springboard to kick-start my career in law." - Jennifer Hourihane, BCL (Clinical) Graduate 2010.
UCC's Law Faculty is dedicated to providing clinical legal education at both undergraduate and postgraduate level - it is also integrated into its LLM programmes in Criminal Justice, Child and Family Law and Human Rights Law and Public Policy. The LLM in Criminal Justice includes a compulsory clinical programme in which students observe the various aspects of the criminal justice system in operation. In 2008, the Faculty hosted an International Journal of Clinical Legal Education Conference, where legal educators from around the world were able to share their experiences and vision. The Faculty is also home to the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, which undertakes research and contributes to national and international debates on its areas of focus.
Click here to see last week's piece on the clinical legal education programme at NUI Galway.