The International Journal of Clinical Legal Education annual conference was held recently in Olomouc, Czech Republic and was hosted by Palacky University. Over 200 individuals from more than 30 countries attended the conference which had the theme “Clinic without Borders.” The Irish Clinical Legal Education Association (ICLEA), which PILA has supported since its inception, was represented at the conference by a number of Irish clinical legal education advocates including Larry Donnelly, former PILA Manager and Lecturer and Director of Clinical Legal Education in the School of Law at NUI Galway.
To download the paper Larry presented at the conference click here.
Attendees learned that the challenges faced by clinicians are similar – no matter where in the world they work. Among the key points of discussion at the conference were clinical legal education within the broader law curriculum, clinic in a time of flux for legal education and for the legal profession, global clinical growth, clinical scholarship, the role of legal clinics in providing pro bono legal services and the recent development of clinical legal education in western Europe, sometimes described as the “last holdout” when it comes to the global acceptance of clinical legal education.
Keynote speakers included some of the leading lights in the global clinical movement, such as Professor Neil Gold of the University of Windsor in Canada, Professor James Moliterno of Washington & Lee University in the US and Dean Kevin Kerrigan of the University of Northumbria in the UK.
ICLEA members at the conference also attended the second meeting of the European Network of Clinical Legal Education (ENCLE). ENCLE will be a vital catalyst for expanding and enhancing clinical legal education in a European context.
PILA supports ICLEA’s work to ensure the strong development of clinical legal education programmes in Ireland. CLE can provide Irish law students with practical experience and teach them how the law and legal system can be used to help marginalised and disadvantaged people and the organisations that represent them. To date, CLE programmes in Irish universities have placed law students with solicitors’ firms, barristers, non-governmental organizations, and governmental bodies. In their placements, these future pubic interest lawyers have often helped to make a very real difference in the lives of people who are struggling.
Commenting on the conference, Larry Donnelly said that “it is invariably an uplifting and inspiring experience to attend this conference and share our experiences as clinicians working around the world. While the keynote speeches and papers are to the fore, there is no doubt that the more informal conversations we have with one another are every bit as valuable to bring back with us here toIreland, where clinical legal education is still in its early days. That said, the significant gains that clinical legal education has made in a very short space of time in Irish law schools are due in no small part to our international engagement at conferences like this one and to our forming ICLEA – something very strongly suggested to us by the world’s foremost clinicians. And so much of this has been made possible by PILA’s generous support of our ongoing work to reimagine Irish legal education and reinvigorate ourselves and our students.”