ABSTRACT
This chapter has both a modest and an ambitious aim. The modest aim is to describe a method of teaching legal ethics in the context of a live client law clinic that focuses on providing access to justice rather than education, and where student involvement is largely extra-curricular. In 2003, I established the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic (USLC) with the primary goal of providing legal advice and assistance to those who could not afford legal services and did not qualify for legal aid, and the secondary goal of fostering a new generation of lawyers committed to using their legal skills to help those in need. The clinic now has an annual membership of around 200 student volunteers, who work in pairs providing advice and representation under the guidance of six student ‘case managers’ and the supervision of two part-time solicitors. In 2007, the Clinical Legal Practice (CLP) course was developed to reward students who had conducted at least two cases with advanced skills training and some academic credit for their clinic work. Subsequently, the course has run twice a year and is available to students at both Ordinary and Honours degree level.
