Category: Mentorship
-
Timothy Casey, “Reflections on Legal Education in the Aftermath of a Pandemic”
This article suggests that although some law school courses can be taught online, experiential courses and clinics are not fit for the online space given the specific learning outcomes and in-person benefits, particularly concerning well-being. Online clinics hindered the opportunities for students to benefit from their teachers as mentors, observational opportunities were limited, individual instruction…
-
Anne D Gordon, “Cleaning up Our Own Houses: Creating Anti-Racist Clinical Programs”
This article seeks to guide legal clinics to self-evaluate regarding how clinics perpetuate racism unconsciously. This article offers concrete suggestions for implementing change. Law schools are homes to white supremacist culture. Beliefs, values, norms, and standards support the widespread ideology that whiteness holds value. Characteristics of this culture include: perfectionism, either/or thinking, quantity over quality,…
-
Law Society of Ontario v Forte, 2019 ONLSTH 9.
Lawyer supervisor Marco Forte hired his first articling student, Nadia Guo, and was to have failed to properly supervise her. The articling student engaged in a number of inappropriate behaviours, including online. Mr. Forte did not appear to approve the website content Ms. Guo posted. He had discussions with her about her importer communications and…
-
Adrian Evans et al, Australian Clinical Legal Education
Of particular interest in this book is the chapter “The Importance of Effective Supervision”. This chapter considers the changing dynamics of supervision in law firms and the key supervision issues facing clinical programs. It focuses on important supervision dimensions, which include: enhancing quality, accuracy, and timeliness of tasks; mentoring junior staff; fostering awareness of ethical…
-
Neil Kibble, “Reflection and Supervision in Clinical Legal Education: Do Work Placements Have a Role in Undergraduate Legal Education”
This article sets out a number of theories and criticisms of supervision in clinical legal education. The author suggests that supervision requires encouraging the learner to enter the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development (originally developed for childhood learning) refers to the gap between what children can accomplish independently and what they…
-
Justine A Dunlap & Peter A Joy, “Reflection-in-Action: Designing New Clinical Teacher Training by Using Lessons Learned from New Clinicians”
This article examines training programs for new clinical faculty based on data collected and lessons learned through the authors experiences working with new clinical faculty. It provides a series of recommendation for clinical faculty in-house training programs. Clinical faculty should join professional organizations for clinical faculty, attend clinical conferences, and sign up for clinic listservs…
-
Colin James, “Seeing Things as We Are. Emotional Intelligence and Clinical Legal Education”
This article considers how clinical legal education provides the best opportunities to engage with students at a level that will impact their inner well-being. It examines sets out an understanding of emotional intelligence and its relevance in clinical legal education. Emotional intelligence is defined as a partnership between our rational brain and the limbic brain;…
-
The Advocates Society, “Guide to Mentoring”
This guide sets out the necessary requirements for growing a relationship. It includes building trust, listening, constructive feedback, measuring success, and overcoming obstacles. Trust requires that the relationship involves a safe and comfortable environment where issues can be shared. Success can be measured in preliminary goals set out by the student. Mentors can provide encouragement…
-
Margaret Castles & Carol Boothby, “What Hat Shall I Wear Today? Exploring the Professional and Ethical Implications of Law Clinic Supervision”
This chapter proposes that it is valuable for clinical supervisors to identify and understand their various roles with respect to their associated professional expectations to ensure that they adopt a mindful and balanced approach to supervision. Clinical supervisors hold many roles: legal practice manager, senior lawyer, risk manager, assessor of written work and performance, counsellor,…
-
Jeff Giddings, “The Assumption of Responsibility: Supervision Practices in Experiential Legal Education”
Effective supervision requires responsiveness to students involved, what they have already learned, and what they are affected to learn within their clinical experiences. This paper argues that without an effective supervisor to support and appropriately challenge students, some learning opportunities within the legal workplace will be lost. In the legal context, “supervision can involve a…