This article considers the important role of supervision in legal practice in Australia and argues for a more structured approach to supervision. This article sets out the historical roots of clinical legal education and examines supervision in the legal context as a means of developing knowledge and abilities. Without adequate training, supervisors are ill-equipped to develop the supervisory relationship usefully.
This article further sets out the results from a study conducted by the Queensland Legal Services Commission (‘QLSC’) examining insights from lawyer and non-lawyer practitioner supervisors, supervisees, or both concerning supervision practices. The results indicated: 96% of supervisors reported having an open door policy; 30% of supervisors inspected files at regular intervals; 46% of supervisors reported identifying their supervisees’ training needs; 30% of supervisors had not received any training in relation to supervision.
Jeff Giddings & Michael McNamara, “Preparing Future Generations of Lawyers for Legal Practice: What’s Supervision Got to Do with It?” (2014) 37:3 UNSW L J 1226.
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