Real world learning: Baroness Hale Legal Clinic

As a professionally supervised service, the Baroness Hale Legal Clinic provides much needed help to the public and a powerful learning opportunity for our students. We opened it with the aim of providing a free legal advice that would complement the legal service provision in the area.

Clients may be individuals who require advice, or organisations who are seeking more general advice including advice on law reform; and the Clinic provides advice on a range of different areas of law including housing, family and employment.

Working as Student Law Firms (comprising 5-6 students), students can expect to work on at least 2 cases during the term of study, depending on the degree of complexity and nature of the cases. All student work is supervised by the Clinic Solicitor or other suitably qualified members of staff.

Working with ‘live’ clients with real problems through the Clinic, enables students to  develop a range of key skills including interviewing, factual analysis, legal research, drafting advice letters, detailed case management, office and administrative abilities, time management, teamwork and liaising with student colleagues and York Law School staff. Students who take the Clinic as an assessed elective module in their third year find it tremendously useful as a way to further develop the skills they build through our problem-based learning approach.

Find out more about the Baroness Hale Legal Clinic