The impact of extended clinical placements on overall student academic attainment: preliminary findings of a collaborative research project at London South Bank University

Conference paper


Russell, AC and Evans, C (2017). The impact of extended clinical placements on overall student academic attainment: preliminary findings of a collaborative research project at London South Bank University. Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, ‘Foundations and Futures’. Portsmouth University, Portsmouth, UK 10 - 11 Apr 2017
AuthorsRussell, AC and Evans, C
TypeConference paper
Abstract

In 2011 LSBU opened its innovative drop-in Legal Advice Clinic where students, under the supervision of experienced and legally qualified university-employed staff, deliver immediate face to face social welfare law advice to clients from the local community. Since 2011 we have assisted more than 3500 local people, trained approaching 200 student legal advisors and collaborated with a large number of solicitors and advice agencies in our local legal advice network. In 2013 we worked with our students and the Higher Education Academy to produce a 70 page open access manual for use by other universities interested in setting up a drop in Legal Advice Clinic . We have subsequently extended our clinical provision to include a help desk at our local County Court and, most recently, a support service at the Central Family Court for unrepresented parties in private family law applications. During term-time our Legal Advice Clinic is open to the public for drop-in advice 9 hours each week in 3 x 3 hour sessions. At these drop-in sessions our student volunteers (working in teams of two with a supervisor attached to each team) provide basic information on any legal topic, give generalist advice in all social welfare law matters, signpost and refer to appropriate local legal advice agencies and law firms, or refer to the Clinic’s own evening sessions. At these drop-in sessions our student teams have one hour to: take a client’s instructions (i.e. establish the relevant facts and what the client wants to achieve); research the enquiry; deliver their advice to the client; write up a case record once the client has left. Typically each student team will deal with 3 clients a session. Each year we recruit 30 second and third year undergraduate law students to work on extended placement in the Clinic (a minimum of 12 x 3 hour weekly sessions). In conjunction with social scientists experienced in quantitative methods from LSBU’s School of Law and Social Sciences, we have embarked on a research project to investigate whether there is a correlation between a placement in the Clinic and our undergraduate students’ academic achievement. Controlling for how well they did in their first year summative assessments, we are comparing our Clinic students’ third year results to the third year results of their peers who did not work in the Clinic. Initial findings indicate that involvement in the Clinic has a positive effect on students’ third year marks. This paper will present the preliminary findings of our research and contextualise both the research project and the set up and development of the Clinic within the evolving tradition of LSBU as a widening participation, civic university. The paper will also consider the potential of our particular clinical model in (1) preparing students for the SRA’s proposed Single Qualifying Exam and (2) meeting the requirement for ‘pre-qualification workplace experience’ that the SRA has indicated is likely to replace the current training contract for solicitors .

KeywordsClinical legal education legal advice clinic LSBU impact academic achievement preliminary findings quantitative analysis
Year2017
Accepted author manuscript
License
File Access Level
Open
Publication dates
Print10 Apr 2017
Publication process dates
Deposited19 Sep 2017
Accepted18 Jan 2017
Permalink -

https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/86zvq

Download files


Accepted author manuscript
  • 117
    total views
  • 64
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

The Windrush Scandal: have lessons really been learnt?
Lewis, O., Steiner, A. and Evans, C. (2023). The Windrush Scandal: have lessons really been learnt? Socio-Legal Studies Conference .
Legal Education Meets Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching LawTech
Russell, A., Otoyo, L., Silver, K. and Unger, A. (2022). Legal Education Meets Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching LawTech. in: Thanaraj, A. & Geldhill, K. (ed.) Teaching Legal Education in the Digital Age - Pedagogical Practices to Digitally Empower Law Graduates Routledge. pp. chapter 11
The impact of extended clinical placements on student academic achievement: preliminary findings of a collaborative research project at London South Bank University
Russell, AC, Unger, AD and Evans, C (2017). The impact of extended clinical placements on student academic achievement: preliminary findings of a collaborative research project at London South Bank University. 15th International Journal of Clinical Legal Education Conference ‘Bringing It All Together: Clinical Legal Educators in the 21st Century University’. Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK 03 - 05 Jul 2017
Legal Employability: Clinic, CILEx and Training Reform – Threats and Opportunities for Law Schools
Russell, AC and Unger, AS (2017). Legal Employability: Clinic, CILEx and Training Reform – Threats and Opportunities for Law Schools. HEA Annual Conference 2017 ‘Generation TEF: Teaching in the spotlight’. Manchester University 04 - 06 Jul 2017
Clinical Collaborations & CILEx Collaboration at LSBU: Where next in response to the SRA's t4t Proposals
Unger, AD, Russell, A and Evans, C (2016). Clinical Collaborations & CILEx Collaboration at LSBU: Where next in response to the SRA's t4t Proposals. Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference 2016. , University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne 20 - 22 Mar 2016 London South Bank University.
Clinical legal education and the delivery of legal services to people on low incomes: preparing for the future
Unger, AD, Russell, A and Evans, C (2016). Clinical legal education and the delivery of legal services to people on low incomes: preparing for the future. Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference 2016. Oxford 06 - 09 Sep 2016 London South Bank University.
Clinical Legal Education: Quality & Supervision
Russell, AC (2016). Clinical Legal Education: Quality & Supervision. International Journal of Clinical Legal Education. 24 (1), pp. 88-114. https://doi.org/10.19164/ijcle.v24i1.581
Clinical Legal Education in the UK – Running Drop-in Advice Services in an University Setting
Russell, AC (2014). Clinical Legal Education in the UK – Running Drop-in Advice Services in an University Setting. 9th Public and Private Justice: Dispute Resolution in Modern Societies Conference, ‘Procedural Human Rights and Access to Justice in the World of Emergencies and Economic Crisis’. Inter University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia 26 - 30 May 2014 London South Bank University.
Clinical Legal Education - Running Drop-in Advice Services in a University Setting
Russell, AC and Russell, J (2012). Clinical Legal Education - Running Drop-in Advice Services in a University Setting. Higher Education Academy Social Sciences Conference, ‘Ways of Knowing, Ways of Learning’. Liverpool University, Liverpool, UK 28 - 29 May 2012 Higher Education Academy.
Running Drop-In Advice Services in a University Setting
Russell, AC (2012). Running Drop-In Advice Services in a University Setting. 10th International Journal of Clinical Legal Education Conference. Durham University, Durham UK 11 - 13 Jul 2012 International journal of Clinical Legal Education.