“How do you feel about this client?” – A commentary on the clinical model as a vehicle for teaching ethics to law students

Authors

  • Kevin Kerrigan Northumbria University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19164/ijcle.v11i0.75

Abstract

This article explores why law clinics can be the most creative, exciting and productive way of inculcating knowledge and understanding of ethical issues and why sometimes they are not. I am concerned to understand what methods can be employed to successfully engage students with ethical questions in the context of their clinical case work. I am also concerned to avoid the complacent view that simply by exposing students to real or realistic cases we can ensure deep appreciation of ethical concerns. By ethics here I mean not only understanding of the relevant professional lawyer codes but also a broader and deeper engagement with what it means to be a lawyer and the moral attitudes, decisions and outcomes implicit in legal practice.

Downloads

Published

2014-07-18

Issue

Section

Articles