Constructing a Clinical Legal Education Approach for Large Multicultural Classes: Insights from the Nigerian Law School

Abstract

This paper starts by discussing ways in which the current teaching system at the Nigerian Law School reflects a clinical approach. Issues examined include classroom participation, court and law office attachment, law dinners, moot court and other practice week activities. Certain issues are problematised and options for improving clinical teaching methods for large multicultural classes are proffered. Central to the options proffered is a project management approach where, for instance, students do not just participate in a moot court session, but the class executes a moot court project. This means that every stage of the project is constructed as a distinct, but integral exercise in which students need to develop competencies. This would create the opportunity for students to develop ‘extended’ lawyering skills of project management, reporting and evaluation in addition to the already established skills of research, interviewing, counselling, negotiation, advocacy and so on, much in the same way as medical doctors in training are involved in public health projects, within which they practice community medicine. Clinical projects would as much as possible, accommodate personal skills preferences, while methods of assessment suited to each area of competence would be developed and applied as part of the overall assessment of students’ performance.