Clinical Legal Education: Vision and Strategy for Start-up Clinics in Nigeria

Abstract

Clinical Legal Education provides an opportunity for Law Students to, while learning, offer free legal services to the indigent community around where a law faculty is located. It is not enough to set up a law clinic without determining first of all, what role the clinic is to perform and secondly, how the clinic will aid students’ learning. To have a successful clinic, it is imperative that it is well-planned with a structure to allow for funding, effective running and one that arouses student enthusiasm. The faculties of law in Nigeria have recognised that establishing law clinics will aid to achieve the vision of producing efficient lawyers who will be ready for practice soon after graduating from school. This article identifies the need to imbibe the right skills to aid student participation in law clinic activities and provides a guide to aid law faculties who wish to set up clinics or assist those already operating to realise their full potential. The article recommends the inclusion of law clinic module as one that all students must pass before graduating even though grades should not count to determine the overall Culminative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of a student.