Client Newsletters within Clinical Legal Education and Their Value to the Student Participants

Abstract

The employment law client newsletter project (the Project) runs during each academic year within the Student Law Office (SLO) at Northumbria University. Under the supervision of their clinical supervisor the students research and design a newsletter for distribution to HR professionals employed by an external organisation. The students participate in the Project alongside their live client work. The aim of the Project is to enrich the students’ clinical experience and develop their skills whilst at the same time update and educate the client recipient. Through a pilot study the value of participating in the Project is explored. The findings of the study suggest that the students develop their professional skills from a different perspective, increase their employment law knowledge, gain the commercial awareness of the importance of a well drafted newsletter in practice, and really value the experience.

Key Words: Client Newsletter, Employment Law Updates, Clinical Legal Education, Legal Education