Duty Bound? Court Possession Schemes and Clinical Education

Abstract

The opportunity to take part in the local County Court hearings of repossession cases arose around 3 years ago, the same time as I joined the University of Northumbria as a solicitor/ tutor working in the Student Law Office. I wanted to keep up my own hands-on skills as a solicitor, and so grasped this opportunity with enthusiasm. It has been an invaluable teaching tool as part of student’s experiences within the student law office, but only recently have I stopped to take stock of the nature and value of this experience, and to consider more carefully the aims and objectives, from the Student Law Office point of view, in taking part in this.

This paper looks at experiences with students at court repossession days, and the messages we are giving students when we expose them to this type of work – are we moving closer towards clinical legal education with a social justice agenda? And what do we get out of these court days as a student learning experience.