Why are you passionate about this Clinic and area of Law?

Canberra Community Law works with clients experiencing significant and overlapping disadvantage.  These clients often have multiple legal problems, which escalate if the client is unable to get legal advice.  CCL aims to assist as many people as possible, both by providing legal advice, acting for clients unable to advocate for themselves, and engaging with government so as to influence policy in matters that affect their clients. CCL’s practices are trauma-informed and clients are referred to community services for support with non-legal problems.

I am passionate about this clinic because it introduces students to community lawyering and gives students a very ‘on the ground’ insight into the many injustices experienced by some groups in our community.  It also shows students the huge difference that legal assistance makes in people’s lives.

What “real-world” experience can students expect from this opportunity and what skills will they learn from that experience?

Students will work alongside a CCL lawyer and assist that lawyer in their day to day work. This assistance involves students developing skills such as taking file notes in client interviews ; preparing emails/letters to clients; attending and note taking in the ACT Administrative and Civil Tribunal; writing submissions and research memos.

What does a typical clinic day look like?

This depends very much which CCL program a student is allocated to. All students work to a CCL lawyer and get involved in the matters that lawyer is handling.  Students can get an idea of the different areas of CCL’s work by looking at the legal services listed on its website.

What students would be a good fit for this Clinic?

Students interested in:

• working alongside a lawyer, for clients experiencing disadvantage
• seeing how law works ‘on the ground’
• law and social justice
• the community legal sector
• law reform linked to casework