Client newsletters within Clinical Legal Education and their value to the student participants

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

Age stereotyping: a legal and fieldwork analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on fieldwork observation of direct age discrimination cases within employment tribunal hearings over a 3 year period. The observation focussed upon whether the witness evidence revealed age stereotyping by employers and whether the employment tribunal panel addressed the stereotyping in its questioning and in its judgments. The observation was combined with an analysis of jurisprudence relating to direct age discrimination over an 11 year period. Design/methodology/approach – This research analysed a sample of 90 employment tribunal judgments concerning direct age discrimination, which included 5 fieldwork observation cases concerning direct age discrimination in an employment tribunal. Findings – This paper opens a window on age stereotyping in the workplace, illuminating the existence of age stereotypes in the context of employment tribunals and the approach of the courts towards stereotypes in the sample is analysed. Research limitations/implications - The fieldwork observation is limited to one employment tribunal and may not necessarily be representative of all tribunals however the findings are supported by a wider qualitative analysis of ET Judgments. Practical Implications – The article provides pertinent learning outcomes for claimants, employers and key implications of legal decisions for human resource policy and practice in organisations. Originality/Value –The paper is the first to conduct fieldwork observation on age stereotyping in an employment tribunal, combined with a profile of direct age discrimination claims over the period studied

A case study approach: Legal Outreach Clinics at Northumbria University

Through a case study approach, this paper discusses two projects which have been established by clinical supervisors at Northumbria University to support access to justice and promote the development of students’ professional skills and identities through CLE within disadvantaged or minority communities in the North East of England. The projects adopt the model of ‘legal outreach services’ because they operate within distinct communities to provide advice to target groups. The paper will first discuss the different models of CLE; simulation, drop in clinics, letters of advice and full representation. The second part of the paper will go on to discuss legal outreach models and set out the key features of the legal outreach approach. The third part of the article will set out the considerations underpinning the two outreach projects operated by Northumbria Law School: Legal Advice Byker (LAB) and Empower 4 Justice (E4J). The fourth part of the paper will set out in detail the operation of LAB and E4J. The final part of the article will discuss the benefits and limitations of this approach to CLE from a student and community perspective

The Law in the Community Model of Clinical Legal Education: Assessing the Impact on Key Stakeholders

This article examines a model of clinical legal education where a university law school works in partnership with an external organisation. The partnership enables law students to attend the offices of Citizens Advice during their law degree and under the guidance and supervision of their staff, advise their service users on a range of legal issues. Using data collected from a research study involving student focus groups and semi structured interviews with the Citizens Advice supervisors, this research contributes to the understanding of whether, and how, this model impacts upon law students, Citizens Advice and the local community. This study contributes to the knowledge on the value of this model of clinical legal education from both a pedagogical and social justice perspective. The research raises questions as to how a partnership between a university and external organisation can overcome challenges, ensuring an equivalent clinical experience for all students and that effective feedback is provided to students. The results indicate that there are a clear set of pedagogical benefits to the students and benefits to Citizens Advice with regards to the service they can provide to the local community. The authors argue that this module enables students to engage in transformative and impactful work, whilst obtaining first-hand experience of the access to justice challenges (and other socio-economic issues) faced by their local community. The study will be of interest to clinics who incorporate, or intend to incorporate, an externship model in their curriculum, both in Europe and beyond