Dr. Aleksandra Klich
University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland
Email: [email protected]
DOI: 10.23918/ICABEP2022p26
Abstract
The contemporary model of law studies is more and more open to advancing young lawyers’ theoretical knowledge by introducing interactive teaching methods. One of them is law students’ cooperation with their supervisor as part of academic legal advice centres, also known as “legal clinics”. Students who work in legal clinics, restricted by the framework of the Polish legal system, are guided by models of operation of university legal clinics whereby the legal advice prepared by them is of the highest standard and fully professional. Despite its 20-year-long presence, the legal clinics model still triggers discussions in Poland about certain aspects of its functioning. The aim of this presentation is to highlight issues that constitute the role of legal clinics which in practice may resemble the work of professional representatives even though the legal clinic staff do not have the legitimization to act in a civil trial in such a role. This presentation will address the principles of the functioning of university legal clinics and a broadly understood legal aid defined as providing legal advice largely by drafting legal opinions, giving legal consultations or drafting model pleadings. The lack of regulations that allow students to represent clinics’ clients rules out now the possibility of preparing documents to initiate proceedings or other pleadings. Thanks to the experience resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the traditional model of legal clinics is becoming become more modern and the rules for providing legal advice extend to include new initiatives for regular functioning and preparation of written legal opinions, but also the collaboration with the social and economic environment. I will discuss examples of cooperation with institutions and organizations that provide support to persons at risk of broadly understood social, financial and legal exclusion, intended to popularize the activity of university legal clinics and other organizations that provide free legal aid.
Keywords: Legal Clinics, Free Legal Aid, Practical Comments
ICABEP2022
4th International Conference on Accounting, Business, Economics and Politics
Organized by
Tishk International University, College of Administration and Economics, Salahaddin University-Erbil, and
University of Szczecin, Poland.
