Clinical Law Practicum

12 credits · Undergraduate

A 12 credit unit one-semester (13 week) practicum. Students will be placed at Community Legal Assistance Services for Saskatoon Inner City (CLASSIC) where they will take on the role of legal advocates under the close supervision of the clinic's supervising lawyers and the course instructor. Students will assume carriage of client files in a wide variety of substantive law areas. They will learn, through experience, supervision and ongoing skills and substantive law training, about all aspects of legal practice in a poverty law context, including client interviewing and counseling, file management, legal research, the preparation of legal documents, letters and memoranda, and representing clients in administrative law hearings and provincial court trials. Students may also have opportunities to conduct public legal education sessions in the community and be involved in community based projects and law reform initiatives. The practicum will provide students an opportunity to engage the law more deeply, to explore the various real-life contexts in which it works, and to build relationships with the people whose lives it affects. Students will experience the dynamics of lawyer-client relationships, develop professional identities, grapple with ethical issues, and develop lawyering skills. The practicum will be graded on a pass-fail basis. However, a detailed letter of explanation and evaluation of the student's performance can be provided upon request. The practicum will provide extensive exposure to criminal, civil and administrative law procedure, evidence law, trial advocacy, negotiation, legal research and writing, and professional responsibility.