The principles of Ubuntu: Using the legal clinical model to train agents of social change

Abstract

For the past few decades, the legal clinical model has been used as a tool to teach law students the art of practising law. Typically, this model focuses on providing law students with an opportunity to work with clients and to handle legal cases in a safe environment, and often in slow motion. Although the legal clinical model has a number of advantages in assisting students to safely transition from law students to lawyers, it falls short in stressing the importance of using the law as a tool to achieve social justice within our society. The purpose of this paper is to propose that the legal clinical model be revamped to train law students to become not just lawyers, but agents of social change. Although we hope this article will be of relevance to a broad international audience, the critique focuses mainly on legal education in the United States.