Clinical Legal Education (CLE) and pupillage are two methods of training law students to become proficient lawyers.
CLE involves law students providing legal aid services under professional supervision, equipping them with practical skills and techniques. It serves as a teaching methodology and a platform for students to gain professional skills and become social justice lawyers. The law clinic aspect of CLE allows students to execute projects that benefit disadvantaged individuals, while also offering free legal services to clients who cannot afford representation.
The pupillage system, on the other hand, is an apprenticeship where trainee lawyers work under the guidance of a lawyer. So, pupillage provides practical training in advocacy, drafting, legal research, and professional ethics.
CLE and pupillage are two approaches to training law students. CLE offers practical experience and social justice advocacy, while pupillage provides apprenticeship-style training.
In Nigeria, there is currently a bill to reintroduce the pupillage system into the legal profession through the amendment of the Legal Practitioners Act 2004. If passed into law, new wigs will first have to pass through an apprenticeship system before they can be permitted to practice law on their own. CLE should rather replace pupilage in the bill because CLE provides the platform for practical legal education, primary legal aid services, and out-of-court settlements. The inclusion of CLE in the Nigerian legal pedagogy was a response to the need for a practical approach to legal training and satisfy the legal needs of the indigent members of the society. Thereby serving the dual purpose of legal education and legal aid.
The Network of University Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI) Nigeria was established to institutionalize CLE for the purpose of improving legal education in Nigeria.
NULAI Nigeria has engaged in advocacy work to promote CLE in the Nigerian justice sector. This includes the establishment of a Clinical Legal Education Curriculum Development Committee, which visited law clinics in South Africa to learn from their CLE programs. The aim is to enhance legal education in Nigeria and ensure that law students graduate with the skills required to be competent and empathetic lawyers.
The need to change the rigid and theory-based legal pedagogy in Nigeria led to the inclusion of Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) into the legal education system. This was driven by the realization that law graduates were lacking essential practical skills and were often ignorant of their societal obligations, making them a liability to their employers. The inclusion of CLEP was championed by Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, Prof. Akinseye George (SAN), and other law lecturers who organized conferences, workshops, and seminars, leading to the establishment of the Network of University Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI) Nigeria in 2003.
NULAI Nigeria engaged in advocacy efforts to promote the acceptance of CLEP in the Nigerian justice sector. They formed a committee to develop a clinical legal education curriculum and visited law clinics in South Africa to learn from their experiences. NULAI Nigeria also advocated for the inclusion of law clinics in the Nigerian Draft Legal Aid Bill, which resulted in the recognition of law clinics as legal aid providers in the Legal Aid Act.
Law clinics, facilitated by CLEP, provide practical training to law students and offer free legal services to indigent individuals. The National Universities Commission (NUC) has mandated the inclusion of clinical programs in law faculties, and the NUC’s regulations ensure the quality of these programs. Currently, there are 41 law clinics in Nigeria.
In the United States, law clinics have advanced to the point where student clinicians provide secondary legal aid services, even in appellate courts. Various laws govern the operation of law clinics in the USA, ensuring compliance with high standards. The CLEP program in Nigeria has exposed clinical students to legal drafting, interviewing/counseling, alternative dispute resolution, advocacy, ICT use, and ethics of the legal profession. Through street law programs, clinical students have provided legal education to over 10,000 individuals on various legal topics.
To strengthen the CLEP program in Nigeria, the Council of Legal Education and the Nigerian Bar Association should work with NULAI Nigeria to establish legal standards for law clinics. Currently, the legal framework for CLEP is insufficient for its sustainability. Some law clinics operate below standard, depriving law students of valuable practical experience. Regulatory oversight and accountability are needed to ensure the effectiveness and transparency of law clinics.
It is crucial for the Council of Legal Education and the Nigerian Bar Association to establish rules for the recognition, operation, supervision, and sustainability of law clinics in Nigeria, similar to their USA counterparts. This would address the concerns raised by proponents of pupillage and ensure the quality and effectiveness of clinical legal education. NULAI Nigeria should be institutionalized as a regulatory body for the management and supervision of law clinics in Nigeria.
Maduafor, a lawyer and clinical lecturer, writes from Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja.
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