Bridging skills, standards, and opportunities

There is a clear desire for higher education providers to engage with employers. So how can employers become more involved? One way is through a university law clinic. These clinics link academic training with practical experience, benefitting institutions and employers, and fundamentally advancing student skills.

The need to equip students with employability skills is of ever-increasing importance. In England, for example, condition B3 of the Office for Students’ regulatory framework requires that providers must “deliver successful outcomes for all of [their] students, which are valued and recognised by employers, and/or enable further study”.

There is a clear desire for higher education providers to engage with employers to help to meet these conditions. So how can employers become more involved with the work of the university providers? One way is through university law clinics.

Law clinics are not a new concept, with many higher education providers offering them throughout the UK. Such an environment may entail students providing supervised legal advice to members of the public, thus applying their knowledge and research skills to address real-world legal issues. Different types of university-led law clinic models exist: some offer appointment-based or drop-in services, some function remotely, some provide general advice and signposting, and some focus on a specialty area (employment or family law, for example).  

Student involvement in a university law clinic can also vary, from being trained to provide supervised legal advice, to performing a more administrative role – such as triaging clients, assisting with appointment bookings and supporting research tasks. Practical legal work has become an ever-more important part of the university curriculum and also plays a role in student assessment.

There are clear benefits for law students who undertake real legal work in terms of preparing them for their future career and equipping them with employability skills. However, there are benefits for law firms too – for example, in terms of enhancing their corporate social responsibility agenda and nurturing legal talent early, potentially aiding with future recruitment.

Legal employers can engage in university law clinics in a range of ways, often depending on the nature of the clinic being operated and the nature and scope of its service. A general law clinic may provide one-off legal advice and follow-up letters, or it may run a case from start to finish, including representation, with volunteer lawyers supervising students.

From the students’ perspective, time spent working in university law clinics may count as work experience towards the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), provided that it involves delivering legal services. However, the amount of qualifying work experience that a student may actually gain as part of a university law clinic will depend on the type and specific details of each individual law clinic.  

Accordingly, it is not only the higher education providers that are seeking to engage with employers in the legal sector to help to satisfy their obligations. Engagements benefit all parties, driving a growing desire for increased collaboration. 

The delivery and management of law clinics can be intense for providers. The factors to consider regarding their setup and operation may include: ensuring appropriate space for confidential matters and security for staff and clients; having a process and the requisite paperwork in place; meeting the compliance requirements; recruiting clients; and providing training and supervision to the student advisers, to mention but a few.  

Specialist clinics may reduce the burden for the higher education providers by concentrating on particular legal fields and utilising volunteer lawyers’ expertise for supervision. This specialisation may be more appealing to lawyers who work in these areas on a day-to-day basis and provides valuable opportunities for collaboration.

There are many other ways in which employers may engage with the higher education providers – for example, through placements, guest lectures and student experience events. However, law clinics offer significant benefits to all parties by helping to bridge the gap between the students’ skills and the employers’ needs, while at the same time helping the higher education providers to meet their obligations.

Written by Dr Simon Best, Associate Professor, Leeds Trinity University