The benefits of Clinical Legal Education are three-fold:

1. Provide an invaluable service to the community
2. Students learn new skills so they can be career- ready
3. While doing so, students earn credit towards their Law degree.

A hallmark of Monash Law and highly regarded by legal professionals, our clinical legal education brings our law students to the forefront of the job market, before they even graduate.

Best described as experiential learning, our clinical legal education delivers:

• Specific knowledge and skillsets that better prepare our students for career success
• A practical learning experience with real people and real cases
• An understanding and appreciation of law’s fundamental purpose: to improve access to justice.

Our experiential learning also:

• Improves graduate employability driven by the skills and knowledge gained through participation
• Empowers and builds our students' resilience to meet the significant demands of the profession
• Enhances emotional intelligence by working closely with members of the community from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds
• Establishes lifelong professional mentors through our clinic's legal professional supervision

For the communities we serve, our clinical education program:

• Provides free legal information, advice, and representation
• Raises awareness about people's legal rights and responsibilities
• Simplifies the legal process
• Improves the community’s capability and confidence to deal with and use the law and legal system
• Provides advocacy on systemic issues, including advocating for policy and law reforms on issues of importance to the local communities we serve.

Clinical legal education gives Monash Law students the opportunity to work in real community legal centres, which are operated by (or in association with) Monash Law.

Working under the supervision of expert lawyers, Monash Law students learn new skills outside of the classroom; practical skills, including client relations and how to navigate the legal system.

A student’s clinical legal education experience as a Monash Law student is able to be credited towards their degree.

The placement at Monash Law Clinics was one of the reasons I chose to study law at Monash University. The clinical legal program is such a valuable and rewarding experience, as it enabled me to apply the materials and law I had learned in classes and lectures by working on real-life cases! It also allowed me to build on my communication skills; before I started the placement, I was very shy and could not easily speak to anyone.

I got to lead a client intake interview, follow up with clients, and make phone calls to the relevant government bodies and private companies. Apart from becoming a better communicator, I was able to explore different areas of law such as tenancy law, consumer law, criminal law and family law.

During the placement I was really happy to be guided by my supervisor, who has broad knowledge in various areas of law, such as addressing issues with consumers, tenancies and fines. She was really patient and kind to all her students and was always there for us when we struggled to manage a client’s file. Apart from that, the admin team and the students I was working with were lovely and supportive. This was definitely the best law unit I have done in my law degree!

Grace, Monash Law Student

This is hands down the best unit I’ve completed in my law degree to date. The program allowed me to get a taste of what family law is like in practice, while being mentored and supervised directly by a practising lawyer. Given how emotionally charged family law can be, it was incredibly rewarding to let vulnerable clients feel they were being heard and then help guide them through their difficult legal situations.

Over the three-month period, I was able to work on a range of different family law matters, including drafting divorce applications, initiating parenting proceedings, and attending online court hearings as an observer. No clinic day was ever the same, and I felt excited, motivated, challenged but also extremely supported, both by my supervisor and the staff.  I have also developed deep friendships with the students who completed the unit with me.

The experience has had a profound effect on me, as it reminded me of the critical role family lawyers play in protecting the welfare of children, and also society more broadly. I am excited to begin my career as a lawyer and encourage all students to participate in the placement experience!

Madeline, Monash Law Student