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Clinical instruction is an integral part of legal education as it provides students with an understanding of the skills required for legal practice and it offers exciting opportunities to move outside of the classroom and to see how the law operates.
Clinical training and experience leads to a rounded legal education which allows students to understand and appreciate the law in action and to draw upon this experience to excel in their future legal careers.
A student-centred approach
The School of Law at University of Limerick is at the forefront of clinical legal education in Ireland. The School adopts a student-centred approach and offers students a number of opportunities to learn more deeply about the law through skills-based training and cooperative placements.
The School of Law at UL was the first law school in Ireland to have a purpose-built moot court room, allowing our students to practise and enhance their advocacy skills and to acquire courtroom experience. Students also receive training in mediation, arbitration, negotiation, and professional ethics as part of their degree courses. These initiatives allow students to develop transferrable skills which are not only of benefit in the legal sector but are applicable to a range of diverse areas of employment.
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Cooperative work placements
In addition, law students at UL undertake cooperative work placements with prestigious employers as part of their undergraduate courses. The School of Law arranges diverse placements with employers such as A&L Goodbody, Matheson Solicitors, Ronan Daly Jermyn Solicitors, Arthur Cox Solicitors, William Fry Solicitors, Mason Hayes and Curran, the Courts Service, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Allianz Ireland PLC, Danske Bank, the Competition and Consumer Protection Authority, and the Legal Aid Board to name but a few. These placements allow students to gain practical experience of the law outside of the classroom and serve to enhance their legal proficiencies and employability. Our students excel in these placements which demonstrates the quality of clinical training that they receive as part of their degree courses.
The clinical initiatives offered by the School of Law promote a holistic legal education that balances the traditional rigours of academic learning with practical skills training. This balanced education allows our students to graduate into high quality employment and training contracts as demonstrated by the First Destination Reports for our degree courses. Our law students gain in-depth knowledge of all facets of the law, which allows them to excel in the competitive job market both in Ireland and abroad.
For more information contact Dr Eimear Spain, Director of Clinical Legal Education