The Chancellor's column

September 2009

Community legal clinic

“Working at the Monash Oakleigh Legal Service was the highlight of my law degree. The clinical units offered by our law school – its focus on practical legal training and its community engagement – is what sets us apart from other law schools,” said Romy Grace, a final year law student (Dean’s Scholars BA/LLB). This effervescent comment from the daughter of a very close friend made me curious.

I knew that community legal service practices were a feature of the Monash Law Degree but I was yet to see them first hand. Soon after, though, I was fortunate to be joined by Monash University Council Member Ian Pyman on a tour of Monash Oakleigh Legal Service, guided by the Convenor of the Legal Practice Programs at Monash University, Associate Professor Adrian Evans. Adrian has been teaching law for three decades and he clearly loves it.

Like its counterpart, the Springvale Monash Legal Service, the Monash Oakleigh Legal Service Clinic is remarkable and unusual. About 30 per cent of our law students spend at least one semester at one of our two legal service Clinics during their penultimate or final year. They receive double credit due to the enormous workload involved.

Working at the Clinics develops their practical skills and builds their confidence. They experience first-hand the operation of the legal system. They learn to deal with people and evidence, and they come to appreciate the impact that access to legal representation can have on the attainment of justice. They are able to help people who are unable to access the legal system because of cost, language barriers or other disadvantages. They provide help in areas such as problem gambling, car accidents, family disputes and criminal prosecutions.

Working at the Clinics helps our students to identify what they want to do when they graduate. Half of law graduates choose not to practice law. Those who do, need to decide between diverse fields such as commercial law, criminal law and community practice. We asked a few of the students whether their experience at the legal services clinic had helped them consolidate their plans for the future. The answers were explicit but surprising. One student has enjoyed it so much that she has extended her work at the clinic to three semesters, is pioneering the introduction of a mediation service and is quite clear in her mind that she wants to work in that field, if possible at the law courts in Dandenong. Another student said she will pursue a career in commercial law because community legal practice is too emotionally harrowing.

The students have a full work load, simultaneously juggling one or two dozen cases. They are closely supervised but they interview clients by themselves to get the facts, then consult with their supervisors, all of whom are qualified solicitors, before providing advice to their clients. The staff are on constant call. While Ian and I were talking to Adrian and his colleague Mrs Faye Gertner, lecturer and Director of the Monash Oakleigh Legal Services, Faye was called away by a student. Faintly, as she consulted with him in the corridor, I could hear the words “trafficking” and “assault” as they discussed his client’s problems.

In the Family Law Assistance Program section at the back of the building we met the Program Coordinator, Malcolm Bennett. An experienced and successful family lawyer, Malcolm took on this role eight years ago because of the thrill he gets from helping educate students in the practical application of the law, in this case assisting the resolution of family disputes through family law procedures and mediation where possible or court appearances if necessary.

Outside the Clinic itself, Monash students can participate in the Student Appearance Program, which enables them to represent clients in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court, Family Court or Federal Magistrates’ Court. The Judges and Magistrates at the Dandenong courts have agreed to allow our students to seek leave to appear for consenting clients who do not otherwise have access to legal representation, in a limited range of cases but including important actions such as pleas in mitigation of sentence, adjournment applications and unopposed applications in divorce matters. A qualified lawyer is always present in the court room to supervise and provide assistance if necessary.

The Clinic occupies a modest, single-storey building in peaceful Beddoe Avenue, the western border of the Clayton campus. A pathway along one side provides pedestrian access to the campus and separates the legal services building from a staff child-care centre. The two new medical research buildings on campus loom proudly above the back fence, forming a backdrop that visually reinforces the University’s role in making this community legal services clinic successful.

The service is completely free to clients – it is part of the broad spectrum of Monash University’s community engagement efforts. Funding comes from the Law faculty, Victoria Legal Aid, the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department and the City of Monash.

When Ian and I left the building at the end of our tour we both knew we had seen something special. We were delighted to have witnessed firsthand the extraordinary job our University is doing to honour its commitment to wider society and to provide its Law students with a broad, engaging, practical and uplifting educational experience.

Dr Alan Finkel AM (BE 1976, PhD 1981)
Chancellor
Monash University