|Conference Abstract 2018|

Discussion Paper: Incorporating reflective and contemplative practice in clinical legal education—a case for discussion

Keywords: Clinical Legal Education, Legal Studies, Legal Profession, Stress, Reflective Practice, Law Studies, Mindfulness

Abstract (233 Words):

Clinical legal education benefits learners both in the immediate sense of providing practical experience and in the longer term, as they continue their careers—learners who undertake clinical legal education have enhanced opportunities to develop emotional intelligence, (James, 2005) which, in turn, promotes overall well-being (James, Bore and Susanna, 2012)—which proves critically important for legal formation, where learners exhibit high levels of psychological distress compared with peers in other disciplines, a feature which continues into their professional lives. (James, 2008)

Our conversation will centre on the use of reflective and contemplative practices to enhance those elements of training pertaining to emotional intelligence, specifically in relation to the causes of miscarriages of justice in a clinical legal setting. The discussion will characterise what reflective practice should be in this setting, how similar programmes have incorporated it, (Evans et al., 2017) and how it can be best-structured in order to properly scaffold students.

We will also consider elements of training relative to contemplative learning in a clinical legal setting; Riskin has long been an advocate of incorporation of mindfulness practices into legal education; (2012, 2002) his work will be a focus of discussion for the adaptation of contemplative practices to clinical legal training for law learners.

The discussion will evidence how contemplative and reflective practice can both enhance learners’ clinical experience as well as contribute more generally to their well-being.

Evans, A. et al. (eds) (2017) ‘Reflective practice’:, in Australian Clinical Legal Education. ANU Press (Designing and operating a best practice clinical program in an Australian law school), pp. 153–178. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1q1crv4.12.

James, C. (2005) ‘Seeing Things as We Are - Emotional Intelligence and Clinical Legal Education’, International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, 8, pp. 123–149.

James, C. (2008) ‘Lawyers’ wellbeing and professional legal education’, The Law Teacher, 42(1), pp. 85–97. doi: 10.1080/03069400.2008.9959763.

James, C., Bore, M. and Susanna, Z. (2012) ‘Emotional Intelligence and Personality as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being.’, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 30(4), pp. 425–438.

Riskin, L. L. (2002) ‘The Contemplative Lawyer: On the Potential Contributions of Mindfulness Meditation to Law Students, Lawyers, and Their Clients Mindfulness and the Law in ADR’, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, p. 1.

Riskin, L. L. (2012) ‘Awareness and the Legal Profession: An Introduction to the Mindful Lawyer Symposium’, Journal of Legal Education, 61(4), pp. 634–640.

Full Text of Review:

A traditional law school is heavily dependent on lecturer/ learner face to face delivery of material. While this will develop a clinical knowledge of the law, the vary nature of the subject matter gives little opportunity to learn the life skills and resilience and emotional intelligence necessary to cope with the competing factors in practice of law as a profession. The competing factors include the stress of managing the expectations of clients, the criticism of peers, managing the case with Judges, Juries etc. in mind. No matter how well thought out and ready for courtroom appearances one is, the self doubt of being able to cope with not achieving the desired outcome for a client is always paramount. Mindfulness will help in building this resilience. As a practitioner learner and lecturer it the concepts raised are worthy of exploration.

As a relatively new practitioner with a short number of years in practice, there was a period when it was important to transfer the classroom learning into court practice. It led to periods of stress and self doubt, which diminished with time and increased practice. It is possible that had mindfulness been integrated into the legal education programme that the application of learning to practice might have been facilitated with less stress.

Thanks for this interesting exploration that looks at the stresses of learning law in a clinical fashion and then when it comes to practice perhaps lacking the resilience to deal with the stresses of ethical practice, managing the expections of clients, solicitors, peers and often senior counsel and other court practitioners.

Full Text of Review:

Very topical and interesting subject chosen, particularly in the modern era where more concern for mental health is being demonstrated, particularly in the legal discipline. I found the abstract to be very clear and scene-setting of what the reader might expect to find in the conference paper. The IMRAD structure is easily identifiable in the context of a discussion piece, which makes the abstract uncomplicated to navigate and self-sufficient.

The title and opening paragraph provide a clear indication of what the discussion is about, whilst also addressing the question of relevance by outlining the heightened psychological distress suffered by learners in clinical legal education. I did find that I had to re-read this sentence due to the use of parenthesis, so it may be of benefit to reformulate the paragraph into two sentences for ease of readership.

The progression of the discussion is well mapped out with reference to the method employed, in particular, the consideration of how reflective and contemplative practices have been incorporated into similar programmes and aligning specific practices with learners’ needs. The conclusions are presented in a concise manner and the paper’s contribution to the conversation is therefore obvious to the reader.

The abstract is thoroughly and appropriately referenced. Arguments and propositions are supported by research that is highly relevant to the subject matter and drawn from a variety of jurisdictions. The abstract therefore presents as credible and the claims appear to be justified. I would recommend that it be included in a conference.

The ICEP abstracts that I have reviewed all include a keyword section which might be worth consideration, however, this may be a matter of style depending on the intended conference.

Full Text of review:

The topic presented seems to be very interesting and timely. I believe that reflective practice should be incorporated in any field.

In my opinion this is a well-structured and clear abstract. There is a research question and the content of the abstract is linked to it. The sources are well cited. I would probably recommend to be careful with Harvard referencing (ex. punctuation).