WHY (AND HOW TO) DO PRO BONO WORK IN LAW SCHOOLS? 1

Abstract

Law students welcome the opportunity to put theory into practice by engaging in hands‐on legal work. Through this activity law schools and their students can make a valuable contribution to legal service provision directly addressing unmet needs. Providing the student involvement is supervised to a professional standard, all participants are potential winners. This article looks at the benefits and challenges of doing pro bono work in law schools and the models of pro bono and clinical activity using examples from a range of Commonwealth countries. 1 This paper is based on a presentation made at the Commonwealth Legal Education Association conference held in Kenya (September 2007). I would like to thank those who attended the workshop for developing my ideas and providing examples of clinical practice in other Commonwealth countries.