TAU’s Clinical Law Program: a Catalyst for Social Change
In 2016 a committee of experts appointed by the Council for Higher Education wrote: “The TAU Law School’s Clinical Program has become recognized as a global model for state of the art clinical legal education. The major conclusion we drew from our meeting with Tel Aviv clinicians was its impressive quality, in terms of faculty capacity, curricular/pedagogical innovation, student satisfaction, and its laudable level of social engagement.”
The Clinical Law Program at Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann Faculty of Law is operated by 12 in-house lawyers, 8 faculty members and 150 students. The Clinics advance social justice and equality by providing pro bono legal services to hundreds of people in need each year, and to leading NGOs promoting human rights and social change.
Each clinic provides students with hands on legal experience in its field of expertise: Criminal Justice Clinic; Human Rights Clinic; Refugee Rights Clinic; Worker’s Rights Clinic; Environmental Justice and the Protection of Animals Rights Clinic; The Clinic for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors and the Elderly; Class Action Clinic; and The Knesset Clinic.
Students engage in the entire range of legal procedures, under the supervision and mentorship of attorneys and academic advisors that are experts in their fields. The ability to participate, in tandem, on case work and weekly academic studies gives students the opportunity to reflect on their practical work and perfect their legal and academic skills.
The intersection of legal practice and academia encourages interdisciplinary research and, in turn, leads to the publication of scholarly articles on a wide range of topics related to civil and human rights. This model has proven to both positively impact our clients’ lives, and initiating improvements for broader segments of Israeli society.
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