Dear Colleagues,

A number of ACCLE’s current Board members are finishing their terms this year. We anticipate there will be 4 openings for new Board members. We invite all ACCLE members to consider putting your name forward to serve on the Board.  Please note that ACCLE is a working Board – we rely on all Board member to participate and share the work load.  Board members are required to participate in monthly Board meetings via conference call, and to sit on at least 1 of our committees.  Most of the work of the Board happens at the committee level, and the committees typically meet 1-2 times/ month, in addition to the regular Board meetings. We welcome submissions from people involved in any part of clinical legal education. We will prioritize geographical diversity, variety in clinical legal education roles, and diversity based on social markers.

If you are interested in putting your name forward, please send Gemma Smyth an email (gemma.smyth@uwindsor.ca) with a brief statement (250 words maximum) outlining your experience in clinical legal education and your interest in the Board by Friday, April 26, 2019.

Thanks for your consideration.

Gemma

The Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education (ACCLE) is delighted to confirm that we will be returning to Western University, Faculty of Law, for our 10th Annual Conference, happening June 12-14, 2019.

The focus of our 2019 conference is “Looking Back, Moving Forward: Future Challenges for Clinical Legal Education in Canada”. We are interested in exploring questions such as:

• How do we assess clinic performance with integrity in a world with grading curves?
• How do we manage program funding during times of austerity budgets?
• How can we practice reconciliation in our clinical and experiential education programs?
• Tech in clinical programs – what’s new and exciting?
• Gaps in the Canadian clinical landscape –what’s missing?
• How can we promote student wellness in our programs?
• Is there a uniquely Canadian approach to clinic legal education in Canada?
• What is the role of clinical legal education in a world without articling?
• What issues will influence clinical legal education in the next ten years?

ACCLE invites proposals for papers or workshops that fit within the general theme of “future challenges for clinical legal education in Canada”. We welcome participation and submissions from all legal educators, as well as professionals from other related fields. We encourage proposals for individual papers, panels or workshops. We are especially interested in proposals seeking to engage the audience in an interactive and dynamic way.

The deadline for submissions is  February 25, 2019. 

See the official call for proposals here.

Conference: “The History of Legal Aid in the Premodern and Modern World”

Deadline for paper proposals with abstracts: November 18, 2018

Date: March 18-19, 2019

Location: University of Turku, Finland

This conference aims to bring together the various aspects of legal aid around the world and throughout history, highlighting common features and individual particularities.

Confirmed keynote lectures will be given by Prof. Felice Batlan (Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology) and Dr. Hiroki Kawamura (University of Frankfurt).

See the official call for papers here.

Please save the date for our 2019 Conference to be held in London, Ontario, site of the first ACCLE Conference. We will gather together June 13-15, 2019 with ACCLE as sole host and conference organiser. We have greatly enjoyed our last two conferences with the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, and look forward to a conference focused on the needs, stories, interests, and research of clinicians across Canada and around the world. We can’t wait to see you next year!

It’s a wrap! Thank you so much for attending the 2018 ACCLE conference, in association with the Canadian Association of Law Teachers. Queen’s Law and Queen’s Legal Clinics were incredible hosts. We had a simulating and productive two and a half days together, and look forward to next year’s conference. Please keep an eye out for ACCLE updates by signing up for a membership.

Dear ACCLE-CALT 2018 Conference Attendees:

We are excited to let you know that the full conference program, with detailed descriptions of the breakout sessions, is now available on our Eventbrite page.   We encourage you to review it online as it contains useful information about the conference schedule and logistics.  Print copies of the program will be available on registration.

As described in the Program, the conference kicks off Thursday, May 31 at 8:30 am with breakfast and registration at Macdonald Hall. Due to our size, we will move to Dunning Hall, the building immediately next to the law school, for the opening ceremonies and keynote address.

Please note: in response to your feedback in previous years that you would like a more balanced breakfast menu, we have added a number of protein options to keep you energized and attentive throughout the morning.  We encourage you to help yourselves generously as we will not be serving additional food on the morning breaks given we have an early lunch on all 3 days.  We will be serving snacks on the afternoon breaks.

Finally, one last reminder that if you would like to join us at the Conference Dinner & Dance on May 31 and / or the Open House at Queen’s Law Clinics on June 1, you must register for these events on the Eventbrite page.  They are not included in the regular conference registration.  Registration for both events closes on Monday, May 28.

We wish you all safe travels and look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Canadian Clinical Legal Education:  Celebrating the 10^th Anniversary of the Association of Canadian Clinical Legal Education (ACCLE)

Guest Editors: Sarah Buhler, Lisa Cirillo, Martha Simmons, and Mirja Trilsch

The Journal of Law and Social Policy in collaboration with the Association of Canadian Clinic Legal Education, will publish a special issue on clinical legal education in Canada to mark the 10^th anniversary of the founding of the Association.  The collection will seek to describe, assess, interrogate, and reflect on clinical legal education in Canada and to contextualize clinical legal education within ongoing and critical debates about legal education and access to justice in this country.

Read more »