Clinic for all: implementing a clinical guarantee

Monash Law School now offers all commencing students a guarantee that they can participate in the clinical programme. To date, the development and implementation process has raised many issues; these include purposes, planning, building consensus, structures, policies and processes, research, and resources. Clinical legal education programmes resist a solitary purpose as they have a multitude of stakeholders within the university and the broader community. Everything from social justice to marketing edge can be harnessed when dealing with the transformative power of experiential learning. The planning to implement a clinical guarantee in a large law school was also significant – this initiative involved more than doubling the size of a leading Australian clinical programme. Building consensus was vital to establishing this initiative – a shared understanding needed to be developed regarding what to introduce and how. The clinical programme structure required careful deliberation to ensure consistency and comparability while recognising the value of diverse offerings and practices. Implementing a clinical guarantee also requires the careful development of policies and processes. As a programme grows and involves more staff and multiple sites, the transparency of arrangements becomes increasingly essential. Developing a research agenda addressing the implementation of the guarantee and research on clinical legal education is critical to continued improvement in a clinical education programme. All this needs resourcing – securing and maintaining support to build a sustainable programme is a significant challenge for any major project in the clinical space. The chapter will address these issues, considering how to retain the essence of experiential education amid programme expansion.