The first wave of modern clinical legal education: The United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia

This chapter considers the early development of clinical legal education in a group of countries that have proven influential in the spread of clinical methods across the globe: the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia. There are both similarities and differences in the stories of how clinics emerged during the 1960s and 1970s with volunteer-based student services developing into academic programs that pursued both social justice and student learning objectives while emphasizing ethics and professional responsibility. The points of contrast relate to the academic-professional divide in British and Australian legal education, accreditation requirements, funding arrangements, and the treatment of clinicians in the legal academy. The chapter also considers the lasting legacy of these early programs, suggesting that the distinctiveness of clinical legal education is a source of both strength and vulnerability.