A legal clinic or law clinic is a nonprofit law practice serving the public interest. Legal clinics originated as a method of practical teaching of law school students, but today they encompass also free legal aid with no academical links. In the academic context, these law school clinics provide hands-on experience to law school students and services to various (typically indigent) clients. Academic Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors. Many legal clinics offer pro bono work in one or more particular areas, providing free legal services to clients. The remainder of this article will discuss clinical legal education.
Students typically provide assistance with research, drafting legal arguments, and meeting with clients. In many cases, one of the clinic's professors will show up for oral argument before the Court. However, many jurisdictions have "student practice" rules that allow law-clinic students to appear and argue in court.
Read more about Legal Clinic: Types of Activity, Areas of Service, Benefits, Problems
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“If he who breaks the law is not punished, he who obeys it is cheated. This, and this alone, is why lawbreakers ought to be punished: to authenticate as good, and to encourage as useful, law-abiding behavior. The aim of criminal law cannot be correction or deterrence; it can only be the maintenance of the legal order.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)