More than forty deans, clinical legal education faculty, and supervising lawyers from various law schools in the Philippines completed last week in the Special Course on Clinical Pedagogy under the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) Training Program organized by Legal Education Board in partnership with The Asia Foundation.
The course was delivered through seven synchronous sessions and seven asynchronous modules conducted by Professor Jeffrey R. Baker, Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Global Programs of Caruso School of Law, Pepperdine University, California, USA.
Baker directs the program of clinical education, including the legal clinics, externships, pro bono programs, practicum courses, and global programs, including the London Program, the Washington DC Externship Semester, and the Augsburg Exchange Program. Professor Baker supervises and teaches the Community Justice Clinic and other courses.
Among those who finished the course from Western Visayas are Dean Rosanne Juliana Gonzaga and Legal Ethics Professor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue of the University of St. La Salle College of Law – Bacolod City; Dean Dodie Turla of the University of Negros Occidental Recoletos School of Law – Bacolod City, and Dean Pauline Grace Alfuente of the West Visayas State University College of Law – Iloilo City.
Commissioner Josefe C. Sorrera-Ty of the Legal Education Board (LEB) considered the two-month intensive training course for clinical pedagogy as a significant capacity-building experience for the participating law faculty and a celebration of shared values and best practices for legal education and the profession. Sorrera-Ty cited the initiative as a means for excellent formation of lawyers who serve as guardians of the Rule of Law, Democracy and Human Rights.
The training complements the full implementation of the Revised Rule 138-A of the Rules of Court which today allows a duly certified law student to engage in the limited practice of law. The rule aims to institutionalize the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) in the curriculum of all law schools which aims to enhance, improve, and streamline the training of law student practitioners. The CLEP program likewise aims to ensure access to justice by the marginalized sector; to enhance learning opportunities of law students; to instill the values of ethical, professional, and social responsibility; and regulate the students’ limited practice of law.
