On the evening of June 2, the Final Ceremony of the 2022 Legal Clinic was held in the School of Law at Wuhan University. Clients who had received legal aid from participating students came specially to express gratitude towards them and present honour flags.
One of the litigants praised the students’ abilities. In her case, she sued for lack of evidence meant to be provided by the government. Not only did it need ample reference to administrative law, but it involved much time and energy for preparation. However, what she received was students’ patience, warmth and confidence. Wang Ziyi and Yuan Jia, who handled the case, thanked the client for trusting them. “Though confronted with difficulties, I finally reached a resolution with the help of the professor and classmates,” Wang said with a smile. “This in-depth participation in a case is surely a valuable experience for my future study and work.”
Wang (middle) and her clients
Fu Yixi and Pan Sicheng, who solved the second case, also expended lots of effort. Pan consulted professionals in order to come up with the best solution to the housing structure problems involved in her case. The students’ serious and responsible attitude and high-quality service were praised by the parties. The two students also promised that, if needed, the parties were welcome to consult them about relevant issues, and they would do their best to provide help.
Fu (second from left), Pan (second from right), and their clients
As for the third case, Professor Li Ao conveyed her gratitude to Chen Haiyi and Luo Shilong and praised them for their responsible attitude in settling their case. After data sorting and case retrieval, they provided the parties with three kinds of legal opinions, each of which stated the possible results and estimated the potential risks. This refined way of working helped clients make a choice after weighing the pros and cons, and agreeing their preference.
Luo (left) and Chen (right)
Different from traditional classes, the legal clinic aims to combine theory with practice. Through cooperation with the legal aid centre, it guides students in helping socially vulnerable groups, putting students in contact with real cases in society. Students even have the opportunity to communicate with litigants face to face, give advice based on the analysis of the case and the knowledge learned, participate in negotiations and mediation, and represent the litigants in court. This module has proved very successful. According to Li, since the opening of the legal clinic course, students have actively participated in each session. Some students who took this course have become public interest lawyers and continue to provide legal aid to clients, while some have become members of NGOs and others teachers in law schools. She does hope that students enrolled in the legal clinic can all feel the professional ethics and social responsibility of lawyers and realise the expectations of society. Meanwhile, she believes it is a bridge between theoretical and practical studies.
Photo by Zhang Yufeng
Edited by Fu Wantong, Li Jing, Qin Shihan, Sylvia, Xi Bingqing
