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Buhler: Introduction
Introduction
SARAH BUHLER*
THIS SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY brings together articles,
conversations, and reflections in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Association for
Canadian Clinical Legal Education (ACCLE). Although clinical legal education has existed in
Canada for many decades, it was not until the formation of ACCLE in 2010 that Canadian
clinical legal educators really began to build a national community and engage in a sustained,
nation-wide conversation about clinical pedagogy, clinical law practice, and the challenges and
joys of this work. ACCLE's mandate is:
* to provide a forum for legal educators across Canada to share best practices,
pedagogies and other information related to clinical legal education;
* to encourage the promotion and improvement of clinical legal education in Canadian
law schools;
* to promote clinical pedagogy and research;
* to facilitate the dissemination of information pertaining to clinical legal education to
clinicians in Canada, and;
* to promote or organize conferences or other activities to facilitate the purposes of the
association.1
The importance of national clinical organizations was discussed by Margaret Martin
Barry and her co-authors in an article entitled The Role of National and Regional Clinical
Organizations in the Global Clinical Movement.2 The authors note that clinical law
organizations provide clinicians with the resources needed to develop clinic programs on the
national, regional, and international level.3 The authors note the key importance of conferences
that provide a forum for clinical legal educators to come together.4 Certainly, this rings true for
ACCLE's annual conferences, which have created an infrastructure for personal and professional
relationship-building, and the sharing of ideas, practices, and pedagogies. Factors including
geographic distance between clinics, perpetual precariousness of clinic funding, and variable
support and recognition from law schools means that Canadian clinicians may find themselves
feeling isolated in their work. Therefore, ACCLE's commitment to community-building and
advocacy is particularly significant. It has permitted, as one clinic director stated, an affirmation
of our reality.5
* Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan College of Law. With many thanks to ACCLE co-editors Lisa
Cirillo, Mirja Trilsch, and Martha Simmons. We are incredibly grateful for the tireless editorial work of Janet
Mosher, Amar Bhatia, and the student editors of the Journal of Law and Social Policy.
1 Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education, About ACCLE, online: <http://accle.ca/> [perma.cc/YBK6-
9VWN].
2 Margaret Martin Barry et al, The Role of National and Regional Clinical Organizations in the Global Clinical
Movement, in Frank S Bloch, ed, The Global Clinical Movement: Educating Lawyers for Social Justice (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2011) at 279.
3 Ibid at 279.
4 Ibid at 283.
5 See Buhler et al, Clinical Legal Education on the Ground: A Conversation in this volume.
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