Legal Education Outreach : Designing Impactful Legal Education Outreach Programs (in schools and communities)

Legal Education outreach is a powerful opportunity for law firms and members of the legal profession to help make the law more accessible, understandable, and relevant. Legal professionals are uniquely positioned to help educate and engage members of the public, to create more active and empowered citizens, and to help make the law more equitable and accountable.   The Law Society has been a pioneer in promoting public legal education and developing the capacity and impact of legal professionals to deliver experiential, learner-centred programs such as Street Law and other access to justice methodologies. Centred on the social aspect of ESG a number of law firms and individual solicitors have also launched their own successful community engagement initiatives in this area.

Interactive Workshop 
Join Dr. Seán Arthurs (USA) for this interactive learning experience that will help prepare you to:

• Design and implement legal education programs/ workshops  for school students and community members that are grounded in the best practices of teaching and learning
• Engage, challenge and excite youngsters around complex legal issues
• Inspire your audience around the law and how it is relevant to their own lives

The workshop will be a hands-on experience and participants will be engaging and reflecting on the same activities they can later use in any type of legal outreach program. A specific goal will be to prepare participant to design and lead their own engaging and interactive Legal Education Outreach in schools. Participants will receive access to suggested programme designs and multiple resources to use in designing a programme from 1 hour to 1 full day. The workshop will also be of interest and offer learnings for anyone involved in outreach programmes with other community organisations or responsible for designing impactful in-house trainings for lawyers. 

Facilitators:
Seán Arthurs is an educator, non-profit leader, and lawyer with a passion for conceptualizing, developing, and implementing impactful and mission-driven educational programming at scale. He is presently privileged to be working with frontline environmental and human rights defenders as the Director of Global Education and Training with EarthRights International. Arthurs is committed to learning and partnering with others to build education systems and structures that identify and eliminate systemic barriers and ensure that all learners and leaders realize their potential. He has facilitated and led teams in a wide variety of online and in-person learning experiences across the globe, including the inaugural LSI Street Law program, the world’s largest Mock Trial program, and Harvard’s Certificate in Advanced Education Leadership modules.  Seán holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership (HGSE), a B.B.A. (University of Notre Dame), a J.D. (University of Cincinnati), a Master of Arts in Teaching (University of Portland), and an L.L.M. in Advocacy (Georgetown University Law Center). Dr. Arthurs has worked as a judicial clerk, Legal Aid attorney, human rights volunteer, litigation associate, and high school teacher. When he is not attending school or building programs, Seán is learning and laughing with his two lively and inquisitive children who remind him frequently about how little he knows.

John Lunney 
John works at the Law Society of Ireland where he is a Course Manager on the Professional Practice Course. John has a particular interest in Public Legal Education initiatives that work with young people to develop their awareness and understanding of the law. He is the coordinator of the Street Law Clinic at the Law Society of Ireland and has also designed the Law Society’s Transition Year schools programme ‘Solicitors of the Future’.  A co-founder of the Street Law UK & Ireland, Best Practices Conference, he has also presented on Street Law at a number of international conferences, contributed to published research in the area and led Street Law “train the trainer “workshops domestically and internationally. A dual qualified solicitor and teacher, John holds a PGDE (UCC), MSc in applied E Learning (TUD) where his research concerned student perceptions of added interactivity in online video. He is currently undertaking a Masters in Character Education at the University of Birmingham and has a specific interest in the development of character in trainee solicitors.

 

IMPORTANT

• This is an in-person event and will not be available online or as a recording. 
  
• Attendance at our in-person events are tracked and logged for CPD compliance purposes. This information will be shared with the Law Society CPD Scheme at their request.
  
• Participants must attend both days in order to avail of the CPD hours on offer and receive the full benefits of the course.
  
• For CPD 2023 information see https://www.lawsociety.ie/Solicitors/Practising/CPD-Scheme
• For more information, please see the Brochure
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*This Law Society Skillnet discount is applicable to all practicing solicitors working in the private sector