Abstract

So far, in Italy, legal clinics have been a useful tool for filling the traditional gaps in law degree courses, which focus mainly on a theoretical knowledge of the law, neglecting practical aspects and judicial or administrative experiences; legal clinics contribute to the training of lawyers no longer focused solely on law in books, but also on law in action. Legal clinics have a number of additional characteristics that are even more important in identifying their specificity compared to other similar tools, which are now widely used in most of our law departments. The social justice function is an essential guiding principle of clinical legal education. The practical experience of many Italian clinics has now surpassed the “learning by doingµ model and has finally aimed for a more substantial novelty, which we can define as “learning by caringµ.