The practical: Professional training and social commitment in the curricula of the University of Buenos Aires’ Law School (Argentina)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe and analyse a centennial experience, the Free Legal Aid and Professional Training programme at the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), a one-year mandatory course that is part of the Law degree and commonly known as ‘The Practical’. Throughout this year, final-year law students engage in serving the community, assisting individuals that lack the financial means to afford legal representation. This hands-on experience expos-es students to pressing social issues such as domestic vio-lence, discrimination, child rights violations and barriers to accessing healthcare. Through a qualitative methodology and drawing on research on Legal Clinics and the history of the programme, we ask ourselves whether ‘The Practical’ fits into the concept of clinical education. This theoretical frame-work, along with concepts on professional learning, such as Donald Schön’s concept of reflective practicum and the anthropological ethics of Joan-Carles Mèlich, enables us to analyse similarities and differences between ‘The Practical’ and Legal Clinics and to characterise this training experience further. We conclude that ‘The Practical’ is both a rite of passage and a reflective practica experience where hegemonic views on professional legal practice and law are deconstructed and the social reality is imposed to point out the social function of the lawyer’s professional practice.