Melting Polar Icebergs: Teaching Law Students to Access Empathy and Channel Their Passion to Empower Their Clients and Themselves

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Franciscan C

Floor: Ballroom Level

Toady’s law students are learning in a highly digitized and politically charged environment that encourages stark polarization and devalues interpersonal skills, particularly empathy. Clinical legal education presents a unique opportunity for clinicians to help students work through these challenges, helping them to find the balance between advocacy, professionalism, and empathy. This session will provide participants with the opportunity for discussion around the barriers faced by students today and ways to encourage students to “dive” beneath the surface to find connections. Session presenters will share techniques they have used in their clinics to teach empathy as a core transferrable skill. Techniques will include exercises to help students see beyond labels/preconceived ideas, lessons in cross-cultural lawyering as a way to be comfortable with similarities and differences, and simulations to help students actively listen. The session will also include ways to use an understanding of ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences) to help students understand how to meet clients where they are and provide effective advocacy. In all, the session will demonstrate how clinicians can help students develop a professional and personal toolkit that will allow them to engage with clients, the legal system, and the law school community in a way that empowers them to be passionate, engaged, and connected.