Empowering Future Lawyers: Advancing Clinical Legal Education for Access to Justice in Bangladesh

Legal education in Bangladesh remains largely theoretical, creating a gap between academic knowledge and practical legal skills required for effective lawyering in real field. Clinical Legal Education (CLE) is a crucial aspect of law teaching methodology of practical legal training through moot-court, mock-trial, participation of the students in alternative dispute resolution and also in public legal education, particularly through Law Clinics in university law departments, presents a valuable pedagogical tool for addressing this deficiency. This article examines how Law Clinics serve as a pioneering platform for law students to develop essential skills such as client interviewing, case management, courtroom advocacy, judicial activism , and procedural law application for empowering future lawyers. The study emphasizes the need for institutional support, practical training by legal experts i.e. veteran Advocates, Judicial Magistrates, Judges of sessions court, Judges of civil courts, judicial exposure, and curricular reform to incorporate the mainstream CLE in Bangladesh’s legal education system.