In the 2017/2018 Summer semester, Miranda, Liz and Taahirah completed a placement with Bayside Community Legal Service. Bayside Community Legal Service (BCLS) is situated within the Wynnum Community Centre in Wynnum, Queensland. BCLS provides general legal advice and assistance, case work, mediation, and information and referrals to other available services. The organisation assists members of the community who lack the financial, physical or educational capacity to access legal services. We assisted with the ‘Application Assistance Clinic’ which involved helping clients complete and draft legal documents under the supervision of a solicitor. We all greatly enjoyed this placement and would encourage other students to take on a role at Bayside Community Legal Service.
Hi Miranda, Liz, and Taahirah,
Great to hear about the work you did at BCLS. I really enjoyed how you intersected the photos with plain slides, it made it really clear to understand your main points. I was also placed at a community legal centre, but with a duty lawyer service, so didn’t spend much time working in the centre, so it was great to see the work BCLS did and how you were able to assist in that process. In the video, you said that you assisted with documents for various areas of law, how did you manage dealing with unfamiliar areas of law?
Great work!
Zoë
well done! really informative video and looked like a really interesting experience, particularly working independently under the supervision of lawyers.
Did you notice the different styles of the lawyers you worked with?
I particularly liked the way that your video highlighted the relationship between BCLS and the other organisations. This is important when considering the concept of community lawyering.
Would you volunteer there at the conclusion of the unit?
Hi Toby,
Thank you for your comment! We really only worked with the one lawyer during the day; however, it was extremely beneficial to be able to witness her interactions with clients, and see the skill involved. I personally found it to be an extremely worthwhile learning experience, and it has assisted me in beginning to develop my own skills in this area.
Prior to doing this placement, I was not aware at all of the existence of CLCs. I was incredibly impressed with the holistic view that BCLS takes with each of their clients; ensuring they cover not just legal requirements, but providing access to any other services of relevance.
Thanks to this placement experience, I have been able to pinpoint that community lawyering is of great interest to me personally. I am grateful for this experience, as it has enabled me to more fully understand myself as a person, and what I believe in and wish to advocate for. It has also allowed me to expand on my growing knowledge and skill set, which will be of enormous benefit to my future legal career.
I hope your experience was as rewarding as I found BCLS to be!
Kind regards,
Liz
Hi Miranda, Liz and Taahirah,
Well done on the video. I particularly enjoyed learning about the Application Assistance Clinic as I can imagine how daunting it would be for clients to fill out the endless paperwork that is required for the court. In regards to filling out the applications, did you fill out the applications with the clients in person? If so, did you find it challenging interviewing the clients to get the necessary information? Furthermore, have you observed any cultural issues when communicating with clients during your placement?
Timothy
Hi Miranda, Liz and Taahirah,
I found your presentation very engaging and appreciated that you used real life pictures of your experience. Prior to watching your video, I was not aware that Bayside Community Legal Service existed or what involvement they had within the community.
When undertaking my placement with Caxton Legal Centre, I found it very comforting that they allowed you to work in pairs initially and understand that you did the same. Did you find it daunting at first working by yourself after spending so much time in pairs?
We also spent quite some time networking and engaging with other lawyers. What types of lawyers were you able to meet? Did they teach you any skills that you didn’t already hold?
Do you think you will continue volunteering with Bayside Community Legal Service after your summer semester?
Kristin
Hi Kristin,
Thank you for your comment! Whilst we predominantly worked with the one lawyer during our placement, we were also introduced to several other lawyers from other places (such as Legal Aid, and a prominent Family Law business). We were lucky enough to hear these other lawyers present to us on their specialised areas of law, which I personally found to be a wonderful learning experience. I feel that I learned a great deal from these lawyers.
I would love to return to BCLS one day to continue volunteering; at the moment, I am going to focus on approaching other CLCs that are in closer proximity to where I live, to see if I can give back to my own community, and learn more about the issues that affect those who live nearby. I think this will also be an excellent learning opportunity, as I have not long moved to where I am currently living, and I would like to understand the legal issues in my more immediate surroundings.
I hope your experience with Caxton was as beneficial to you. Best of luck with your future studies!
Kind regards,
Liz
Hey Kristin, thanks for the comment! During our placement orientation, we got to meet about 5 different lawyers who all specialised in different areas and presented to us on their specialty, so that we could take a crash course in assisting clients! Amazingly there is only one lawyer at BCLS but she does a lot of great work there, and considering how many areas BCLS assists individuals in, she has an amazing breadth of knowledge and is always learning new things! We have learnt so much from this placement! I couldn’t believe how different applying the law is to what you learn in law tutorials. Did you find that as well?
I am continuing to volunteer with BCLS on their Monday night intake sessions – these sessions involve assisting with intake of clients and sitting in with solicitors who help clients on a range of issues.
Cheers! Miranda
Dear Miranda, Liz and Taahirah,
I loved the variety of visuals in this video and the way in which it was structured.
It sounds like you had a broad range of responsibilities during your placement! Did you feel overwhelmed by this at first? What was the most difficult task/skill to master and why?
Some of the things you listed in the “skills learnt” section I would consider to be both personal attributes and professional skills. I am impressed that you developed in so many aspects both personally and professionally throughout your placement. Would you agree that your experience at BCLS has assisted you in both a personal and professional capacity?
Wonderful job.
Courtney
Great work Miranda, Liz and Taahirah,
The video is clear, well planned and well produced.
Congratulations, It looks like you have enjoyed the placement.
it was good to see you reflect on skills learned and developed.
regards,
Rachel Manson
Hi Miranda, Liz and Taahirah
I really enjoyed your presentation! I liked that you had gone to the effort to take your photographs and videos. It was evident that you had put a lot of thought into your presentation. Your presentation was also very in-depth and it was clear that the organisation plays an important role within the community. During my placement with Caxton Legal Centre, we assisted clients from all over Brisbane, but I see that there is a need for CLCs all around Brisbane.
It seems that you were given the opportunity to develop a broad range of practical legal skills during your placement. I bet the opportunity to interact with clients independently and draft legal documents has been invaluable! Did you prefer working in pairs or did you know feel comfortable working on your own?
All the best with the rest of your studies.
Lydia
Fantastic video from all of you.
Your video is very authentic as the inclusion of pictures from your actual placement facility gives it emotional weight. Your speaking pace and clear voices combined with this authentic video style makes it very unique from the others I have seen.
As your placement consisted of drafting and completing legal documents I have two questions:
1. Were there particular types of clients (e.g. divorcees, elderly … etc) that you kept on repeatedly seeing?
2. Since you were drafting legal documents how did you manage to efficiently address each client’s needs assuming there were strict time limits on how long an appointment was?
Kind Regards,
Nam Doan
Hi Miranda, Liz and Taahirah,
Your experience at the BCLS Application Assistance Clinic sounds quite interesting! You definitely were able to assist a great many people during the placement.
It also sounds like the centre provided a great opportunity for you all to develop your legal skills in a safe environment by working together to complete tasks and have a lawyer assist to ensure that all the client’s needs were met.
Would you recommend BCLS to other students looking to complete Legal Clinic? What would you say was the most surprising positive factor of the experience?
I am glad to hear that you are all still very keen to continue working for CLCs.
Jack
Great job! Your video was very clear and succinct.
Had either of you previously had experience writing affidavit and other such documents prior to your placement? If not, how did you find that experience, it sounds like and amazing time.
Your video highlighted BCLS’s important role in the community and how it interlinks with the legal system at large.
Video looks and sounds great. Cool to see how different your experience and activities were compared to our Caxton clinic. There seems to be a strong focus on helping clientele to engage with justice and social systems, and it’s awesome that you got to do really practical work.
Hi Miranda, Liz and Taahira,
This was such a great showcase of your time on placement at the BCLS assistance clinic. I especially appreciated your in-depth explanation of your roles and responsibilities.
The role of this community legal centre seems vital to the community and the work there seems very rewarding!
Did you find you are more drawn toward community lawyering now after your placement?
Do you think you will pursue any other volunteer work with community legal centres?
Thank you for taking me along this journey with you!
Ashleigh
Hi Miranda, Liz, and Taahirah,
Thanks for putting this together. Really love how you broke things down, gave me a great chance to understand all the elements that make up BCLS and your role there. You seemed to be interacting with very vulnerable populations. I’m curious as to what challenges accompanied this, and how you worked to overcome them.
Sam
Hi Guys,
Lovely video, it’s very straight forward and clear. It seems like you had a fairly full on placement. As I have previously done a legal clinic placement with not as much client interaction as I would have liked, I was interested in how you dealt meeting and working with clients? After BCLS, do you think you are more inclined to community lawyering?
Thanks for your video!
Batool
Hi Guys,
Great job on the video. Did you feel that the placement gave you an opportunity to make a difference to the clients who presented at the clinic? Did it convince you to pursue a career in legal aid?
Hi Miranda, Liz and Taahirah ,
Excellent job on the video, it really flowed and you had some great pictures! I was just wondering, since completing this placement, would you in the future continue to volunteer with community legal centres? And why?