Clinical Education In Financial Frauds And White Collar Crimes

The Area of Financial and white collar crimes Is a very niche one and primarily the name and fascination with respect to scams and financial scandals directly attracts the students who choose this subject only due to curiosity. However, the real issue is that the students are not aware that this is a field that is rapidly growing both in terms of law firm practice as well as litigation.

However, at the same time, it is imperative to understand that Financial frauds and white collar crimes is an area of law which needs wider exposure in a practice, apart from merely being theoretical.

As it is the case with other law subjects, there is a quintessential need to understand and interpret the law, particularly white collar crimes as there is a lot of difference between practice and theory.

But there are unique challenges when it comes to applying theory to practice.

Clinical legal education is very pertinent when it comes to mastering white collar crimes and making a successful career out of it. For example, when it comes to understanding a subject such as money laundering, there is a huge difference between theory and practice, as it takes experience and extensive knowledge to apply principles of money laundering to defend a client or prove a case of tainted money. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that students have to delve into more practical experience.

However, despite of efforts laid in by institutions across the Country, there are practical challenges which is faced by different institutions for different reasons.

Clinical legal education can be successfully implemented only through regular court visits and working with an advocate who is highly specialized in the field.

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One of the main hurdles when it comes to channelizing clinical legal education as far as white collar crimes are concerned is mainly with regards to the limited availability of lawyers and fewer opportunities available for law students who intend to work in such a niche field.

The major issue with white collar crime litigation or corporate law firm is that the opportunities are only available in metropolitan cities and a lot of students who come from underprivileged backgrounds or from smaller towns will not get equal opportunities. All tribunals or law firms are located in major cities and accessibility becomes a major challenge.

Additionally, the major problem is that Clinical legal education is very important for a subject like white collar crimes from a moral perspective. White collar crimes is an area where morality and ethics play a very major role. Even though professional ethics are followed to the letter, sometimes there is an enduring need to make sure that core principles of justice are not negated or followed when taking up cases. Here, mentoring plays a fine role in ensuring that there is not transgression of ethics by young lawyers.

My personal experience has clearly made me realize that mentoring a young lawyer is akin to a sculptor sculpting a sculpture. The way the sculptor molds it will only decide how fine the sculpture is. If a lawyer who is a fresh graduate is not led in the right way by his mentor, he cannot become a good lawyer, particularly a moral person.

In Conclusion, Clinical Legal education is the new order of the day. However, demographic and accessibility challenges have to be countered by Institutions and Bar councils across the country and newer, effective plans have to be drafted by those in decision making levels to ensure that access is opened up through various mediums.

Online internships have slowly begun to emerge. It would benefit the students a lot if more lawyers come forward and offer such online internships.

VMLS has been offering tremendous support in enhancing legal education by giving unconditional assistance to faculty and students alike, by bringing in leading industrial experts from various courts, Tribunals as well as High courts and the Supreme court.

Additionally, our Dean has been a pillar of Support, always encouraging and exchanging ideas which benefits the students as well as faculty members. His innovation based mindset also helps us in deciding how to make the student learning experience better since the ultimate beneficiaries are always students.

Clinical Education In Financial Frauds And White Collar Crimes

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