Our approach
Through our trainings, we effectively and efficiently communicate the essential standards of practice for legal aid staff at various levels of development, while creating a sense of community and thereby facilitating a heightened sense of commitment to legal aid work. Our trainings combine essential advocacy skills with reinforcement of the legal services community’s core values and mission.
In offering a training curriculum that builds upon a progression of courses, CLAE provides resources that enable equal justice lawyers and staff to develop mastery as advocates for justice. CLAE also creates networks that nurture long-term relationships among advocates from different regions who work together for systemic change.
Our philosophy
Our training philosophy and methodology are rooted in action-learning, i.e., learning that is based on the relationship between reflection and action. Through our training programs we provide opportunities for advocates to apply key concepts and skills to actual legal aid experiences. Our trainings provide an opportunity for staff from different programs to learn from each other and think creatively about how to most effectively address new client service issues that arise due to changes in law, social and demographic trends, and program limitations and restrictions.