Updated Standards and the Online Monitoring Tool: Legal Clinics on the Path to Systemic Change

The Standards are not just a set of norms. They reflect a shared understanding of what a legal clinic is, the role it plays in legal education, and how it responds to the challenges of our time. That is why, when the educational and professional context changes — with new approaches to learning, consulting, and legal education activities — there arises a need to record these changes at the level of general guidelines. On April 22, 2025, a public presentation of the updated version of the Standards of Operation for Legal Clinics in Ukraine took place. This document reflects the modern vision of how clinics should operate and the challenges the clinical community is ready to face.

Over 40 participants, including students, heads, and curators of legal clinics, as well as representatives of law schools and partner organizations, joined the online event organized by the Association. They were united by an interest in the new norms developed by the experts of the Association for the activities of legal clinics, and the opportunity to rethink what the legal clinic community is focused on today: how to support the development of clinics in the current conditions and make them even stronger.

Updated Standards

The first version of the Standards, adopted back in 2014, was developed by the legal clinics themselves as a general guideline for organizing their work. Since then, much has changed — in legislation, the organization of the educational process, and the very reality in which legal clinics operate. New challenges and opportunities have arisen, and the role of legal clinics as a space for practical legal training and a tool for providing legal assistance has grown.

Work on the new version of the Standards lasted almost a year and was carried out with the support of the OSCE Support Program in Ukraine. The coordinator of the process was a member of the Board of the Association, Yuliia Matvieieva. Key changes were developed together with representatives of the legal clinic community during the Association’s events, including the summer and winter forums of legal clinics in 2024, as well as the summer school “The Power of Law and Legal Clinics” (Chernivtsi, 2024).

During the presentation, the chair of the Association, Yuliia Lomzhets, emphasized that the updated Standards reflect a paradigm shift — the legal clinic is no longer seen as a supporting structure but is positioned as an innovative space within law schools. At the core of the provisions is the vision of the legal clinic as a workshop for practical skills, a research laboratory, a center of civic activity, and a provider of change at the community, regional, and state levels.

What’s New in the Standards?

One of the key innovations is the expanded functionality of legal clinics. In addition to the traditional educational and social functions, the updated Standards now officially include research, charitable activities, and more. This approach opens up more space for initiatives aimed at preparing future lawyers and making a real impact on communities and societal processes.

For the first time, the updated version clearly defines the requirements for the competence of legal clinic staff. It is not only about professional training but also about ethics, effective communication skills, and the ability to assess situations considering their value-based aspects. This approach forms a new vision of the role of the curator as a mentor who supports, guides, and develops the clinic’s team.

Special attention is given to the well-being of consultants. The Standards highlight the importance of a safe and comfortable environment that promotes learning without burnout. This includes both physical conditions and purposeful work with manageable workloads, mental health support, and resource management for student consultants and the clinic’s team.

A new section has been added to the updated Standards, dedicated to other types of activities for legal clinics. It has now been formally recognized in the regulatory document what has gradually become common practice for many clinics: advocacy initiatives, participation in public campaigns, working on cases of public interest, mediation, lawmaking, and other formats aimed at improving legal culture and the professional level of students.

The update also highlights the importance of partnership as a component of the clinics’ effective operations. The document outlines the principles of cooperation between legal clinics and centers providing free legal assistance, law firms, bar associations, local authorities, and NGOs. Special attention is given to the international dimension of clinic work. The Standards confirm the legitimacy and value of already established practices of international cooperation — partnerships with foreign law schools and clinics, participation in research initiatives, internships, conferences, and projects of social importance.

The updated version of the Standards of Operation for Legal Clinics in Ukraine can be found on our website (Ukrainian language).

Online Monitoring Tool

Another important step towards improving the quality of legal clinical education was the presentation of the Online Monitoring Tool for the activities of legal clinics, conducted by board member Khrystyna Kovtsun and expert Marta Tsymbala.

The monitoring practice was initiated by the Association as a tool for friendly peer-to-peer evaluation of the clinics’ compliance with the Standards. Its main goal is not punishment or formal control, but identifying areas for growth: where a clinic can strengthen its work, develop a particular direction, or optimize organizational processes.

Until 2020, the monitoring was conducted exclusively offline — the monitoring group would visit the clinic, communicate with its team, analyze documents, and provide recommendations. Today, this process has become easier and more accessible thanks to the Online Monitoring Tool, which operates on the Notion platform.

The Online Monitoring Tool combines convenient electronic forms for collecting information, the use of artificial intelligence elements, and flexibility in interactions between the clinic and the monitoring group. It allows for remote monitoring without losing the depth of evaluation and significantly simplifies the work of the monitoring group in offline conditions.

The monitoring covers four key areas:

• Organization and management of the clinic;
• Legal clinical education;
• Client consulting;
• Legal education activities.

The pilot testing of the tool took place at the Mykola Udod Legal Clinic at Vasyl Stud Donetsk National University. According to Marta Tsymbala, this pilot project allowed the tool’s effectiveness to be tested in practice, and helped identify technical flaws, improve the logic of certain sections, and expand its functionality.

As a result of the monitoring, the clinic demonstrated a high level of compliance with the updated Standards — 92%, and the developers of the tool received several suggestions for its further improvement. According to the head of the Mykola Udod Legal Clinic, Liliia Amelicheva, the online monitoring process was a new experience for the clinic’s team, but with the support and guidance of the experts, everything went well. The recommendations received are indeed useful for the clinic and can strengthen its work.

We express our gratitude to our partners from the OSCE Support Program in Ukraine for their support in the process of updating the Standards. We also thank everyone who participated in the process of change, shared their experiences, and helped make these documents dynamic and effective.