Law Clinic Welcomes Esteemed Guests

On 3 April 2018, the Stellenbosch University Law Clinic invited several dignitaries from all over the world to visit the Clinic for coffee and a short tour. The guests were Andrew Goodman, a mediation and arbitration expert from the United Kingdom; the Honourable Madam Justice Mary Lim from Malaysia, who is a judge in the Malaysian court of appeal dealing with intellectual property matters. Further, Senior Advocate Phillip Greenwood from Australia, who specialises in professional negligence, insurance law, and technology dispute matters; and Louis Podbielski, the product development manager of case law solutions at LexisNexis.
Finally, the vice dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Geo Quinot, also joined for the visit. These guests were in town for the International Advocacy Training Council Conference and the Clinic saw it fit to invite them especially in light of the fact that the Law Clinic’s own Stephan van der Merwe was also a speaker at this conference. The guests were given a short tour of the Clinic, whereafter, over a cup of coffee, Dr Theo Broodryk explain exactly what the Clinic does: how it assists the public along with training students and candidate attorneys. The guests had the opportunity to speak to some of the students working at the Clinic as part of their final year module Practical Legal Training. Andrew Goodman and Phillip Greenwood SC had an interesting discussion with the students about the importance of alternative dispute resolution and how institutions like the Law Clinic could enhance the implementation of ADR in its matters. At the close of the visit, the guests each expressed their interest in the growth of the Law Clinic and offered ways in which they could aid the Clinic in its clinical training, such as books, possible exchange programs and training professional law reporters.