Associate Professor Ross Hyams: Memorable achievements as an educator
50 Years / 50 Voices: Learning law and changing lives is a commemorative volume marking the 50th anniversary of the ongoing Monash Law Clinical Program, a pioneering initiative in clinical legal education undertaken by the Faculty of Law at Monash University. 50 alumni of the Monash Law Clinical Program shared their story with 50 current students of the same program. This is an excerpt from the book.
Associate Professor Ross Hyams has devoted his career to providing the highest quality of legal education to students. A practising lawyer, he currently teaches several units at the Clayton campus, including Professional Practice, Foundations of Law and Lawyers Ethics in Practice. He is also an academic who possesses a long research record and has published on the issues of non-adversarial justice, family law and clinical legal education.
As a senior Monash Law faculty member, Hyams has played a major role in developing Monash Law Clinics to its current iteration. In addition to his other professional responsibilities, Hyams continues to be very involved with the clinical program. His wealth of experience over 30 years in the Monash Law clinical and academic programs means that he is invaluable to the team, providing guidance and mentorship for less experienced clinical supervisors and pragmatic development advice for program management and development.
Monash Law Clinics can be a transformative experience for students, and this was especially true for Hyams. He was the first in his family to attend university and had no experience interacting with lawyers before beginning his legal education. During his final year of his Bachelor of Laws, Hyams began his clinical placement at Springvale Legal Service. Up to that point, he found his legal education to be largely uneventful.
His decision to select Professional Practice as an elective came thanks to the advice of an older cousin and because a first-year lecturer he admired was teaching the unit.
This spontaneous decision would change the course of his life. On his first day walking around the clinic and hearing his supervisor explain where the files were kept, his first thought was, I hope nobody else is thinking this, but what’s a file? After quickly adapting to this new environment, he was ‘bitten by the clinical bug’. Hyams’s experience at Springvale provided him immense insight on what kind of a legal practitioner he wanted to be in the future.
Read more about 50 years of Monash Law Clinics and buy 50 Years / 50 Voices here
Graduation ceremony, 1998.
After graduating from Monash University, Hyams obtained his practising certificate and went into private practice for three years. Although that experience helped his professional development, he was not interested in pursuing it for the rest of his career.
His time at Springvale Legal Service made him realise that his passion was to help people and give back to the community. He returned to Clayton as director of Monash-Oakleigh Legal Service, helping to build and strengthen the clinical program.
In recognition of his dedication and capabilities, Hyams has been granted numerous awards and nominations, including the Law Institute of Victoria President’s Award and President’s Inaugural Community Lawyers’ Award.
Hyams says the highlight of his career is the times where he has positively affected the lives of his students. Hyams is proud to have had an impact on a new generation of lawyers, recounting numerous moments when former students told him how his lessons changed their lives for the better.
One of the most important things a lawyer does is to listen, and this was a key lesson Hyams swiftly learned in his clinical experience. The importance of research and legal thinking shouldn’t be understated, he says, but the first step is simply to just hear what people have to say.
Hyams vividly remembers the very first client he had in Springvale because she arrived carrying a huge bag of tree branches and eucalyptus leaves. It was unusual, but after listening to her he realised that she wasn’t carrying rubbish, but evidence.
The woman’s neighbour had a tree whose branches protruded into her property, and it was causing a huge mess in her front yard.
Judgement is easy to render, but it is vital that lawyers are patient and receptive to others. So much of the law is about the narrative, and involves the client’s stories and their underpinning emotions. Clients will never just hand their lawyer a piece of paper with all the facts on it like an exam, Hyams says.
Hyams also recalls another client who would come into the clinic every Thursday morning in a three-piece suit and talk for half an hour. This elderly gentleman didn’t have a legal problem and eventually Hyams asked his supervisor why he was listening to this person. The answer was simple but profound: it was the kind thing to do. The client didn’t require legal assistance, but it was still important that Hyams just listen to him. Hyams understood then that lawyers shouldn’t restrict themselves to their role as being officers of the courts, but they can also be empathetic humans.
As a student, Hyams would have never imagined the future trajectory of his professional life. Now as an academic and educator, Hyams understands that the legal profession is a vast field that allows everyone to specialise in wildly disparate areas, and there will be a place in the law for everyone regardless of their interest and passion. Monash Law Clinics’ multidisciplinary approach to legal problem-solving exemplifies the modern world’s intricacies, he says.
Hyams believes that there are countless ways to help people and that legal practitioners can strive to be of service to others in a variety of ways, and students should not limit their minds to the opportunities that await them. Hyams is grateful that he’s had the opportunity to guide so many generations of law students.
Read more about 50 years of Monash Law Clinics and buy 50 Years / 50 Voices here
Get involved with Monash Law Clinics
Monash Law Clinics combine legal education with real-world impact, supporting access to justice while equipping students with practical, ethical and professional skills.
If you are a student interested in undertaking a clinical unit as part of your studies, explore the available clinical placements and elective options.
Whether you’re an alum, practitioner or organisation keen to support the clinics through hosting placements, partnerships, volunteering or funding, there’s a way to be involved. To learn more, contact Emily Collard, Industry & Alumni Engagement Manager, at emily.collard@monash.edu.