Pioneers celebrate 50 years of Clinical Legal Education at Monash Law
Simon Smith, Professor Jeff Giddings, Gerry Nash and Jon Faine.
Founders, pioneers and alumni of Monash Law’s Clinical Legal Education program recently gathered at the Monash Law Clinic Clayton to celebrate 50 years.
Professor Steven Vaughan, Dean of the Faculty of Law welcomed guests including Patrick Gerard (Gerry) Nash, former Dean of Law, and first clinic supervisor, and Simon Smith who was instrumental as a student, in establishing the Clinics in 1975.
Join Monash Law Clinics in celebrating 50 years in 2025
”We believe in law and the rule of law. We believe in access to justice as an integral component of the rule of law. We believe in lawyers as products and servants and agents of the rule of law,” declared Professor Vaughan.
Standing centre: The Hon Nahum Mushin AM, Professor Steven Vaughan and Professor Marilyn Pittard.
“I'm a champion of our Clinics because we believe in our clients. We recognise that vast unmet legal need in Victoria and beyond, our obligations as professionals is to use our legal expertise in the public interest.”
In the leafy courtyard of the Beddoe Avenue Clinic, under the shade of an enormous gum tree, Professor Vaughan reflected on the people who had benefited from access to justice through Monash Law Clinics.
“ Since 2020, we have advised and assisted over 6,000 people in our Clinics. We are advocates for whoever needs help.”
Professor Jeff Giddings.
Professor Jeff Giddings, Associate Dean Experiential Education addressed the founders, pioneers and alumni reflecting on his own experience as a student of Clinical Legal Education at Monash Law.
“ In 1984, it was electrifying, is the way I would describe it. The law went from black and white to technicolor and it really was fantastic in so many ways. We are really lucky.”
“ I see my role as Associate Dean as essentially the current custodian for the program.”
Pioneers and alumni of Monash Law Clinics.
Acknowledging that it wasn’t possible to name every individual who had played a significant role in the 50 years of Monash Law Clinics, Professor Giddings called out two of the founders.
”It's really special to have so many significant people from the history of the program here tonight, especially Gerry Nash, the first supervisor in the program.”
“Simon Smith, the indefatigable Springvale Legal Service coordinator, was in so many ways the driving force for the development of the program which included Doveton Legal Service from 1977 to 1980, and the Monash Legal Service, which then became the Monash Oakleigh Legal in 1978.”
Gerry Nash, Simon Smith and Maureen Tehan.
The Clinical Legal Education programs first employee
Simon Smith was a student at Monash Law when he started volunteering, alongside other Monash Law students, at one of the first community legal centres in Australia.
“ Back to the early 1970s when I was an undergraduate here, we were involved in setting up what used to be called the Springvale Legal Service. That morphed in the middle of 1975 into a clinical program,” remembered Smith.
In 1978, Smith became the first full-time teacher in the clinical legal education program. Both the program and the legal centre grew rapidly.
Join Monash Law Clinics in celebrating 50 years in 2025
“ It became so big because it had nighttime services and you couldn't get legal advice at nighttime, anywhere else in Melbourne, apart from the Springvale and Fitzroy. So the demand was phenomenal.”
“ 10 years later I was still there because it was a great job. In those days we were pioneering at the grassroots.”
Smith’s memories of the early days of Monash Law Clinics reveal the can-do attitude of grassroots organisations, but also the grand ambitions that lead to extraordinary achievements.
“ I can always recall the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, who was at that stage, head of the Law Reform Commission, came to visit. He had two pieces of my fruit cake that I used to make. It became known as diplomacy fruitcake, because I always trotted out for visiting judges and what have you.”
“ So we were able to do quite a bit of policy work in those days.”
Bruce Dyer.
Monash Oakleigh memories from the 1980s
Bruce Dyer is currently the president of the Monash Law Clinics incorporated association. But in the mid 1980s Dyer w as a student in Professional Practice at Monash Oakleigh as it was then called.
”It was my last subject in my law degree. I saved up till last and it was a fabulous subject,” remembered Dyer.
“ I spent most of my career as a lawyer at Blake Dawson Ashurst and then a regulator, takeovers panel. Over my career, there's been a growing divide between academia and the profession, to the loss of both, but the clinical program is bridging that divide.”
Dyer enjoyed catching up with other Monash Law Clinics Alumni to share old memories as well as insights into the recent developments and successes of the program.
“ It's great to see the extent to which it's developed.”
Lesley McKenzie and Jo Kerr.
Making a difference in people’s lives in the 1990s
Jo Kerr had enrolled in her law degree in the late 1980s because she wanted to help people. As she got closer to graduation in 1990 and saw fellow students applying for jobs at big law firms, she wondered where she would fit in.
“ And then I saw that there was a clinical program, so. I applied and that basically transformed my understanding of how you can use the law,” remembered Kerr.
“ It was the law in a real life context. When I went back to studying my law subjects, they all made sense all of a sudden. In particular it was that you could see how you could genuinely make a difference in people's lives.”
While she was sharing her memories for this article, Kerr was dragged away to join a group photo with other Monash Law Clinics alumni. But not before she revealed the full extent of the clinical legal education impact on her career.
“ That experience at Springvale Legal Service was the start of my legal career and dictated where it was gonna go. So I then started working in a number of legal centers. And then I came back and I worked at Springvale as a supervisor from about 1995 to 1998.”
Clinical Legal Education for the betterment of clients in the 2000s
Jennifer Lindstrom is the legal practice manager and supervising lawyer of MLC Melbourne, who first encountered clinical legal education as a student in the Family Law Assistance Program.
“ I left in the middle to spread my wings, but always this place has my heart and so I always kept coming back. And so after lots of adventures in other parts of the legal world, I've come right back to where I started,” remembered Lindstrom.
As a student, Lindstrom had the transformational experience in Clinical Legal Education that she continues to love witnessing in her own students today.
“ I didn't think I would stay in the law. It sort of got to a point where I thought, what am I doing all this for? And after joining the Clinics, being able to help members of the community find a voice and navigate through the legal system, I thought community law, this is me.”
“ My main practice area is in dispute resolution. One of my favourite parts of the job is seeing students realise there's a different way to practise rather than litigating, rather than being adversarial. We can actually all work together for the betterment of clients in a non adversarial space.”
Shalini Mendis.
Clinical experience becomes career specialisation in the 2010s
Shalini Mendis worked in boutique family law firms before choosing to specialise a couple of years ago and set up her own practice.
“ I did the Springvale Monash Legal Service clinic one summer and I also did the Family Law Assistance Program with Jen in another summer period. After that I volunteered and I think they were trying to kick me out after volunteering for so long,” laughed Mendis.
Monash Law Clinics were more than just transformational for Mendis, they actually convinced her to stick with her law degree after a challenging start.
“I was actually not enjoying the law too much in my second year and my older sister said, well, I think you should try one of the placements. She's a Monash grad as well.”
Mendis’s Clinical Legal Education experience arrived earlier than most students who usually start their clinical placements in their penultimate year.
“I met the most incredible people and saw the application of the law to the practical side of things. And I'm still friends with a lot of that same cohort now.”
Join Monash Law Clinics in celebrating 50 years in 2025
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.