Get to know our experiential education

In experiential education students are given tools to reflect on what it means to perform various professional roles, for society, for the people they work with and for themselves. Students learn by doing and discover which areas of legal work suit them best. For the innovative nature of its education, the Amsterdam Law Practice received a Dutch Higher Education Premium in 2022, the award for innovative higher education.

Underlying educational vision

Although simulations, clinics and moot courts are now an integral part of the educational programme of law faculties, these forms are taught at the Amsterdam Law Practice on the basis of a specific educational vision. The development of the student's professional identity is central to this vision. Crucially, in addition to applying knowledge and learning by doing, students reflect, based on insights from professional ethics, on what it means to perform a particular legal role for society, for future employers, and for the students themselves. In this way, education contributes to training responsible lawyers of the future.

Examples of courses

To obtain a Master's degree at the Amsterdam Law School, students take at least one 6 EC ALP course. Our experiential education can now be found in more than 30 courses, distributed across the various Master’s programmes. There are also ALP courses that are accessible to (almost) all Master’s students. These are:

• Amsterdam Law Clinics: students work on behalf of clients, such as NGOs, on real cases of public interest. Students participate in court cases, give advice and provide legal expertise and support. Clinical legal education is also offered within the programmes themselves.
• Justice Entrepreneurship: students learn to devise and develop an innovative solution to an existing legal problem. In 2021 the course received the Golden Hourglass Innovative Legal Education Award.
• Internships: during an internship, students gain a specific form of practical experience at an external workplace. To reflect on this practical experience, they are supported from the programme through lectures on professional responsibility and professional ethics. The internship is approached as reflective practice during these lectures.

In the Course Catalogue you can check which ALP courses are offered per Master’s programme. Here, you will also find more information about enrollment and scheduling.

Students on the Amsterdam Law Practice

Lecturers

The development of the Amsterdam Law Practice began in 2018 with a pilot. Since then, the curriculum has expanded to the point where a permanent team is involved in its organization and further development. In addition to the subject lecturers who teach the courses in the various Master's programmes, a number of people are involved in the Amsterdam Law Practice at the faculty level:

• Anniek de Ruijter, Professor of Health Law and Policy
• Rosa Möhrlein, Coördinator Amsterdam Law Practice and coordinator Traineeships
• Elena Deliran, Director Amsterdam Law Clinics
• Nathalie Dijkman, Director Amsterdam Law Hub
• Iris van Domselaar, Professor of Legal philosophy and Legal ethics

ACLPA Collaboration

The Amsterdam Center for the Legal Profession and Access to Justice (ACLPA) provides a supportive and scholarly foundation in the field of professional ethics and reflection within experiential education. For example, staff members of the center provide substantive (guest) lectures.

How do you register?

The study programme of a specific Master's programme mentions which ALP courses are offered. In the Course Catalogue you will find more information about the registration for the relevant courses.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact Rosa Lokin-Möhrlein, Coordinator Amsterdam Law Practice, r.mohrlein@uva.nl. The Director of the Amsterdam Law Clinics is Elena Deliran.