The Law Clinic at Blackstone
In the Law Clinic at Blackstone, our law students represent real clients on real cases under the direct supervisions of highly qualified barristers and lawyers. Blackstone Law Clinic is supervised by Mr. Usama Malik, one of the most prominent human rights lawyer in Pakistan, to provide justice to those for whom it is inaccessible.
Our 21st century classroom curriculum gets students started on “thinking like a lawyer,” and in the clinic, they start working like a lawyer. In courtrooms and legislatures–the Law Clinic at Blackstone is making profound differences in the lives of the clients through real-world legal problem solving, pro-bono cases and providing highly skilled service to clients in a variety of legal areas.
Director's Message
"In this very little time, our students have handled over a 30 cases. They worked with and represented real clients on real cases. In doing so, they learned a variety of practical skills, from case law research to drafting all types of legal documents, from interviewing clients to preparing argument note and arguments in the court. The Law Clinic team takes difficult pro-bono cases in addition to various other cases to get justice to those for whom justice is inaccessible. We solve real problems while teaching our students how to become a polished lawyer with advanced competencies. And that's exactly how law students are meant to be taught!"
What we do
In the Law Clinic, our students have handled a variety of cases under the direct supervision of qualified lawyers and Barristers. These cases include declaration, contempt proceedings, criminal cases ranging from bail applications to murder and rape, civil matters ranging from property to the suites of recovery and family cases.
Kasur Legal Aid Project
The Law Clinic team began to actively visit the city of Kasur, initially to support the family of Zainab (a child victim of rape and murder). In the process of consoling Zainab’s family, the team came across numerous such cases (rape, sexual assault, abuse, kidnapping and murder) involving children. The team actively provided assistance to Kainat Batool who allegedly was raped, abused and left in a dumpster in November 2017. The disturbing numbers, calculated by Sahil (Non profit organization that works on the issues of child abuse in Pakistan) show that approximately 129 cases of child assault were reported in 2017 from Kasur alone! Using our Law Clinic team’s expertise and legal network, we are fighting approximately 18 child assault cases from Kasur in 6 months, get these victim families access to justice, and use our activists to create public awareness.
Blackstone Law Clinic Cases
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Training 200 women lawyers to change the landscape of the courts and legal enviornment
Blackstone announces to train at least 200 women lawyers in Pakistan into successful and competent 21st century attorneys. Blackstone is doing this by providing exceptional hands-on practical training and a support system to help women lawyers break through the glass ceiling to stand at the same level if not above, as their male peers. Through this training and mentorship, we will produce cream of successful and fully groomed 21st century female lawyers. There is no fee or charge for this one-of-a-kind legal practitioner training. The areas we are targeting are:
a) Criminal Advocacy
b) Conference and Client interview Skills
c) Opinion writing skills
d) Training of professional ethics
e) Legal drafting
f) Out of court resolution of disputes
g) Criminal litigation, Evidence and Sentencing
h) Addressing the court
i) Civil litigation, Evidence and Remedies
j) Legal research and technology
k) Time management, billing and teamwork
Number of Students: 3
Result: Patient released and put under private supervision