Sussex Clinical Legal Education – Self-Assessment of Clinical Work
Sussex Clinical Legal Education
Self-Assessment of Clinical Work
Please complete the following table based on your assessment of your clinical work and attach it as an addendum to your portfolio. In order to score your performance please refer to the assessment criteria below.
| Assessment Criteria | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Autonomy and efficiency | |||||
| Knowledge and understanding of the law | |||||
| Oral communication skills | |||||
| Written communication skills | |||||
| Strength of research skills | |||||
| Commitment to clients and law office | |||||
| Teamwork and collegiality |
| Assessment Criteria | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Autonomy and efficiency | Poor initiative shown; routinely relies on supervisor; routinely requires instruction; routinely requires prompting; requires prompting significant correction of work | Fair/reasonable initiative shown, and often relies on supervisor; often requires instruction; often requires prompting; often needs significant correction of work | Good initiative shown but there is some evidence of the following; reliance on supervisor; requirement for instruction; prompting; significant correction of work | Very good initiative shown and there is little evidence of the following; reliance on supervisor; requirement for instruction; prompting; significant correction of work | Excellent/outstanding initiative shown, and the following are extremely rare; reliance on supervisor; requirement for instruction; prompting; significant correction of work; a very high level of trust and responsibility can be given |
| Knowledge and understanding of the law | Poor knowledge and understanding of law; legal practice issues; rarely draws on appropriate prior knowledge or legal principles | Fair/reasonable knowledge and understanding of law; legal practice issues but little thinking across subject disciplines; sometimes draws on appropriate prior knowledge or legal principles | Good knowledge and understanding of law; legal practice issues including thinking across subject disciplines; regularly draws on appropriate prior knowledge or legal principles | Very good knowledge and understanding of law; legal practice issues including thinking across subject disciplines; routinely draws on appropriate prior knowledge or legal principles | Excellent/outstanding knowledge and understanding of law; legal practice issues including thinking across subject disciplines; almost always draws on appropriate prior knowledge or legal principles; stretches supervisor’s own understanding |
| Oral communication skills | Poor oral communication skills indicating enduring difficulties in articulating legal and factual material; regularly fails to plan, listen or adapt to the needs of the audience | Fair/reasonable oral communication skills; sometimes shows strong ability to articulate legal and factual material, plans, listens and adapts to the needs of the audience | Good oral communication skills; regularly shows strong ability to articulate legal and factual material, plans, listens and adapts to the needs of the audience | Very good oral communication skills; routinely shows strong ability to articulate legal and factual material, plans, listens and adapts to the needs of the audience | Excellent/outstanding oral communication skills; almost always shows strong ability to articulate legal and factual material, plans, listens and adapts to the needs of the audience; instils confidence in clients |
| Written communication skills | Poor written communication skills; rarely shows clarity, precision and accessibility; drafts routinely require significant amendment | Fair/reasonable written communication skills; sometimes shows clarity, precision and accessibility; drafts often require significant amendment | Good written communication skills; regularly shows clarity, precision and accessibility; drafts sometimes require significant amendment | Very good written communication skills; routinely shows clarity, precision and accessibility; drafts rarely require significant amendment | Excellent/outstanding written communication skills; almost always shows clarity, precision and accessibility; drafts very rarely require significant amendment; excellent sentence and paragraph structure displays eloquence |
| Strength of research skills | Poor research skills; rarely shows appropriate depth, detail and comprehensiveness; reports rarely display effective practical awareness and application | Fair/reasonable research skills; sometimes shows appropriate depth, detail and comprehensiveness; report sometimes display effective practical awareness and application | Good research skills; regularly shows appropriate depth, detail and comprehensiveness; reports regularly display effective practical awareness and application | Very good research skills; routinely shows appropriate depth, detail and comprehensiveness; reports routinely display effective practical awareness and application | Excellent/outstanding research skills; routinely shows appropriate depth, detail and comprehensiveness; reports almost always display effective practical awareness and application; research addresses problems holistically |
| Commitment to clients and law office | Demonstrates little commitment or enthusiasm for achieving the best solution for clients; rarely puts more than the minimum required to perform tasks; completes insufficient work. Occasionally misses appointments w/o justification. | Demonstrates some commitment or enthusiasm for achieving the best solution for clients; performs tasks with fair/reasonable diligence; completes sufficient work. Is not always on time and/or prepared for meetings. | Demonstrates a good level of commitment or enthusiasm for achieving the best solution for clients; completes sufficient work and shows willingness to help further | Demonstrates a very good level of commitment or enthusiasm for achieving the best solution for clients; performs tasks with a very high degree of diligence. Performs tasks with a high degree of diligence and shows pride in the work. | Demonstrates an excellent/outstanding level of commitment or enthusiasm for achieving the best solution for clients; performs tasks with an excellent degree of diligence and shows pride and zeal for the work. Challenges supervisor and externals to push even further. |
| Teamwork and collegiality | Demonstrates no commitment and no willingness to assist partner. Performs little to none of the work. Poor communication with the office and external professionals, if relevant. | Demonstrates some commitment, but routinely does less than the partner. Responds to communication from office and supervisor with minimal input | Demonstrates a good level of interaction with the team; shares the burdens as expected. Communicates with the office and with external personnel in a manner that is professional. | Demonstrates a very impressive, cooperative approach; consistently willing to engage and exhibits a ‘can-do’ approach. Is proactive, engaging, and willing to contribute to the general endeavour. Completes sufficient work and actively seeks to help further | Demonstrates an outstanding level of collegiality, beyond the immediate partnership and team, and beyond the immediate responsibilities. Shows constant awareness of the ‘big picture’ and goes the extra mile for the partner, the clinic, and the office; Supervisor has to work hard to keep up |
