It was a legal-political drama worthy of prime-time news. If you didn’t know in advance, you’d think you were in Beer Sheva District Court. A mayor, his secretary and a leading contractor had been indicted in a major corruption scandal.  Now they were being prosecuted – and defended – by third year law students from Sapir Academic College. The three-judge panel was as real as it gets: The Hon. Revital Yafa Katz, President of the District Court; Adv. Erez Padan, southern district attorney; and former deputy southern district DA, Adv. Yoav Kishon.  It was all part of the clinical legal studies program at Sapir, where students gain hands-on experience and training for a career in Israel’s justice system.  Adv. Ruth Asael, formerly of the district attorney’s office and now director of Sapir’s clinical studies program, served as course advisor.  In the “courtroom,” however the students took center stage.  Dr. Ido Eshet, Dean of Sapir’s Law School, is a firm believer in the practicum as a teaching method.  Clinical studies are at the nexus of theory and practice, he says, and that’s where tomorrow’s legal scholars and practitioners will be forged. Oh, was the mayor innocent or guilty?  Our students will be happy to fill you in.

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