Civil liability for improper legal advice in the activities of legal clinics

Abstract

The article examines the issue of civil liability for improper legal assistance within the activities of legal clinics, which is of particular relevance due to the lack of legislative regulation of their legal status in Ukraine. This gap significantly complicates the application of civil law mechanisms for compensation of damage caused to clients.
The legal nature of relations arising in the course of legal clinic activities is analyzed, taking into account their educational and social orientation. It is established that such relations are complex in nature and combine elements of educational, organizational and civil law relations. At the same time, they demonstrate features inherent in service provision relations, which allows the application of general provisions of civil law on liability.
Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the elements of civil offense, including unlawfulness, damage, causation and fault, in the context of legal clinic practice. It is determined that the application of these elements is complicated by the gratuitous nature of legal assistance, its advisory character, and the collective form of its provision involving students, supervisors and higher education institutions.
Based on the analysis of doctrinal approaches, it is established that the exclusion of students from the subjects of liability is not fully justified and does not comply with the general principles of civil law. A differentiated model of civil liability is proposed, according to which responsibility is distributed depending on the role of each subject involved in providing legal assistance.
It is substantiated that the absence of a clearly defined legal status of legal clinics makes it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to establish civil liability in practice. Therefore, the necessity of legislative consolidation of the legal status of legal clinics as a prerequisite for the formation of an effective liability mechanism is emphasized.
The results of the study can be used to improve the legal regulation of legal clinic activities and to develop approaches to civil liability in this field.