In many parts of the world law departments at the universities add to law theory that students learn in classes with a so-called "clinic education". It is an educative method that gives students opportunity to work in a juridical office. This office is either real, either created especially for the students at the university. When they work at these clinics, students provide legal advice to people who need it. In general, the goal of such a clinic is to teach students and at the same time provide free service to local citizens.

In clinics students gain some skills that they need in their future professional activity and get the idea of the way people can protect their rights based on laws. Professional lawyers supervise over the work of students so that they can get necessary advice and serve clients on a high professional level. Besides all mentioned, students attend seminars where they learn legislation and proceeding that they need to follow in their work. They also discuss ethic and practical issues that usually cause problems in real life. Students get their home assignments on reading and then discuss the written material at the seminars. In addition, they participate in mock trials and imitate certain court processes. Such activity prepares a student to real career of a lawyer and helps to build up self-confidence.

Usually the skills that students get in such clinics in the US include: questioning clients and providing consultations, investigation, juridical ethics, research and analysis of laws and literature, communication skills (oral and written). Clinics also help students in their personal and professional development. It is the clinic education that can help a student to build a bridge between theory and practice.

Such form of work differs from regular practice of the soviet model at least by three components: 1) students actively participate in the work with clients directly, and don't just observe the process 2) the work of clinics lasts throughout the academic year and is an addition to the theoretic material and 3) the wok in the clinic lasts from four to eight months.

Depending on the education goals of the clinic some of them take different kinds of civil lawsuits. Some are majoring in criminal cases or work only with certain kind of civil cases, like violation of family law, environmental protection etc. In Slovakia, Bratislava, for example, law department created a clinic of commercial law…

There are two kinds of law clinics in Ukraine. One - is a clinic at the law school. In the frameworks of the program conducted by ABA/CEELI the department of law and economy at Donetsk State University created a law clinic where faculty and students provide free consultations and legal assistance to people who wile lawsuits.

Second kind of clinic education is a direct work of students under supervision of practicing lawyers at the real law company. EcoPravo gives a chance to students to practice their skills in their environmental non-governmental organization that has offices in Kiev, Lviv and Kharkiv. Students have chance to learn how to apply environmental laws in local and national level.