Legal Clinic

The experience was the best. In general, I’ve always said from the beginning and still maintain that the most valuable part of my time at university was the Clinic, because the opportunity we had to be involved in cases at the level of European law and to collaborate with Achilleas Dimitriadis, a lawyer of such caliber, was a unique experience. It opens your mind, you learn how to handle such cases, something that other students of our age had never seen, let alone dealt with. So, it is certainly an important asset. You deepen your understanding and become familiar with the concepts and the process at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Beyond that, however, we learned how to work in teams and collaborate. We did many presentations in front of an audience, which might sound simple, but now, in my postgraduate studies, I realize how important and difficult it is to publicly present your work. I also realized how valuable all those presentations we did were, as they helped us get used to presenting and improving our work.

Personally, it helped me with my English as well, because although I knew the language, I was quite scared to speak and write in English. Through all the decisions we read and the documents we drafted, I now find it easy and simple to draft or study legal texts in English. As for my future career, the Legal Clinic was, for me personally, one of the greatest assets — if not the greatest — when it came to finding a postgraduate program, because human rights and international law have always interested me, and the postgraduate I am currently doing focuses on that field. Therefore, the Clinic experience, how deep we went into this field, and the fact that we knew the process inside out with all the details, was a very strong point on my CV. When I had to attend an interview, it was the aspect that impressed them the most.

*former Coordinator of the Legal Clinic. Practicing lawyer at the Athens Bar Association, Master’s student in the “Diplomacy and International Organizations” program at the University of Barcelona

Through our work at the Clinic, I remember one thing: working hard. We analyzed document after document, “breaking our heads” to come up with even one legal argument capable of helping our partner and, of course, the client, and we conducted research. We were now colleagues, not just classmates, and there was no longer a teacher-student relationship, but we were all colleagues working on the same issue with only one goal in mind: to produce a good outcome.

What I gained from the Legal Clinic were experiences and knowledge. I delved deeply into human rights, researched, and saw what it’s like to handle a complex legal issue under normal conditions. Of course, I had many wonderful moments with friends and colleagues, but also with Mr. Thomas, who was always present and a constant supporter of our efforts, standing by us in everything.

My involvement certainly helped me in my subsequent career. Initially, it is a major asset on my resume, as both universities offering postgraduate programs and well-trained employers seek to see it on a resume. Additionally, it was extremely important for me to come into contact with documents from the ECHR, a major judicial body beyond national borders, which I may never encounter again, considering the small number of lawyers, especially in Greece and Cyprus, who handle such cases.

*former Secretary of the Legal Clinic. Holder of LLB, LLM in Public Law, Lawyer – Legal Advisor, Member of the Cyprus Bar Association

My participation in the Legal Clinic of Neapolis University Paphos was one of the top experiences I had as a law student. Dealing with cases related to the protection of human rights, Public International Law, the Cyprus issue, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), under the guidance of our professor Mr. Th.N. Papanastasiou, our partner Mr. Achilleas Dimitriadis – a leading lawyer whose name is associated with landmark decisions in the protection of human rights – and their collaborators, provided invaluable knowledge for any student wishing to learn how to “think” and research legally.

The collaboration with my fellow students in handling cases and legal research was excellent, as the Legal Clinic helps, among other things, to familiarize oneself with working within a team, an important asset for anyone who wishes to work in the future, for example, in a law firm. I am grateful for all I experienced as a member of the Legal Clinic, and I strongly encourage every student of Neapolis University Paphos to join its dynamic team!

*former member of the Communications Team of the Legal Clinic. Attorney-at-law in Athens, with an LLM in Civil Law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

So far, participation in the Clinic has proven to be an important reference point for my CV. Whether it is work in the field of litigation or in the advisory sector, having the Legal Clinic on my CV, in addition to participating in a demanding project that requires at least academic competence, also demonstrates the development of certain soft skills, such as the ability to collaborate in a team environment, communication skills, effective time management, and others. These are all valuable for future professional careers.

*former member of the Communications Team of the Legal Clinic. Trainee lawyer at a law firm in the Thessaloniki Bar Association. Holder of a Master’s degree in “Law and Economics” from the University of Macedonia