Legal Clinics

Sapir Law School Legal Clinics

Sapir Law School, offers students the opportunity to participate in supervised clinical practice

Second-year students can choose to volunteer in one of two Legal Aid Social Rights Clinics. These Clinics offer accessible law services to marginalized Negev residents who do not know about and or exercise their rights in public housing, Israel National Insurance Institute (social security), bankruptcy issues, local government, etc. They assist hundreds of impoverished Jewish and Arab Bedouin residents annually.

Established in 2012, it promotes and protects social rights, focusing on housing for disadvantaged populations. The Clinic works in collaboration with the welfare departments of Be'er Sheva, Ofakim and Netivot, assisting about one hundred and fifty clients annually. Second-year law students offer legal aid in the area of public housing; as well as rent assistance for underserved populations including homeless people, people suffering from spousal abuse and released prisoners.

The Social Rights Legal Aid Clinic is a unique platform that combines legal studies and practice along with a deep understanding of the ways the law operates and impacts  clients' daily lives, influences Israeli society and in particular life in the periphery.

Students gain skills in providing legal assistance in a supportive and educational work environment. They experience a direct encounter with clients and learn to translate their distress and very human stories into legal language and legal action. The Clinic provides an enriching legal experience that develops participating students' judgment and social sensitivity that will accompany them throughput their professional careers.

Social Rights Legal Aid Clinic facilitators: Attorney Gali Tal-Vollozhny  and Dr. Orit Gan

Established in 2015, this unique clinic offers the Arab Bedouin community access to their rights, assisting about 150 clients annually. Operating in the Bedouin communities: Kseifa, Hura, Segev Shalom, the Neve Midbar Regional Councils, and Be'er Sheva, the Clinic has grown from a small pilot program to eight teams.

Second-year Jewish and Arab Bedouin law students work together, helping applicants to exercise their rights, focusing on Israel National Insurance (social security) rights, personal status, debt collection, rent assistance, etc. Students gain a supportive educational platform to acquire skills in teamwork and legal practice, together with first hand encounters with the daily hardships faced by the Arab Bedouin population.

Due the Clinic's work, for the first time a woman living in Hura an Arab Bedouin town, received public rent assistance, which allowed her and her children to move from dangerous shanty to proper housing.

The Arab Bedouin Accessible Rights Legal Aid Clinic was established thanks to the commitment and guidance of Dr. Muhammad Al-Nabari, Itzik Zivan, Professor Nir Kedar and Dr. Yofi Tirosh.

The Arab Bedouin Accessible Rights Legal Aid Clinic facilitators: Attorney Iris Beyer and Dr. Orit Gan

Students interested in exploring technology, innovation and the law can participate in the Law School's Legal Clinic for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Established in 2019, it provides legal services to student and local resident entrepreneurs at the  HIE Sapir Labs. The Clinic's goals are to encourage and accelerate entrepreneurship and innovation at Sapir College and the Negev region, with a focus on communities in the Gaza Envelope. In parallel, to promote the legal education and practical experience of law students in this important field. The Legal Clinic for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers the following services:

  • Legal Strategy Design:  Legal strategy is critical to the innovation process and its success. This Clinic helps entrepreneurs formulate their legal strategy, emphasizing issues such as intellectual property, regulation and licensing. It offers knowledge of the potential legal issues that could influence the development of participating initiatives.
  • Ongoing Support: The Clinic's team provides accessible legal advice relating to establishing the venture, creating terms of use or privacy policy, service agreements, confidentiality agreements, license agreements, intellectual property (copyright, patent, trademark and design) consulting and more.
  • Providing Information to the General Public: The clinic conducts a variety of activities, college conferences and online general counseling, aimed at conveying user friendly legal information for both the students' and local residents' entrepreneurial ventures.

The Legal Clinic for Innovation and Entrepreneurship facilitator: Dr. Sharon Bar-Ziv