Psychology at Law: Outcomes of a Legal Services Commission Placement for Trainee Psychologists

An innovative pilot program involving the placement of trainee psychologists from the University of South Australia at the Legal Services Commission of South Australia (LSC) has been running since August 2000. This article presents results of an evaluation of the program in terms of service quality and lawyer satisfaction. Evaluation data indicate that the program provided a high quality, cost-effective and time-effective service to the LSC. Satisfaction was high in over 90% of cases and lawyers rated work performed by trainees as having a significant influence on case outcome in approximately 80% of cases. Areas to be addressed in future research include supervision, trainee satisfaction, achievement of learning outcomes for legal staff and trainees, and impact upon the professional communities.