The Phayao team consisted of four QUT students; Alicia Dodemont, Clare McDonald, Paul Heales and Kasey Solar. Two BABSEA CLE staff, Suphamat Phonphra and Dang-Sai Hlaing. A BABSEA CLE volunteer, Tran Khanh Ly, a BABSEA CLE intern, Lisa Nguyen, as well as an interpreter, Khun Neil.

The morning of Wednesday 15 January 2014, the team headed to the bus station in Chiangmai to travel to the University of Phayao to conduct a two day legal ethics and professional responsibility workshop. The purpose of the workshop was for the four QUT students to test chapters 1 and 3 from the Pro bono, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility curriculum with the law students at the University of Phayao.

On Thursday 16 January 2014, the workshop was led by two QUT students, Alicia Dodemont and Clare McDonald. They began the workshop by providing a brief overview of the manual as well as the purpose for the testing of the chapters.

They then moved into their energizer to introduce the students to chapter 1 of the manual which was “What are ethics and why are they important for lawyers?”. The energizer was enjoyed by all 35 participants who participated in the workshop. The energizer involved one student falling back and being caught by other students. Not only did it involve the students to get out of their seats and move around but the concept behind the energizer linked perfectly into the topic of trust between the client and the lawyer. The remainder of the lesson involved the QUT students asking questions and prompting discussion amongst the groups to draw out the topic of personal as well as professional ethics.

On Friday 17 January 2014, the session focused on chapter 3, “Lawyer’s duties to the client” and was led by Paul Heales and Kasey Solar. As there were a small number of students who attended the second workshop, the QUT students were able to teach the complex concepts to the students in a more manageable manner. The lesson comprised of the class moving into different areas of the room depending on their answer to a particular question. The movement encouraged great discussion and so by the end of the class it was great to see that the students were able to take something away from the class.

Overall, the workshops in Phayao went extremely well. The campus was breathtaking and adding to the great ambience of the place, the amazing people the team were able to work with made it an amazing experience.