With a greater presence across England and Wales the LawWorks Clinics Team have been able to work more closely with local advice services, the legal profession, academic institutions, the judiciary/Courts and the wider third sector to better support each other’s aims, and encourage collaborative working to develop new pro bono clinics that address local needs. It has been a busy couple of months in the build up to National Pro Bono Week in which a number of new clinics on the LawWorks Clinics Network have successfully launched.
The following provides a brief description of the new clinics. All clinics in the Network are listed on the LawWorks website.
‘Open Justice’ – a free online legal advice clinic run by The Open University Law School, the clinic operates entirely online and is therefore able to provide a service to clients in any location with an internet connection. The clinic is led by law students under the supervision of qualified solicitors and offers legal advice on a variety of problems and disputes.
Lancaster University Law Clinic – working in partnership with Citizen’s Advice North Lancashire to help clients in Lancaster and Morecambe, students at Lancaster University and supervisors from the local legal profession provide advice to clients in a range of areas of law.
Leeds Law Clinic – students from Leeds Beckett University, supervised by solicitors from local law firms, provide advice to the local community in a wide range of areas of law
Clyde & Co. at Manchester Free Legal Help – working in partnership with the University of Manchester, volunteers from Clyde & Co (Manchester) provide advice to litigants in person at Manchester Civil Court in relation to ‘small claims’ applications and the court process.
Chelmsford Law Clinic – located in the Civic Centre and working with Citizens Advice Chelmsford and Essex to expand their free advice provision to clients, the clinic offers family law advice to clients.
East Greenwich Legal Advice Clinic - The East Greenwich Legal Advice Clinic (EGLAC) is hosted and supported by Christ Church East Greenwich. With the support of qualified lawyers, members of the local community are offered an initial legal advice service and, if appropriate, follow up work providing greater, in-depth support.
St Hilda's East Community Centre Legal Advice Clinic – Recently St Hilda’s established a food co-op offering locally grown produce to help local residents access good quality food and ingredients. The legal advice clinic will run in tandem with the food co-op, offering users of the food co-op the ability to access free legal advice when needed.
Shelter Legal Pro Bono Clinic - the clinic assists clients who live in the London Borough of Newham with legal advice in relation to possession procedure and rent arrears.
Mary Ward Legal Centre – with the support of volunteer lawyers the clinic provides free, independent advice to people on a low income who live and work in London.
South West Virtual Law Clinic - the clinic is a partnership between Avon and Bristol Law Centre and Somerset Citizens Advice. Using Skype to connect a solicitor in Bristol clients in Somerset are provided with access to more free legal advice. The service offers clients one-off advice appointments with family and employment queries.
Swansea University Law Clinic – students from Swansea University work alongside local practitioners to provide the local community with free initial advice in a wide range of areas of law.
We wish all the clinics well, and would like to thank them for their endeavours in supporting clients to access justice.