Guildford
Pro bono
Guildford has been strongly committed to pro bono since 2000. We offer a variety of opportunities and aim to help you enhance your learning and career prospects through practical real life experience.
If you are thinking of studying with us and have further questions about pro bono after reading the information below, please e-mail g.probono@lawcol.co.uk If you are a current student, please access the pro bono pages for Guildford on the 'my centre' tab of Elite.
Legal Advice Centre (LAC)
Guildford Employment Rights Advice Line Direct (GERALD)
Brighton Leasehold Advice Clinic (BLAC)
Streetlaw (GDL Practice-related activity)
Your Day in Court
Judicial Shadowing
National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV)
Surrey Law Centre – Guildford evening advice sessions
Citizens Advice Bureau
Interights
International Law Book Facility
Just Advocacy
Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD)
Legal Advice Centre (LAC)
The LAC provides free, preliminary legal advice to the public, on a wide variety of issues. You will interview a client and produce an advice letter, carefully supervised throughout by our Supervising Solicitor.
Students interview clients in pairs to obtain details of the case and then work together to produce a letter of advice. You gain interviewing, drafting and file management skills through this hands-on experience.
Our students say:
“I enjoyed the opportunity to work on a case involving a real person as opposed to a fictional scenario. (I also enjoyed) the feeling that I was able to give someone practical advice and in this case, advice they wanted to hear.”
LPC
“This was a fantastic opportunity.”
LPC
“I enjoyed advising in an area of law that I wouldn’t normally have chosen and finding I was actually quite interested in it! (I also enjoyed) applying things I have learned on the course in practice and knowing it has hopefully helped someone.”
LPC
Our clients say:
“Thank you. I would not have got this far without your help.”
“The fact that the service was free, immediately available and has provided professional quality advice, has enabled me to reach a better understanding of my options in these matters.”
“Everything was excellent.”
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Guildford Employment Rights Advice Line Direct (GERALD)
This College initiative, run in conjunction with local law firms, gives free legal advice on employment law issues to members of the public via telephone.
From messages forwarded to you, you phone clients to obtain basic details and take notes of the advice given by the volunteer solicitor at our weekly clinics.
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Brighton Leasehold Advice Clinic (BLAC)
BLAC provides free, preliminary advice to the public on leasehold matters e.g. amount / reasonableness of service charges, enfranchisement of flats, defective leases, administrative charges and the right to manage.
You prepare necessary paperwork, attend the client interview to take notes and produce an advice letter under the supervision of our Supervising Solicitor. You gain interviewing, drafting and file management skills through this hands-on experience.
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Streetlaw (GDL Practice-related activity)
Streetlaw is a community legal education scheme which raises awareness of legal rights and responsibilities within the community by providing workshops on various legal topics. We work with schools and community groups. Individual organisations choose the topic for their workshop but topics previously covered include Human Rights, Police Powers, Criminal Law and Consumer Law.
You work in a team of 3 to produce an interactive workshop on a legal topic. Skills acquired include team work, research practice and presentation/communication techniques.
Our students say:
“The actual presentation taught me how to think on my feet in terms of adjusting the speech to our audience after starting. We came away really feeling like we had made a difference to the students understanding of the law and had created an interesting and stimulating discussion. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and feel it was well worth doing, both for me and our audience.”
GDL
“I genuinely feel more confident about giving a presentation/public speaking after doing Streetlaw and I am very thankful for that as I thought it was a weakness of mine.”
GDL
“I feel this scheme is a good way of teaming up with students to carry out a task in a different environment and it gave me a good experience to study something in depth and present to a particular type of audience to gain confidence”
GDL
Our partners say:
“Students said that they found the information interesting and informative. It was accessible as the Human Rights Act was made relevant to them through the use of subjects with which they are familiar”
Woking High School
“Level was appropriate, material excellent, perfectly timed.”
Howard of Effingham School
“Well prepared, pitched at the right level, fluently delivered”
Duke of Kent School
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Your day in court
We work with local schools looking at the civil and criminal justice systems and role playing mock trials. There are 3 parts to the scheme involving proceedings in a Magistrates Court, a Crown Court and an Employment Tribunal.
You prepare and present Streetlaw style workshops explaining the Civil and Criminal justice systems and also dealing with the “law” involved in each mock trial. You then mentor pupils through a rehearsal of, and the real mock trial.
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Judicial Shadowing
In conjunction with District Judges on the South Eastern Circuit, the Pro Bono team are able to arrange for students to shadow a District Judge and gain an insight into civil disputes from a unique angle.
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National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV)
This charity provides fast, free legal advice and support for victims of domestic violence. In particular it runs an emergency injunction service allowing anybody, regardless of financial circumstances to obtain protection through the civil courts (usually an injunction) within 24 hours. You could volunteer for various duties within NCDV’s headquarters based in Guildford.
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Surrey Law Centre – Guildford evening advice sessions
The Surrey Law Centre, in conjunction with Clyde & Co Solicitors, runs a drop-in session every Tuesday evening at Guildford Citizens’ Advice Bureau. The sessions are staffed by volunteer solicitors from local firms. Members of the public can drop in to receive free legal advice on a variety of issues including housing, family law, debt problems and employment. The sessions are aimed at giving access to those people who cannot afford to pay for legal advice. You could shadow volunteer solicitors as they interview and advise clients who drop in. You may also be asked to help with photocopying and general admin.
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Citizens Advice Bureau
The CAB offers free help and advice to members of the public on a variety of topics. All offices have trained volunteer advisors as well as some volunteer solicitors. The services they offer include legal advice and help with form filling.
- Thursday Evening Advice Sessions: On Thursday evenings one volunteer solicitor sees clients by appointment. Matrimonial and general matters are dealt with on alternate weeks. You could attend to help with a combination of reception duties and observation of client interviews, note-taking and preparing a brief case note.
- Guildford County Court Helpdesk: On Tuesday mornings a specialist CAB volunteer representative provides advice/representation on repossession cases at the Guildford County Court. You could attend to observe and note-take.
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INTERIGHTS (The International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights)
INTERIGHTS works to ensure that human rights standards are defended effectively in both domestic courts and before regional and international bodies. It contributes to the development of a cumulative and progressive interpretation of universal human rights and to their effective use in both international and regional arenas as well as national courts.
Providing lawyers and activists with access to relevant, accurate legal information that will help them in their work is a vital part of this. INTERIGHTS produces and disseminates a range of publications and you can get involved in their work by volunteering to summarise judgments of human rights cases. These case summaries appear in the Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest or the online databases at www.interights.org
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International Law Book Facility
This charity organises packing and shipment of law books to commonwealth countries where they are needed. You could volunteer to help with unpacking donated books or repackaging them for onward shipment. For more information, see www.ilbf.org.uk
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Just Advocacy
This charity organises self advocacy groups for adults with learning disabilities. You could volunteer to run one of these groups. For more information please visit www.justadvocacy.org.uk
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Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD)
BiD is an independent charity that exists to challenge immigration detention in the UK, working with asylum seekers and migrants in removal centres and prisons to secure their release. You could volunteer for the charity's Portsmouth office.
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