Pro bono - London
Here are just some of the opportunities on offer in our London centres:
Dello Centre (For LPC Students)
Andrea’s School (For LPC Students)
Central London Law Centre For LPC Students
Citizens Advice Bureau RCJ (For LPC Students)
Community Links (For LPC Students)
County Court Housing Possession hearings (For LPC Students)
Great Chapel Street Medical Centre (For LPC Students)
Interights (For GDL, LPC & BVC Students)
Legal Advice Centre (LAC)
Mary Ward Legal Centre (For LPC Students)
Westminster Advocacy Service for Senior Residents (WASSR)
Tribunal Representation Service (TRS)
Streetlaw Plus (For GDL Students)
National Centre for Domestic Violence
Dello Centre (For LPC Students)
The Dello Centre provides single homeless people with a variety of services including a three hour legal advice session run by student advisors. Students gain experience in interviewing clients, advising on their enquiries and negotiating with third parties on their client’s behalf.
Students will be supervised by volunteer solicitors from Freshfields and Reed Smith Richards Butler who advise at the Centre. All the clients are particularly vulnerable due to their circumstances and many have additional difficulties such as language, mental health, drug or alcohol problems.
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Andrea’s School (For LPC Students)
Student advisors advise Deaf clients by appointment, and interview clients with the help of a sign language interpreter.
Student advisors will gain experience in interviewing, legal research and drafting detailed advice letters. Deaf people do not get access to many services including legal services and this will be an opportunity for students to gain experience of working with vulnerable and socially excluded people.
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Central London Law Centre (For LPC Students)
Students will join the Law Centre legal team to help with the telephones, provide a referral service to members of the public, welcome clients as they arrive, and keep the Law Centre’s library and information system up to date.
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Citizens Advice Bureau RCJ (For LPC Students)
Students help in the Bureau by providing reception services, assist volunteer lawyers and provide administrative support to caseworkers. Clients are usually people who have cases in the High Court.
Students can get involved in a variety of tasks at the RCJ Bureau; there are a number of different opportunities including Principal registry of the Family Division and manning the High Court Desk reception. A lot of the work is help with form filling, particularly help with Benefits forms such as Disability Living Allowance.
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Community Links (For LPC Students)
Community Links is a multi purpose community service in Canning Town, where students join the volunteer team advising and assisting people making claims for Disability Living Allowance. Where a client receives a negative decision students may have the opportunity to shadow the advocate from Lovells who acts pro bono at appeal hearings.
Interviewing clients who may be elderly, and have disabilities giving rise to care and mobility needs. Students will assist clients to complete lengthy forms. The appointments are held at Community Links, accessible by tube at the client and student’s convenience.
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County Court Housing Possession hearings (For LPC Students)
Students will assist volunteer advocates in representing tenants who are summonsed for possession of their homes and who may be facing eviction. Attending one of three County Courts on possession days, this may involve interviewing tenants, liaising with Court staff, completing forms, explaining follow-up and generally doing whatever is needed to provide a professional service for tenants at court, during stressful proceedings.
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Great Chapel Street Medical Centre (For LPC Students)
This is a unique medical centre whose patients are all homeless people, sleeping rough in Central London. The medical centre offers a holistic service and aims to provide continuing support for its patients. Students join the Primary Care Manager (a lawyer) in giving legal advice and assistance to patients, particularly on housing, welfare rights and family law.
Students will observe interviews with centre staff, assisting in follow up, file maintenance, negotiation on behalf of client with local authorities, social work and housing departments, other medical providers etc. When confident, they may give advice under supervision.
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Interights (For GDL, LPC & BVC Students)
Interights is an international human rights law centre providing leadership in the development of legal protection for human rights and freedoms worldwide through the effective use of international and comparative human rights law. Students participate by undertaking legal research to assist lawyers, judges, non governmental organisations and victims in the preparation of cases before national, regional and international tribunals.
The aim is for students to get experience of using research skills in real life cases, where their research may have a major impact on an individual’s human rights. Students will read cases supplied by the coordinating lawyer at Interights, summarising the cases according to guidance supplied by Interights.
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Legal Advice Centre (LAC)
This is a free legal advice service run by student advisors under the supervision of solicitors experienced in social welfare law. Areas covered include housing, leasehold disputes, employment, family, consumer and immigration law.
Working in the Legal Advice Centre gives students an insight into the workings of a legal practice, a chance to work as a member of the team, and to give much needed help to members of the community. Students will gain experience in file management in compliance with the requirements of the Legal Services Commission. The Legal Advice Centre holds the LSC Quality Mark at Specialist Level.
Students interview clients in threes, to obtain details of the case and then work together to produce a letter of advice. Students will gain interviewing, drafting and file management skills through this hands-on experience.
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Mary Ward Legal Centre (For LPC Students)
Students will assist in running the employment advice service by taking initial instructions from clients and ascertaining the value of further advice giving. They may observe interviews and assist solicitors by drafting follow-up letters.
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Westminster Advocacy Service for Senior Residents (WASSR)
WASSR is an independent voluntary sector organisation providing an advocacy service for older people in Westminster. Independent advocacy enables vulnerable older people to make informed choices and remain in control of their lives.
The volunteer scheme offers the satisfaction of helping vulnerable people to have a voice while providing valuable work experience in advocacy, client interviewing, negotiation, team work and research. The range of issues dealt with by WASSR is very wide: housing problems, social care issues, rent and isrepair, community care problems, council tax issues, noise problems, neighbour disputes and so on.
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Tribunal Representation Service (TRS)
This is a free legal advice service run by BVC student advocates who advise and represent Litigants in person at the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal and the Rent Assessment Committee under the supervision of experienced barristers and/or solicitors.
Students work in teams and prepare cases and represent at a range of pre-trial and full hearings, sometimes lasting several days. Student advocates gain experience in legal research, drafting, conference, managing files, negotiation with the other party, liaison with the Tribunal Service, case preparation and advocacy.
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Streetlaw (For GDL Students)
This innovatory legal literacy scheme, in which students work directly with schools, community groups and prisons.
Students devise and deliver workshops on different areas of law.
Streetlaw has recently worked in the areas of immigration and asylum, social enterprises, welfare rights, rights on arrest, education law, employment law, company law and fundraising. Streetlaw also runs a mock trial scheme called “Your Day in Court”, in which students and trainee solicitors from Eversheds Solicitors work with school pupils on an Employment, Magistrates and Crown Court case.
Students will gain experience in legal research, preparation of presentations, time management, client care, file management and communication skills and will also have the chance to find out about how the law impacts on everyday life on an inner city estate.
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National Centre for Domestic Violence
NCDV volunteers work in the Legal Advice Centre to assist victims of domestic violence to obtain emergency injunctions. The scheme offers the following benefits:
- Understanding the dynamics of relationship breakdown and domestic abuse
- Good understandings of basic Family Law
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