Annual Report

Transcription

1 Annual Report A new Legal Advice Clinic for South London Real benefit to the local community Real benefit to our students Real benefit to other universities LSBU Legal Advice Clinic

2 2 In 2011, London South Bank University opened a new Legal Advice Clinic on Borough Road where trained law students working under the supervision of practising solicitors provide free, face-to-face legal advice to the general public. Our principal aims were to: A new Legal Advice Clinic for South London Establish a legal advice service which would deliver a tangible benefit to the local community; Develop students practical knowledge of the law in context in order to enhance their skills and employability; and Provide a basis for developing a teaching and learning resource for other universities. The following report describes our impact upon the local community, our student volunteers and other universities in our first year of operation. Alan Russell Solicitor Clinic Director Dr John Russell Solicitor-Advocate Deputy Clinic Director 25 June 2012

3 3 The Clinic opened to the public on 28 September 2011 with two weekly daytime drop-in sessions providing generalist legal advice, and one weekly evening appointment session for specialist legal advice in family and housing law provided by volunteer solicitors from local law firms Philcox Gray and Wainwright Cummins. Subsequently, we added evening appointments in employment law, long leaseholder matters and personal injury, with volunteer solicitors from Anthony Gold and Russell-Cooke.

4 4 Real benefit to During 2011, we developed our project and established links with Southwark Legal Advice Network. We recruited 20 law student volunteers through an equal opportunities merit-based application process and provided two days initial training jointly delivered by us and local Citizens Advice Bureau staff. Between September 2011 and May 2012 we were open for 27 weeks and conducted 192 face-to-face client interviews. The vast majority of our Clinic enquiries fell into the standard social welfare law categories.

5 the local community 5 62% of drop-in enquiries were resolved by our generalist advice service and the client could now take action with no immediate need of further legal advice. A further 25% of enquiries were referred to our specialist evening advice sessions. These statistics show that we are running a very busy and effective Clinic. The high resolution figure is important because it means that we are providing a genuinely useful service for the public, which in turn means that our students get a real sense of satisfaction and completion from the work.

6 6 Real benefit to In February 2012, we were highlighted in the Million+ think tank's report on innovative teaching in modern universities, Teaching that Matters, as involving students in a valuable community service while gaining real-world legal experience, developing transferable skills and enhancing their employability prospects. In April 2012, we won a prestigious LSBU Vice- Chancellor's Enterprising Staff Award for our demonstration of enterprise in enhancing the student experience and employability, providing a significant benefit for the local community, and demonstrating a wider significance to other higher education institutions nationwide.

7 our students 7 All our students learn to research reallife legal issues and write professional quality case notes. 85% of students progressed to giving face-to-face advice to clients. 69% progressed to taking initial client instructions - the most challenging stage of the advice process. 92% of students said their practical legal skills were very much improved from taking part in the Clinic.

8 8 Real benefit to With the benefit of a Higher Education Academy Grant, we are currently finalising a page Drop-in Clinic Operational Manual which we have developed with our students over the past nine months. This will be freely released as a teaching and learning resource for other institutions who might wish to develop a similar project. It will be published on the Higher Education Academy website and distributed nationally by LawWorks. In 2012, we have given presentations on our innovative drop-in face-to-face advice model at the HEA Social Sciences Cluster Conference in Liverpool, an LSBU cross-faculty employability conference and the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education Conference in Durham.

9 other universities 9 In February 2013, we will organise a oneday Clinical Legal Education conference on the theme of Form and Funding at which we will present our model and the manual and invite other institutions running innovative clinical projects to share their work. In December 2011, we celebrated our first term and welcomed Simon Hughes MP, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, and Advocate for Access to Education. This also led to the creation of a referral link between his constituency office and the Clinic.

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11 Clinic Our session starts in the week beginning Monday 24 September We will expand our service to meet client demand by adding a third weekly daytime drop-in session and recruiting 33 new student volunteers (a 65% increase on last year). Our webpage will be updated in September with our new hours: If you would like copies of our new client leaflet in September, please us with your postal address at legaladvice@lsbu.ac.uk We are also delighted to welcome Sara Chandler - previously Director of Pro Bono Services at the College of Law - as a new member of Clinic staff. Sara is joining LSBU as a Visiting Professor and will help us in the Clinic, as well as run a regular employability and careers advice session for all LSBU law students.

12 12 London South Bank University Legal Advice Clinic Caxton House Borough Road Southwark SE1 0AA t: e: The Clinic is a member of LawWorks and Southwark Legal Advice Network.