Liverpool Law

CHARITY & CSR 25
Volunteering Opportunities
Following the “Mind the Gap” those organisations providing free
legal advice in Liverpool were asked to provide a detailed “wish
list” so that Law Society members can contribute their talents
and resources. Here is their response:
Legal Advice Centre
Liverpool John Moores University’s Legal Advice Centre (“LAC”)
was established in April 2014 and is based in the School of Law,
Brownlow Hill. The LAC’s clinics advise on family, employment,
wills & administration and commercial law advice. It also runs
drop in clinics in family and commercial law.
The LAC is hoping to pilot a housing drop-in clinic during this
academic year and would welcome volunteers able to advise
in this area. Volunteers should be prepared to offer a total
commitment of ten hours per academic year, to include
assistance with training our students and supervising and
advising the clinic itself, which will be based in the University and
will run twice a month during an initial four month period.
The LAC is also experiencing a huge demand for family law
advice and is seeking anyone able to commit to advising at
one or more of our two hour drop-in sessions.
Contact:
Rachel Stalker, Legal Advice Centre Coordinator
T: 0151 231 3530
E: R.Stalker@ljmu.ac.uk
Liverpool Law Clinic
University of Liverpool, is a well-established Clinic offering a
general legal advice service (especially employment, family,
housing, small claims, and occasionally commercial law) and a
specialist asylum and statelessness project.
We also have on-going work on criminal appeals and
Hillsborough Inquests with Broudie Jackson Canter solicitors, and
work with the CAB focussing on welfare benefits cases.
The Clinic has identified the following as particular needs at
present:
1. Volunteers to supervise in our free legal advice service. The
time commitment involved is a minimum 5 hours to supervise a
single case, including a two hour period in the Clinic to
supervise a client interview. However, the time commitment
can vary and some complex cases take additional time to
supervise. Ideally volunteers would be prepared to supervise
one case twice a year. Volunteers need to be fully qualified.
2. Case referrals – can you take on a pro bono case once or
twice a year? Some of our clients using our general advice
service very much need a legal representative and we cannot
offer this ourselves; because of legal aid cuts there is nowhere to
refer them for representation.
3. Typing – our legal staff members are self-servicing and
secretarial support would expand our capacity considerably.
Can your firm offer to type about 20 letters maximum a week
mostly for our immigration and asylum cases?
4. Billing – our solicitors conduct around five judicial review cases
per year, sometimes funded by legal aid, and these matters
sometimes have a pro bono costs order or a legal aid order and
require bills to be drawn up.
5. Funding – can you include us as a recipient of charitable
funds raised by your firm or money that cannot be returned
from your client account? Our immigration and asylum work
involves disbursements for interpreters, medical reports
documenting torture and psychiatric conditions and expert
reports on country conditions. Our clients cannot obtain legal
aid and many are totally destitute. A single case can involve
many hours of client appointments, and we estimate that the
cost for interpretation if the client does not speak English is, on
average, £400. We have some funding for this from the North
West Legal Support Trust and from the Access to Justice
Foundation, but are always grateful for more support for this
work.
Contact:
Sarah Woodhouse, Liverpool Law Clinic Director
T: 0151 794 5782
E: s.woodhouse@liv.ac.uk
LawWorks – supporting pro bono
LawWorks is a charity working to support and facilitate the
provision of legal pro bono. Pro bono is not, and should not
become, an alternative to legal aid, but it makes an important
contribution to enabling access to advice and representation.
We support a network of independent local clinics across
England and Wales, and provide assistance for lawyers,
trainees, law students and others seeking to establish new pro
bono clinics. We provide information and resources for clinics
and volunteers, including online materials from our training
events, and promote pro bono volunteering opportunities for
our member firms and in-house legal teams.
Through our Not-for-Profit programme we connect smaller
charities and community groups with lawyers, from among our
members, willing to provide advice and support on a range of
legal issues. These could include, for example, drafting a
contract, reviewing a lease, updating a constitution/articles, or
clarifying rights in a commercial dispute. We ask about an
organisation’s ability to pay for legal advice, and ensure
volunteer lawyers have the information they need before
applications are accepted. Further information, and details of
how charities and communities groups can apply, is available
on the LawWorks website at www.lawworks.org.uk
Contact:
For information about local clinics and LawWorks, including our
membership, regional events and training, visit our website or
contact Olga at olga.ivannikova@lawworks.org.uk
Sanctions & Default
2015/16
with Professor
Domini c Regan
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