Student Pro Bono Awards recognise vital role of students in ensuring access to justice

Students’ important contributions to access to justice were recognised at the annual Student Pro Bono Awards at the House of Commons on 1 May.

Years of cuts to legal aid have created ‘advice deserts’ across the country where all but the wealthiest in society are unable to access legal advice in areas such as family and employment law. Students volunteering their time to provide legal assistance under the supervision of qualified lawyers are increasingly the only lifeline available to entire communities. Without access to justice, the rule of law crumbles and the fabric of society is torn. Some 41% of clinics in the LawWorks network are law school-based clinics and, collectively, they dealt with over 19,000 enquiries last year. The Student Pro Bono Awards have become an important fixture in the legal calendar to recognise the crucial contributions of students who would otherwise receive little acknowledgment for their efforts.

The awards, sponsored by Lexis Nexis, were hosted by High Court Judge Sir Robin Knowles CBE and presented by the Attorney General, the Rt Hon Geoffrey Cox MP QC and the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP.

The winners and runners in the seven awards categories are shown below.

Best contribution by a law school: School of Law, Queen Mary University of London

Queen Mary University runs a legal advice centre, at which around 300 undergraduate law students are involved giving supervised free legal advice to 350 clients a year. The university also runs two public legal education programmes engaging with students at primary and secondary schools.

The runner up was Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University.

Best contribution by a team of students: Swansea Law Clinic, Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law, Swansea University

A team of two from Swansea Law Clinic contributed over 750 hours of their time including drafting initial advice letters, providing assistance at the litigant helpdesk at the local Civil Justice Centre, assisting in a legal aid exceptional case funding clinic, and volunteering their time their time to enable the law clinic to remain open over the summer.

The runners up were Plymouth Law Clinic Refugee Family Reunion Project.

Best contribution by an individual student:  Giulia Mazzu – Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London

Giulia’s volunteering includes legal research for Action4Justice, being a caseworker with the Freedom Law Clinic assisting preparation of cases for referral to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an internship at the Stahill Foundation which works to stop orphanage trafficking in Kenya, and with the Article 8 ECHR Project at King’s College Legal Clinic which provides pro bono representation to immigrants seeking to remain in the UK on human rights grounds.

The runner up was Mozes Salvatore – Westminster Law School, University of Westminster .

Best legal tech contribution: Open Justice Law Clinic, The Open University Law School

The project is a ‘virtual’ legal advice clinic led by law students under the supervision of qualified solicitors covering advice on contract, tort, consumer and employment law and is accessible to anyone in the UK with an internet connection

The runner up was the Online Project, University of Strathclyde Law Clinic.

Best new student pro bono activity: Anti-Trafficking Legal Project, Liverpool Law Clinic, University of Liverpool

Working with the Red Cross, the project provides support to trafficking victims before they enter the National Referral Mechanism. The project has advised 31 clients. Sixteen student caseworkers attend interviews with the clients to help prepare statements of evidence, as well as providing research and letters drafting assistance. Student interpreters also attend casework sessions.

The runner up was Anglia Law School Law Clinic, Anglia Ruskin University.

Access to Justice Foundation award

The attorney general also presented the University of Plymouth Street Law Clinic with the Access to Justice Foundation Award which recognises the work of individuals and educational bodies in promoting and supporting access to justice and charities which provide pro bono services. Lucy Chapman of City Law School was also highly commended.

Law school challenge

Liverpool John Moores University was announced as the winner of the law school challenge, a law-school-led initiative to raise funds for LawWorks and Advocate. The University of Leeds and University of Huddersfield were immediate runners up.

Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, said: “I am very proud of the Attorney General and LawWorks Student Pro Bono Awards which provide an opportunity to celebrate the pro bono work of students. Pro bono is part of being a lawyer – it not only has a practical and beneficial impact on people’s lives and access to justice, but also supports the rule of law. Early experience of pro bono can instil a passion and commitment that can last a whole career. I wholeheartedly congratulate the winners on their achievement.”