Two student working together at a computer at the Law Clinic

How our students contribute

Our students will be supported through their volunteering experiences. All students will begin with advice and casework opportunities and will then be eligible to be part of the team of students triaging potential clients. Finally, those students who are very committed and experience will be able to mentor and support other students by becoming a student leader.

Our work and projects

Here are some of the areas of work our first and second-year students have been involved with on a voluntary basis: 

Family Law

The family law team run a busy advice and support service for parents facing court proceedings. The service is run by students and lawyers working together, and students progress through the project in stages to build their skills and confidence.

  • Triage – students contact all potential clients to conduct an initial phone interview to gather background information and identify issues.
  • Advice – students assist solicitors with advice appointments and draft advice letters.
  • Drafting – students are trained to draft statements and court application forms for clients.
  • Court – the team run a drop-in advice service in Liverpool Family Court. Trained students attend hearings with clients to provide support and assistance.

The team also have pro bono partnership with Unit Chambers. When clients are referred to the Unit for free representation, students can shadow the barristers and support the client through the proceedings. 

The family advice project is supported by solicitors from firms in Liverpool who volunteer their time to give advice to clients and give students the opportunity to meet a range of practising lawyers.

We aim to have approximately 30 students volunteering on the project at any one time, with a mix of experienced and new students volunteering at different stages of the project.  All students must commit to undertake a minimum of sessions for a minimum of 12 weeks when they join the project.

We also provide opportunities for students to support our public legal education.  Students are trained to provide presentations in partnership with The Growth Company, a company which works with Merseyside Probation Service. Students will also work on producing information sheets relevant to the people attending the presentations.

Immigration

The solicitors in the immigration team provide full casework advice, assistance and representation for people who are stateless, children and refugees who want to become British and people with human rights leave. The team intends to continue providing complementary support to local advice organisations, with the overall aim of increasing capacity in the immigration advice and representation sector in the Merseyside region. 

They continue to work alongside national and international policy organisations as experts to improve the rights of stateless persons in the UK (Asylum Aid, European Network on Statelessness, UNHCR).

A team of volunteer students work with the solicitors to progress complex and challenging cases. You will learn legal practice skills alongside the solicitors, including:   

  • note-taking in interviews or hearings;
  • drafting witness statements, advice letters for clients and representations to the Home Office;
  • collating evidence;
  • completing application forms and writing research reports.   

Special Educational Needs

The solicitors in the SEN team provide advice about all aspects of SEN law and procedure and assist parents with appeals to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. They also work with local MPS and advice agencies to provide PLE. 

A team of students assist the solicitors with interviewing parents, drafting advice and completing forms.  Our most experienced students assist the solicitors in judicial review pre-action procedures.

Students are also able to support the team in their Public Legal Education Programme, which seeks to enhance the knowledge and understanding of parents and those working with children who may need additional support in schools.

Clinic Administration Project

We also run a project for those who would like to gain some office skills.  Every year we recruit students to work in the clinic office to assist in general office/administrative tasks such as answering the telephone and welcoming clients. Full training in a supportive environment is provided.  The project will provide work experience in an office environment and will be particularly beneficial to students who have not had the opportunity to work in an office. 

To be eligible for participation in our projects, students must first have completed our training on law clinic confidentiality procedures and client care, which can be found on CANVAS.

Students who join us in their third-year via our taught programme will be given similar opportunities but will develop these skills in a more intense and structured way over a 12 week semester.

Events 

With the opening of our new School of Law and Social Justice building, the Law Clinic now hosts events and open evenings which bring students from the Law Clinic together to share and discuss their experiences and allow those interested in joining us to hear about our work and ask questions. Our events will be advertised on our social media and through the Law Bulletin.

HEAR

All our projects are HEAR eligible.

Invaluable in terms of personal and professional development and invaluable to the local community. It is so rewarding to be part of something with a real world impact.

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