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Law Clinic Executive Committee 2019/20

The recruitment of the Law Clinic’s 2019-2020 Executive Committee has now concluded. The Executive Committee will shape the direction for the Clinic for the year ahead and will begin in their roles on 1st June 2019.

With a vast number of high quality applicants for the different Committee positions, the competition was tough. Applications were received from students of all years, and a process of interviewing made the range and depth of experience that students continue to bring to the Clinic very clear.

Students are a key component behind all the work carried out by the Clinic. It is their hard work, ideas and dedication that drives the clinic forward, with the Executive Committee operating at the heart of this.

Commenting on the new Committee, Law Clinic Student Director James Anderson said:

“The new Executive Committee will succeed an extremely diligent and successful team and will look to build upon their success.

I am confident that the Clinic is going to benefit from the wealth of experience and new ideas that this committee will bring. I believe I speak on behalf of all students within the executive committee when I say that we can’t wait to get started working together to drive the clinic forward in the year ahead.”

The new Executive Committee is made up of the following people:

  • Student Directors: James Anderson and Kirstie Webb
  • Funding Officer: TBC
  • Communications Officer: Alanna Rooney
  • Training Officer: Anthony Pace
  • IAC Coordinator: Rebecca Farquhar
  • Online Project Manager: Cameron Turner
  • CCU Coordinator: Denice Chalmers
  • Street Law Coordinator: Gabriella Poli
  • Prisons Project Manager: Emelia Connor
  • Welfare Project Manager: Robert Dorrian
  • The Asylum Project Co-Coordinators: Kuda Chinyani (Casework) and James Burns (PLE)
  • SWRC Coordinator: Clare Green
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm A): Eilidh Campbell
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm B): Rebecca Dyer
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm C): Jordan Hamlett
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm D): Monalisa Swira
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm E): Karen Yuill
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm F): Scott MacDonald
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm G): Jordan Bird
  • Firm Coordinator (Firm H): Ben Dickson

Scottish Women’s Rights Centre Legal Update

From 1 April 2019, a new Domestic Abuse law has come into force in Scotland. 

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This law is a welcome change because it recognises the multiple ways in which people are affected by domestic abuse. It also expands the definition of what domestic abuse is in criminal law in Scotland and how the police and courts investigate and prosecute this crime.

To coincide with the coming into force of the new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre (SWRC) has created a factsheet detailing some of the main changes to the law: https://www.scottishwomensrightscentre.org.uk/news/news/7-things-to-know-about-scotlands-new-domestic-abuse-law/

Strathclyde Law Clinic shortlisted for LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2019

We are delighted to announce that The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic’s Executive Committee and Online Project have been shortlisted as finalists in the categories: Best contribution by a team of students and Best LegalTech contribution respectively, for the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2019.

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The Awards, run by LawWorks with the support of the Attorney General, The Rt Hon Geoffrey Cox QC MP, recognise and celebrate the outstanding pro bono work undertaken by law schools and law students across the UK.

The Awards ceremony is being held at the Members Dining Room, House of Commons on Wednesday 1st May. The ceremony will be hosted by His Honour Sir Robin Knowles CBE, and the Attorney General will be presenting the awards to the winners.

Follow Strathclyde Law Clinic on social media by clicking the following links to keep up to date with all future news and updates:

 

New College Lanarkshire Students Inspired by Former Student at the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic

Legal Studies students from the Motherwell Campus recently visited Strathclyde University Law Clinic to get a taster of what could be in store for them upon completion of their course.

The Law Clinic, which is run by law student volunteers, provides free legal assistance to people who are unable to get help by any other means. Former NCL Law student, Karen Yuill, is a co-ordinator at the Clinic and in her third year of a law degree at the university. 

Karen met with the group to discuss her journey from college to university and to give them an insight into the work that is carried out by the Clinic. 

The visit was organised by class lecturer, Ciaran O’Neill, who said: “This was a truly fabulous opportunity for our Law students to see, first hand, the wonderful pro bono work that the Law Clinic carry out.

“This kind of opportunity gives our students an excellent insight into how theory is put into practice and the sort of opportunities that await them in the next stage of their educational journey.

“I am extremely grateful to Karen and her team for a very informative and interesting morning.”

For more information about law courses available at New College Lanarkshire, visit: https://www.nclanarkshire.ac.uk/courses/law

For more information about Strathclyde University Law Clinic, visit: https://www.lawclinic.org.uk/ 

The Scottish Women’s Rights Centre shortlisted for “Making a Difference” award category for the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2019

The Scottish Women’s Rights Centre (SWRC); a collaboration between the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic, Rape Crisis Scotland and JustRight Scotland was recently shortlisted for the “Making a Difference” award category for the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2019.

(From left to right: Sarah Crawford and Kate Laverty)

The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards recognise and award academic and business partnerships that have made a positive impact within Scotland and other countries by leading the way in furthering economic growth, societal improvements and environmental advances.

The winners were announced at the awards evening on 21 February 2019, Director of the Strathclyde Law Clinic, Kate Laverty and the SWRC Lead Solicitor, Sarah Crawford, attended the awards evening on behalf of the SWRC.

The Law Clinic would like to congratulate all winners and partnerships that were shortlisted for the awards. A huge congratulations goes to Scene Connect Ltd, Edinburgh, and Heriot-Watt University’s School of Energy, Geoscience Infrastructure and Society and Institute for Infrastructure and Environment for winning the “Making a difference” Award.

 

 

The Strathclyde Law Clinic’s Immigration Unit delivers Forum Theatre Sessions at Glasgow Caledonian University

In the run up to Christmas 2018, the Law Clinic’s Immigration Unit (IU) was invited to deliver a forum theatre session on asylum interviews to a group of third year social work students at Glasgow Caledonian University.

 

The IU ran two back-to-back sessions, with each session being delivered to an audience of 25 participants.

The session starts with a fictionalised asylum interview based on real law clinic cases, followed by an examination and deconstruction of the interview through audience participation. 

These interactive sessions aim to highlight the challenges faced by destitute asylum seekers when progressing their cases, and in particular, the credibility issues that hound their cases relentlessly.

The sessions were very well received. The audience quickly got into the spirit of forum theatre by raising their hands and stopping the interview when they saw an issue or problem. The braver amongst them got the chance to ‘jump in’ and re-enact the scene as they thought it ideally should have been acted out.

Law Clinic Attends Student Union Welfare Week

On Wednesday 23 January 2019, representatives from the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic attended the Strathclyde Student Union’s Welfare Week event for Student Services.

The event took place on level four of the Strathclyde Students Union in the Recharge Cafe and provided students with the opportunity to engage with representatives from the various support services available.

Alongside the Law Clinic, the event also featured the Advice Hub, Financial Services, Security, International Student Support Team, Student Accommodation and the Careers Service. The initiative has been developed by John Agbonrofo, the Vice President of Support, in order to promote the support services available to Strathclyde students.

Reflecting on the Welfare Week, John commented:

“Smile Project Strath Union Welfare Week is an outreach that provides opportunities for students to get access to the most up to date and relevant information and training to meet their needs (Personal, Academic, Housing, Employability, Finance, Legal Rights, Wellbeing, Health and, Safety).

In essence the message is, no matter the circumstance you are not alone, there are people and services that are here for you. Always remember, do not let anything take away your smile. Keep smiling 🙂 We are here to help!”

One of the volunteers representing the Law Clinic at the event, Kirstie Webb reflected:

“It was great to be able to represent the Law Clinic at the Strath Union’s inaugural welcome week. This gave us an invaluable opportunity to meet and interact with students who may not know about the Law Clinic’s work and the services we provide. Having a time where all the organisations and services are in one place is a fantastic idea that will hopefully enable students to access any information they may need.”

 

Distributing Access to Justice

A dedicated group of Law Clinic volunteers took to the streets to distribute University of Strathclyde Law Clinic leaflets.

 

At the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic we are always aiming to support the most disadvantaged and vulnerable members of society. This includes people who do not have access to the internet. By distributing leaflets to public locations in Glasgow and the surrounding area, we hope to raise awareness of the services the Law Clinic provides in order to help those who need our service the most.

The team targeted local libraries, Councillors offices and Advice Hub’s. The locations included the Mitchell Library, Glasgow City Hall, Townhead Health Centre, the University of Strathclyde’s Advice Hub among other venues.

 

University of Strathclyde Law Clinic Awards Success

The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic was shortlisted for three awards over the closing months of 2018 with representatives of the Clinic attending the: Law Awards of Scotland, Evening Times Community Champions Grand Final and the Herald Society Awards.

 

The Herald Society Awards 2018

The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic enjoyed a successful night at the tenth annual Herald Society Awards with the Law Clinic winning the “Team of the Year” Award.

(Representatives from the Law Clinic’ Executive Committee (James Anderson, Kirstie Webb, Ben Dickson, Victoria Silver, Kate Laverty and Becky Kane) receiving the Herald Society Team of the Year award)

The event took place on 1 November 2018 and was hosted at the Glasgow Marriot Hotel in Glasgow. Members of the Law Clinics Executive Committee represented the Law Clinic at the event, with Director Kate Laverty accepting the award on the Clinic’s behalf.

Beating out some stiff competition, the Law Clinic won the award for its work over the past year. The Law Clinic is made up of 268 Student volunteer members and over the course of 2017/18, was able to win or save its clients £125,464 assisting over 550 clients in the process.

 

The Law Awards of Scotland

The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic received a commendation award in the Pro Bono category, for its provision of access to justice within Glasgow and surrounding areas over the past year.

(Student Director of University of Strathclyde Law Clinic James Anderson and representatives from Edinburgh University Free Legal Advice Service receiving commendation awards)

The awards, which took place on 29 November 2018 at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow, also saw success for other University Law Clinic’s/Projects. With Edinburgh University Free Legal Advice Service also receiving a commendation award in the category of Pro Bono and Glasgow Caledonian University Law Clinic winning the overall Pro Bono Award for 2018.

The event marked a fantastic celebration of Law Clinics from across Scotland, with representatives of each Law Clinic expressing excitement for the upcoming 2019 Scottish Universities Law Clinic Networking (SULCN) event, which will be hosted by Edinburgh Napier University.

 

University of Strathclyde Law Clinic Grand Finalists of the Glasgow Community Champion Awards.

On Tuesday 27 November 2018, a group of students and staff of the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic were invited to represent the clinic at the Glasgow Community Champion Grand Final Awards.

(All the winners from the Community Champion Glasgow Awards Grand Final 2018 gather for a group photograph)

The evening began with a buffet and a drinks reception which swiftly lead to an outstanding performance by Angela McCallum School of Music which opened the evening.

These awards honour members of the public within the Glasgow area that do outstanding work for their community. We would like to congratulate all prize winners for the incredible work they have accomplished within the Glasgow area and the prizes they won are a true reflection of the effort they put in to improving their community. While the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic were joint winners with Caledonian University Law Clinic of the Public Service Award at the North West Division Event, Royston Youth Action Group won the award at the Grand Final.

(Representatives from the University of Strathclyde’s Executive Committee (Jordan Hamlett, Ben Dickson, Gabriella Poli, Karen Yuill, James Anderson, Kirstie Webb, Scott Sharpe, Kieran Crossley) receiving the public service award)