Friday 14 October 2016 saw this session’s intake of new student advisors complete their Initial Advisor Training. This year, we received more applications than ever before, and we took on 74 new case workers.

Over the past two weeks, our new students have been trained on how to be an effective advisor.  At the first training session, the student advisors were welcomed to the Clinic before starting to learn how effectively to interview a client.  They were then given the opportunity to practice what they had learnt by interviewing each other.

At the next session, the Law School’s Professor Charles Hennessy gave them an intensive course in legal research by setting them a problem solving question based on a real life case.

The third session involved a discussion on legal ethics lead by Professor Nicolson followed by a session on legal letter writing.

The final session acted as a ‘case simulation’, with the new advisors putting everything they had learned into practice on a mock case.

Commenting after the graduation ceremony, trainer John Stringer said:

“Our new advisors have gone through a really intensive training programme.  Despite having to take in a lot of information and learn new skills in a short space of time, our new recruits have been brilliant, never letting their enthusiasm or attention falter.”

“This year we took a different approach following the structure of a case and further incorporating our experienced student advisors into the training, with a number of them helping at our training sessions.  I think our new advisors found it beneficial to learn from their peers who are already in the role.  I also wanted the new students advisors to get used to asking their fellow advisors for help as it is something they will do in the Clinic on a regularly basis.  Just because the training is finished, does not mean the learning is and the best way for our new advisors to learn will be to work with and question our more experienced student advisors.”

Student Directors Jacob Hay and Fergus Lawrie commented:

“We are delighted to welcome our 74 new case workers, and are looking forward to working with them in the coming months. The effort they invested in each training session was outstanding, and we are confident they will be great assets to their clients.”

Professor Donald Nicolson, Law Clinic Director, remarked:

“Competition for places within the Clinic was at an all time high this year, and based on the enthusiasm with which our new intake approached the training sessions, I am confident that this will be matched with an outstanding calibre of advisors amongst our new intake. I am indebted to the staff and students who helped deliver the training this year — which I hope proved valuable and interesting for our new intake.”

This past Wednesday saw the Law Clinic hold its Annual General Meeting in the Graham Hills Building. It was attended by Clinic members old and new as well as friends of the Law Clinic and invited guests.

The AGM also saw our 2015-2016 Annual Report published. This can be accessed here.

The AGM began with Law Clinic Director Donald Nicolson giving his annual report of the Clinic over the past year.  Donaldpointed out that over the past year the Clinic has dealt with 484 cases: an increase of 26.4%.  This increase was thanks to our three general advice services: Online Enquiries, Initial Advice Clinic Enquiries and traditional “Cases”. Donald then went onto share some of prominent success stories while project supervisors gave a breakdown of their projects, and the Student Directors outlined plans for the coming year.  Following these reports, elections to the Clinic’s Executive Committee were held with Thomas Jamieson, Alice Bowman, Jordan Bird, Jenna McKinley and Luke Light all elected to the Committee.

Following on from the election, the AGM then moved on to the night’s award ceremony.  The nominees for awards were all nominated by their fellow students. The first award of the night was “Best Newcomer” which was won by second year Graduate Entrant Nathan McHardy while Scott Jenkins won “Best Project Worker”.  The award for “Best Advisor” was shared between Ben Brown and Scott O’Connor.  The “Best Case” award was won by Andrew Harding and Hannah Grace for their sterling work on an employment case.  The Amanda Benstock Award for Compassion was won by Alice Bowman, while Stacey Martin won the Effie Shaw Award for Dedication.  Miranda Hughes won the Best Court/Tribunal Advocate.  The final award of the night went to Jennifer Rowlinson who won the award for her overall contribution to the Law Clinic over the past year.

Following the AGM, Director Donald Nicolson said:

“The AGM is a chance to celebrate our past successes as well as look forward to our future and the last year has been a year of massive success.  We have increased our membership to almost 300 members while we have been recognised at a variety of national awards and won a few as well.  Most importantly it has been a year of success when it comes to winning for our clients.  We had a case success rate of 85% which is truly remarkable.  We  want to build upon this record and improve it, which I am confident we will do over the next year.”

Donald added:

“I congratulate everyone that won an award and everyone that was nominated.  As these awards are based on students nominating one another, those who won and nominated are really thought of highly by their peers who work with them on a daily basis in the Clinic.”

Monday 10 October 2016 saw nine student advisors from the Law Clinic take part in the 2016 Glasgow Legal Walk organised by the Access to Justice Foundation.

Beginning at the High Court, our 9 walkers (one narrowly missing the opportunity to be part of the photo), as well as teams from law firms across Glasgow, walked ten kilometres around the city, taking in such sights as Glasgow Green and the Clyde. Despite the odd wrong turn, our intrepid walkers completed the walk in just under two hours.

The Access to Justice Foundation aims to improve access to justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. It raises funds throughout the year through a number of different events with the next one being a national Great Legal Quiz. The Foundation then distributes funds to organisations that support those who need legal help but cannot afford it. At the time of the writing, the Walk as whole had raised almost £900 and the Access to Justice Foundation are hoping that this number will increase to over £1,000 with donations still being submitted.

Fundraising Officer Andrew Harding said:

This is a great event as it allows different law clinics and firms to interact with one another and get to know each while at the same time raising funds for a great cause. The Access to Justice Foundation is very supportive of our Clinic so I welcome the fact that we were able to support it.

A big thank you to everyone that represented the Law Clinic during the walk and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has donated so far. Although the walk is over, we are still seeking donations, so anyone wishing to donate can do so by visiting our online page.

The Law Clinic recently wished a fond farewell to a long-time project supervisor Barbara Coll, who supervised the Clinic’s Immigration Unit since its establishment in 2014. 

Below Barbara talks about her time in the Clinic and members of the Clinic pay tribute to her work. 

The Immigration Unit is funded by the Destitute Asylum Seekers Support (DASS) Project to work with destitute asylum seekers who have been unsuccessful in their initial asylum claims. The aim of the project is to support these extremely vulnerable and often highly traumatised individuals to gather new evidence to support fresh applications for asylum.

By the time the Immigration Unit becomes involved in cases, our clients have already been refused asylum by the Home Office and at appeal and are generally no longer entitled to any form of support. They are often homeless, sleeping in night shelters or moving from place to place. They survive on charity and their lives are very chaotic. This commonly has very negative consequences for their mental and physical health and their sense of dignity has often been shattered by their experiences of ill-treatment in their country of origin and, unfortunately, their experiences of going through the asylum process in the UK. We generally find that clients do not fully understand what has happened in their cases so we take the time to explain this to them and to explore with them potential forms of new evidence in support of their cases. If there is potential for new evidence, we assist them in collecting and preparing new evidence before handing the case over to solicitors to prepare fresh applications for asylum to the Home Office. This process is often extremely time consuming. For example, in one of our cases, the process took in the region of 80 hours. Solicitors simply would not be paid for working that number of hours on an individual case by the Scottish Legal Aid Board and so the Law Clinic can play an important role in assisting refugees to achieve justice.

First and foremost, I have enjoyed working along with very committed Law Clinic students to assist an extremely vulnerable and marginalised client group. Asylum seekers are often vilified by the press and are not treated with respect by many of those with whom they come into contact during the asylum process. I have enjoyed being part of a project that is dedicated to treating asylum seekers with respect and restoring their sense of dignity. Through our project, asylum seekers are informed, in a way they can understand, of why they have been refused asylum and what evidence is needed in order that they can be recognized as refugees. At the very least, they are then able to make more informed decisions about their future which is crucial for all human beings.

I am returning to humanitarian work abroad. I am hoping to work with Syrian refugees and will be based near the Turkish/Syrian border.

The Law Clinic’s new Immigration Supervisor, Gillian Melville, remarked:

Barbara has been instrumental in developing the Clinic’s immigration unit and has supervised the project since its inception. The immigration unit has had many referrals and has been of great benefit to those who previously lacked an understanding of the status of their immigration cases, as well as providing guidance and support to those able to submit a fresh claim for asylum .Barbara is completely dedicated and passionate about the work she does, and we have all learnt from her drive and professionalism, not to mention her wealth of expertise in the field of immigration and asylum. It is commendable that Barbara is taking her expertise back to the field to continue her humanitarian work in the Middle East, where she will  be living and working in high conflict areas. We wish Barbara well for the future, and thank her for everything that she has brought to the clinic in the past two years.

Donald Nicolson, Law Clinic Director, added:

In a very short time, Barbara has made a huge impact. In two years, she took the idea of providing assistance to one of the most vulnerable groups in society and made it a reality. In doing so, she overcame many obstacles including having to retrain and  to deal with numerous other organisations. But what shone through in everything she did was her care for her clients and commitment to ensuring them the best possible service. In this way, she leaves a priceless legacy, not just in terms of a thriving Immigration Unit capable of serving many refugees in the future, but also  in the example provided to the students she trained and worked alongside. Hopefully many of these students will go on to follow in her footsteps and ensure that Barbara has an even more enduring impact on service to those most in need.

Miranda Hughes, a student advisor who worked in the Immigration Unit over the summer: 

It has been truly inspirational to work so closely with Barbara over the past few months. It is rare to meet somebody so passionate about what they do and I truly believe this will have a profound effect on how I approach my work in the future. The Immigration Unit is a testament to her expertise and commitment to change and I wish her all the best for the future.

The Law Clinic has been shortlisted for two awards at the Herald Society Awards 2016.  The Executive Committee has been shortlisted for the Herald Society Team of the Year Award while administrator Diane Inglis has been shortlisted for the Unsung Hero Award.

The Executive Committee is formed of staff members and student volunteers who are responsible for matters such as recruitment, training, IT, publicity, Clinic development and external relations. The Committee also consists of elected members who take the lead on policy making and ad hoc tasks to ensure that the Clinic meets its objectives.

Diane Inglis, the Clinic’s Administrator, fields all incoming contact to the Law Clinic, and also acts as a go-to for the students and the staff of the Clinic for the majority of the day-to-day issues in the Clinic.

The Herald Society Awards were launched in 2008 to celebrate and recognise the vital work taking place in the public and voluntary sector.  This year’s award ceremony is taking place on Wednesday 2 November at the Crowne Plaza, Glasgow.

Professor Donald Nicolson, Law Clinic Director, remarked:

“I owe a huge debt to the Executive Committee students. It is their endless enthusiasm, commitment, and sense of responsibility which enables the Clinic to play such an important role in redressing access to justice and allows me to juggle being Director with my academic responsibilities.

The students put in hours equivalent to that of a number of paid administrators to ensure that the Clinic operates effectively on a day to day basis, and they do so in a very reliable and highly professional manner. When a task is undertaken by Executive Committee members, I can always be confident that it will be done efficiently and timeously.”

On Diane’s nomination, Professor Nicolson said:

“Diane has brought a new level of professionalism by ensuring that the Clinic runs more smoothly than ever before. Diane has a brilliant manner with the public and is able to reassure and pacify very stressed clients whom she treats with dignity and respect. Diane has also proved to be an invaluable source of support to students, cheerfully sorting out their problems and providing a shoulder to cry on when things do not go well. She epitomises selfless service to the community.”

On the 7th and 8th September, Jennifer Rowlinson and Rebecca Menzies attended the Inaugural UK and Ireland Street Law Best Practices Conference at the University of Birmingham.   Below they share their experiences of the conference.

Jennifer Rowlinson: As the former Schools Project Manager I wanted to attend the conference to discover ways that we could better develop our Street Law programmes. I am pleased to say that I returned from the conference with a number of ideas that the conference helped develop best practice.

Rebecca Menzies: As the manager of the Prisons Project, as well as a member of the Schools Project, I wanted to attend the conference to discover ways to develop the Prisons Project and engaging both the offenders and pupils. I came home from the conference with lots of ideas of how to develop our current Street Law based programmes.

Day 1

Jennifer Rowlinson: In the first session of the day we heard a number of presentations about street law in the community. The presentations included “Street Law in Schools” by Francis Ridout and “Street Law in Prisons” by Freda Grealy.

I found the section on “Street Law and Litigants in Person” of particular interest. In Birmingham University, students provide presentations in the Employment Tribunal on a weekly basis to unrepresented litigants. From my own experiences in the Law Clinic, I have seen a number of cases which have been referred to us by employment judges because claimants are unable to understand the process.

The second half of the day focused on skills development. During the first session, Richard Grimes, John Lunney and Renata Burdova provided presentations on sample Street Law sessions: delivery, pedagogy and method. This highlighted how we need to go back to basics when creating new Street Law presentations.

In the final session of the day, Efrain Marimon and Melinda Cooperman presented the “Evidence Showdown: Teaching Strategies for Mock Trials”.  I enjoyed this session because it showcased the different methods you can use to facilitate interaction. You can start off with something as simple as a video and before you know it you have created a live trial.

Rebecca Menzies: From the morning sessions, it was clear that I was oblivious to the number of ways Street Law can be used in the community. I had simply linked Street Law to our two projects but the morning sessions opened my eyes to a number of other ways it can be used to benefit the community.

I found the section on “Street Law and Litigants in Person” by Linden Thomas of particular interest.  This session highlighted the need to have learning objectives for each talk and then to have an evaluation process for all parties involved to ensure these learning objectives are being met.

Day 2

Jennifer Rowlinson:  At the end of day 1, we were given a topic from which we were to create our own Street Law programme.  From seeing only five presentations, it was interesting to see the different methods of Street Law. I particularly enjoyed the programme on Consumer Rights as this is an area covered in the Schools Project. After each programme, the other groups provided feedback and we were able to speak of further ways we could improve the session.

During the second session, John Lunney, Richard Grimes and Sarah Morse presented sessions on “Building Street Law into the Curriculum”.  Once again, I learned about the importance of developing a good training programme which not only creates better presentations but creates better advisors. John Lunney pointed out that the Street Law sessions should be based on audience interaction, allowing students to be more like facilitators and less like lectures.

In the final session, BPP University provided a presentation on “Troubleshooting: Overcoming Practical Problems in your Street Law Programmes”.  It was interesting to see how a number of the issues we face also happen on other Street Law programmes. This session allowed us to discuss possible solutions.

Rebecca Menzies: I really enjoyed the short sample Street Law presentations. It was interesting to see the wide range of techniques which could be used to engage the audience and stimulate conversations.

The session on incorporating Street Law into the curriculum, and the session by Efrian and Melinda, highlighted to me the advantages of training the students more competently than we currently do. It highlighted that our training programmes for prisons and schools need more of a focus on the fundamentals of Street Law, ensuring our students go into the community with the correct skills.

Final Thoughts

Jennifer Rowlinson: Upon reflection, the Street Law conference has taught me about the importance of training and feedback if we want to progress with our Street Law programmes.

Rebecca Menzies:  Looking back at the conference, I definitely achieved my goal of seeking new ways for us to develop our Street Law programmes. It opened my eyes to the number of community groups who could benefit from Street Law and the wide variety of ways in which it can be used.

This week Roisin Donnelly, a student advisor and recently appointed Deputy Student Director, took on her 62nd case and broke the long-standing record for most cases dealt with by a student.

Roisin has been a student advisor at the Clinic since her first year and has held a number of roles in the Clinic.  She is about to start the Diploma in Legal Practice.

Reflecting on this milestone, Roisin said:

“I  have been honoured to be part of the clinic since I started at the University. It has been a great opportunity to promote access to justice, alongside being able to help so many people in the local community.  I have dealt with a wide range of cases including employment issues, housing issues and representing clients at small claims courts.  No one case has been the same, each with their own challenges and their own highs and lows. Of course, for every case, I had a co-advisor helping me and, whilst it’s not always been easy, the importance of the great work that every one of our advisors puts in cannot be understated. Special thanks must also go to the supervisors and to Donald, whose advice and support throughout my time in the Clinical LLB made my time in the Clinic a much easier and worthwhile experience.”

 I hope to continue to take on as many cases as possible during my diploma year. Whilst I’m sad that it will be my final year with the Clinic, I’m confident that it will be the Clinic’s best year yet!”

Case supervisor Gillian Melvile said:

“During my time at the clinic I have had the pleasure of working closely with Roisin both on Clinic cases and on the benefits project. Roisin is a hardworking and committed student advisor and project worker, and the fact that she has broken this long-held record highlights just how dedicated she is to both her clients and the Clinic as a whole.  Roisin gives it her all in every case she does and  continues to be a great asset to the Clinic.”

Wednesday 3rd August saw the launch of University of Strathclyde Law Clinic’s latest project: a new on-site Benefits Drop–In Service for service users of the Lodging House Mission in Glasgow. Service users of the Mission can receive help and advice on various benefit issues such as how changes in personal circumstances  will affect their benefits as well advice on housing issues.   

Thrown in at the deep end in Dundee… And came back out with Case of the Year award!

I joined the Law Clinic in September 2014 on starting my Graduate Entry Clinical LLB degree. I patiently waited to be assigned a case and went along to IAC’s to get some experience of dealing with clients. It was February 2015 before my time came and I was assigned my very first Law Clinic case. It unfolded into a bewildering yet exciting case and one from which I learnt a lot.

There is something about the lack of information which makes getting a new case even more exciting! The client was facing charges of misconduct by the Scottish Social Services Council who are the regulatory body for the social service workforce in Scotland. She had been dismissed from her position of employment in a nursery and the SSSC was proposing to strike her off the register of accredited social workers. We were faced with the task of fighting for her to continue to work in a job that she loved and save her livelihood – pretty daunting when you think about it!

I began by researching the remit of the SSSC and reading their past decisions, and getting to know the case inside out. Together with preparing the case directly, I also travelled to Dundee to sit in on a hearing to get a feel for the place and to give me an insight into how the hearing would take place, how to address the panel and who sits where – all the subliminal yet important things which can greatly affect your case.

Overall, my experience was very positive, especially in light of this being my first case. We successfully defended our client and the charges were found not proven. Consequently she retained her registration and was able to continue her dreams of working in childcare. What we had achieved really hit home when we received a thank you card: “I cannot put into words how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me! I’m very busy at work, doing the job I love, which may have ended without your support and representation!”

This really proves that the hard work we put in was definitely worth it. Looking back, I’m not sure if I would do anything differently. I think I took a number of preparatory steps and precautions which overall put me in an excellent position.

– Jennifer Keane, Student Advisor

£40,000 Success in a Long Running Case

Recently, one of the Law Clinics’ longest-running cases has come to a very satisfying end. A client who came to us for help in 2010 with a dispute over the terms of a will, and has had at least five student advisors working on her case over the years, has finally had her case settled. We are delighted to say that this client was sent a cheque recently for £40,000, which she has now collected.

This win for a client is the second highest in the 13 year history of the Law Clinic and it would not be going too far to say that many of us thought that this case might never be resolved. We are all thrilled at the fantastic outcome for the client.

Whilst it is always gratifying to successfully help a client with their case, it is particularly satisfying in these circumstances when the client has had to wait so long for a resolution

– Clara Smeaton, Student Advisor and Co-Student Director

Unfair Dismissal Case Won

The client came to the Law Clinic after being dismissed from her employer by text and without notice. The client indicated that she thought this was because of an email exchange with her employer in which the discussion became unexpectedly heated. The client had done nothing to provoke this and was simply informing her employer that she believed someone else would be working a Sunday shift as she had worked the previous Sunday. Despite this, the client acknowledged her dismissal and began to seek alternative employment.

Following her dismissal, the client received some of the pay she was due, but realised that this was not all she was owed. This led to her raising an Employment Tribunal claim for unpaid wages and unfair dismissal. When she was referred to the Law Clinic, advisors attended a preliminary hearing where many issues were raised by the other side, who sought to have the case dismissed. Dates for the full hearing were then set. However, the other side raised objections to several of these dates and engaged in many delaying tactics. This resulted in the overall hearing lasting a total of 10 days over the course of a year.

When the case was eventually heard at Tribunal, the other side tried to intimidate both the Tribunal Judge and the client. This resulted in the student advisors often having to step in to prevent this. Such behaviour only delayed the hearing further and caused the client significant stress. Eventually, the decision made by the Tribunal was to award our client the sum of £2,073.02.

– Roisin Donnelly, Student Advisor

Unfair Contract Terms Victory

The client had signed a contract and paid a deposit of £5000 for a mobile home. The client had not completed the sale for her own property and ran into difficulties in obtaining finance for the new property. To continue with the sale would have put the client in an unstable financial position. After notifying the respondent, the client was informed that she would not receive any portion of the deposit back as she was seeking. The client was seeking to have a portion of the deposit amount recovered. A case was raised relating to Unfair Contract terms and it was successfully argued that the respondent did not have a set method of calculating the deposit amount and the deposit sum was disproportionate. The court awarded the client £2000.

-Jennifer Rowlinson, Student Advisor