Tired and hungry, four student advisors from the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic arrived at Miami International Airport. Accompanied by one of their supervisors and the Law Clinic’s academic director, they traveled not in the search of sun, sand and sea, but in order to take part in the inaugural law clinic exchange with the University of Miami’s Health Rights Clinic.

The purpose of the exchange was broadly speaking twofold. Firstly, the students gained an invaluable first-hand insight in to issues surrounding the provision of access to justice in another society. Paired with four student advisors from the clinic in Miami, they accompanied them to different locations where they met with prospective clients to conduct initial interviews. Whilst the Health Rights Clinic centres on providing access to the healthcare system (which is privatised in the United States) for low-income patients, most of whom are from immigrant communities, the key to accessing healthcare for many of the poorest people in Miami, is linked to their immigration status.

On a practical level they were able to compare the differences in the way the clinics operate, such as the difficulties that arise in the Miami clinic in representing clients from such a variety of backgrounds, particularly the language barriers. This is particularly important as the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic prepares to launch its innovative immigration project assisting destitute asylum seekers here in Scotland.

Most striking for the students, however, were the disparities in access to healthcare and justice in the United States as Drew long, a student advisor currently studying toward his Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, observed. “I was really taken aback by the differences between Scotland with its near-universal access to medical treatment and the US system with its substantial deficit in service that is rooted in poverty.” Seeing such injustices has strengthened the students’ passion to continue providing access to justice for all at home in Scotland through their work in the Clinic, particularly as the provision of legal aid in civil matters is coming increasingly under threat.

Secondly, this exchange involved each Strathclyde student pairing up with a student from Miami to start work on projects that will comprise of a comparative study of ethical issues that arise from working in both clinics. The hope is that will help develop strong links between the two programmes and an academic portfolio, which will help future students to better understand their clinical work and improve practice. “It will be very interesting to see the discussion of ethical issues which arises out of their different experiences of working in a law clinic” said Donald Nicholson, Director of the Strathclyde Law Clinic and professor at the Strathclyde Law School. “I am very excited to see what the students come up with.”

The Strathclyde students were given tours of the Little Havana and Little Haiti, the Cuban and Haitian communities in Miami that make up a significant proportion of the immigrant community in South Florida. They sampled Cuban pastelitos and cortaditos at the infamous Little Versailles and met Marliene Bastien who founded the inspirational Haitian Women of Miami organisation that provides direct support and advocacy services to the Haitian community.

As the students embark on their projects, preparations get underway for the Miami students’ arrival in Glasgow in May, where they will experience life in a law clinic on the other side of the pond. Whilst what will be revealed in the academic explorations into clinical practice and ethics is unknown, what is certain is that an invaluable working relationship has been firmly established between the law clinics at Strathclyde and Miami. Indeed, the experience for everyone involved has been invaluable and eye-opening.

Long may these ties continue to flourish.

Following 11 years of service to the community, the award-winning University of Strathclyde Law Clinic has dramatically expanded its activities. Collaboration with the Refugee Survival Trust has enabled it to employ Barbara Coll as a part-time supervisor to oversee assistance to asylum seekers. Barbara had years of experience as an immigration solicitor in England before legal aid cuts made the provision of adequate legal services uneconomical, and will now oversee our new unit investigating possible fresh claims for asylum by destitute asylum applicants.

In addition, £175,000 raised through the Campaign for Strathclyde will allow the Clinic to employ additional supervisors and to increase its membership from 180 to 300 students over the next three years. This will almost double the number of clients it can assist and mean that far fewer students will be turned away from Clinic membership every year. This expansion will make the Clinic, one of the largest, if not the largest, clinics in the UK and certainly by far the largest in Scotland.

As a first step towards using this new expanded capacity, the Law Clinic has joined with Rape Crisis Scotland to provide advice to survivors of sexual violence, and has put in a joint bid with the Legal Services Agency to expand this service to representation as well.
And last but by no means least, the Law Clinic has appointed Rachel Blair to replace Annabell Fowles who, as many will know, provided seven years sterling service to the Clinic. Rachel has worked in employment law for the last 13 years, as a solicitor since 2008, and was an advisor during her Diploma year at the University.

All of these developments, along with the recently launched online advice service put the Clinic in an extremely strong position to expand the central role it plays in ensuring access to justice in Scotland. Reacting to these developments, Prof. Donald Nicolson OBE, founding director of the Law Clinic, commented:

“The Law Clinic has, for 11 years, surpassed my every expectation. To see the Clinic work now in conjunction with the Refugee Survival Trust and Rape Crisis Scotland to assist the most vulnerable groups in society, and secure substantial additional investment to expand further yet, fills me with confidence that 2015, as ever, will mark a significant milestone in our history.”

 

Law Clinic supporters discuss the success of the Law Clinic.

The Law Clinic would like to extend its sincere thanks to Paul Sayer (paulanthonysayer@gmail.com) for filming and editing this short film. It would also like to extend its thanks for all who agreed to be interviewed.

For our Law Clinic, turning ten years old is a milestone, and it certainly merited the celebration that it received – with a lovely evening spent with alumni, supporters, and current members of the Clinic. However, the true cause of celebration on the evening wasn’t what the Clinic had achieved for itself; but what it had achieved on behalf of others.

Of our 1200 recorded cases (not including the work of the evening initial advice sessions), we have secured success for at least of 93% of our clients. It is very easy to lose the sense of enormity of this achievement in a sea of statistics – but each of these clients represents someone who would have slipped through the net and likely received nothing, but for the help of the Clinic. However, the Law Clinic could never pretend that so much could be done without the enormous web of support it receives. From within, our supervisors, administrator and director work tirelessly to realise the Clinic’s ambition.  Externally, our donors, supporters and friends provide the vital money, time and assistance without which we could not function. We have the enormous fortune to be part of a supportive University at all levels – and, for all involved, this is enormously heartening.

In our Tenth Year, we have already achieved so much, and we now move into our second decade with the momentum to continue to make, with support, whatever difference we can.

Jacob Hay (Communications Officer) and Helen Donnelly (Student Director)

As you may be aware, the Law Clinic has recently joined forces with the University’s Journalism department in setting up Scotland’s first Innocence Project. The project is, in effect, the last resort for convicted criminals who have exhausted the ordinary appeal process, but who have maintained their innocence throughout. Students involved carry out an independent review and investigation of the cases in a bid to identify miscarriages of justice. If evidence is found to that effect, students will submit an application to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in the hope of having the case referred back to the High Court of Appeal.

This is an exciting time for the project as we prepare to take on our second case – with a further case in waiting. As part of this expansion, we believe that student members would benefit greatly from the supervision and/or guidance of practitioners in carrying out their investigations. It is commonplace in the more established Innocence Projects in England for criminal solicitors/barristers to act in an advisory capacity for them and we would very much like to implement something similar with our own project. As such, if you currently practice in (or have experience of) criminal law and would be interested in becoming involved with the project, please contact our Innocence Project Co-ordinator, Steven McKinley (steven.mckinley.2013@uni.strath.ac.uk).

We look forward to hearing from you.