Notable Cases 2015-2016

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

A Spotlight on our Projects: 2016

We look at the progress of our projects over the last year.

You can skip to the Small Business Law Unit, the Housing Project, the Online Project, the IACs, the SWRC, the Prisons Project,  the Immigration Unit or the Criminal Convictions Unit.

SBLU Bootcamp 4

The Small Business Law Unit (SBLU)— a new and very different project

The SBLU aims to provide legal advice to individuals starting up a new business, small businesses, social enterprises and charities who cannot otherwise afford this advice. It will focus on providing advice in areas such as employment, commercial and contract law through the use of information sessions, workshops, business Initial Advice Clinics and bespoke client services.

 We hope that through providing these services, we will help empower community members and encourage the individuals behind these businesses to enforce good business practices and make their business a success, thus helping not only the individual served, but also their employees, customers and the local community.

Although the idea for the project was only developed over last summer, we have now entered the pilot stage, with the aim to launch in September 2016. On the 21st June 2016 the Unit held the first Business Law Bootcamp which provided information on a range of legal areas and which had a fantastic turnout and received great feedback.

We have also been very fortunate to have support from the existing business network in Glasgow and other Business Clinics throughout the UK, such as QLegal, a part of the legal advice centre at Queen Mary’s University in London, and the Student Law Office at Northumbria University. These organisations have provided us with insight into business law and practices, for which we are very grateful. We would also like to extend our thanks to DLA Piper for their external supervision and presentations during the Bootcamp and their continued support of this new project.

With so much support and the help of dedicated students, we are looking forward to seeing the SBLU grow over the next few months and provide access to justice to new clients!

Housing Project

The Housing Project has forged ahead in its mission to educate people on housing rights.

We have been working together with the Home Owner Housing Panel (HOHP), which identified that some homeowners were having difficulties in completing their applications to launch complaints about their Property Factor. The Project is in the process of setting up drop in sessions where Members will assist homeowners in completing their application. We have worked hard in recent months to put together a comprehensible presentation which can be delivered at these meetings.

Having completed the presentations we are now in the process of organising several sessions so that we can have a “dry run” of the presentations before delivering to HOHP applicants in the coming weeks

Online Project

Our Online Project has continued to increase our provision for clients who are perhaps unable to come in to the Law Clinic or reside in rural areas which would make it difficult for them to travel. We currently have 40 advisors involved in the project. In the year to July 2015 we managed to advise a total of 107 clients, and from that date another 123 clients.

Recently, one of our alumni and the instigator of this project, Andrew Ross , has volunteered to provide remote supervision of cases from his new job at Burges Salmon in Bristol. This is a model we hope to expand, and if you would like further information plus get in touch to discuss the possibility.

Initial Advice Clinics

Once again, we are thrilled with the continual growth of the Law Clinic’s Initial Advice Clinics (IACs).

Acting as a crucial branch of the Law Clinic in reaching the wider community, our dedicated volunteer solicitors continue to provide on-the-spot legal advice at drop-in sessions in the evenings. IACs run on the first Wednesday of every month at the Mitchell Library and on the third Monday at the University of Strathclyde Law School.

To learn more about the IACs, or to get involved, please get in touch by contacting enquiries@lawclinic.org.uk.

The Scottish Women’s Rights Centre

The Scottish Women’s Rights Centre is a collaboration between Rape Crisis Scotland, Legal Services Agency and the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic. The Centre offers free and confidential legal advice and information to women who are survivors of gender based violence whilst the helpline first launched on April 22 2015 and has run every Wednesday since. This has now expanded to include a Tuesday evening.

The project has also successfully been operating legal information surgeries run by a solicitor from LSA at two Rape Crisis Centres.  A Glasgow surgery works in partnership with the Support to Report project and runs on Mondays from 10am-1pm. A Lanarkshire surgery is based in the Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre working in partnership with the North & South Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Partnerships and runs on Thursdays 10am – 1pm.

Both of these services are free to survivors and operate on an appointment basis. They offer a great opportunity for survivors to have one-on-one contact with the Centres solicitor and support services are on hand to offer assistance if needed. Law Clinic volunteers assist the solicitor at these drop in sessions by taking notes, thus gaining a great experience in expanding their knowledge of how to deal with survivors of gender based violence.

The Prisons Project

In February 2016 the Prisons Project gave their first presentation to offenders since 2013!

In 2013 the project faced significant challenges due to new policies being imposed by the Scottish Prison Service. After in-depth discussions with HMP Low Moss throughout the following year, it was agreed that they were willing to waive the requirement for disclosures to be carried out in exchange for the students involved undertaking a training programme within the prison.

The first presentation took place on 26 February and since then presentations have been taking place on a weekly basis. We now present on the topic of the employability of offenders – focusing on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 – and joining the armed forces with convictions. Both topics have received positive feedback from offenders and prison staff. We are hoping to expand into other prisons, most likely Greenock next, as well as undertaking new topics including Housing Rights and Rights to Benefits in the coming weeks.

The project is offering an excellent opportunity to get involved in a unique area of law and to work with people who really need our help and support, while also giving providing students a fantastic research opportunity that gives them insight into how those with convictions struggle to reintegrate into society.

The Immigration Unit

The Immigration Unit was launched in the second half of the 2014-15 academic year and plays an important role in challenging failed immigration and asylum cases.

Refugees are often refused asylum by both the Home Office and at appeal even though they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of origin. There are many reasons why this may happen; however, once they are in this position, they are extremely vulnerable as they are no longer entitled to even minimal state support and often become destitute. It can also be difficult for them to gather fresh evidence in support of their cases.

In response, the Law Clinic’s Immigration Unit is working in partnership with the Refugee Survival Trust and the Scottish Refugee Council on a project to assist destitute asylum seekers who have been refused asylum to gather new evidence in support of their cases as A first step towards putting in a fresh claim for asylum.

To this end, it has recruited a total of 20 members who have received training from Freedom from Torture, an organisation that offers counseling and other vital support to torture survivors and those working with them. Since July 2015, when the Immigration Unit received its first referral, there have been 43 successful referrals to the Law Clinic from the Scottish Refugee Council and in each case, the referred asylum seekers have been given detailed advice in relation to the type of evidence needed to support fresh applications for asylum, as well as assistance to obtain such evidence where they meet the Law Clinic’s criteria for help as a client.

The Immigration Unit will soon pilot a monthly immigration advice clinic at the Lodging House Mission where English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes are conducted.

The Criminal Convictions Unit

The Criminal Convictions Unit (CCU) began the new academic year with a record number of cases (five in total) and project members, and project expansion continued as expected as a consequence of overall Clinic expansion.  The Presumed Innocent Network (PIN), a collaborative effort involving the CCU, Abertay Justice Project (AJP) and the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO), promises to continue to fill the demand for cases created by the growing supply of project members ready and willing to engage in potential miscarriages of justice investigations.

The CCU hosted two exciting training sessions in semester 1.  The first was conducted by the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission (SCCRC), role is to review and investigate alleged miscarriages of justice. This session has provided an invaluable insight into the investigative techniques of the SCCRC for two consecutive years now.

Dr. Richard Adams and the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO) conducted the second session.  Dr. Adams is a Chief Inspector at Police Scotland where he is the Head of Policing Values and Human Rights. This was a great opportunity to hear an influential member of Police Scotland provide information on the value-based approach adopted by Police Scotland in their investigations.   Following Chief Inspector Dr. Adams, MOJO brought along an ex-client to recount his experience as a victim of a miscarriage of justice.  Hearing his experience served to humanise the process miscarriages of justice victims must go through, and allow unit members to witness first-hand and appreciate the potential effect their efforts might have in turning peoples’ lives around for the better.

The CCU is also pleased to announce that an exciting and long sought after collaboration with the university’s forensic science department has finally been implemented.  A select few of the University’s MSc forensic science students will be given the opportunity to become involved in CCU cases where forensic input is required. This collaboration is an exciting addition to the project and one that is sure to provide a fresh perspective on investigations in an area of expertise law students are not fully equipped to grasp.

Kate Laverty: 10 Years in the Supervisory Saddle

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Kate Laverty

When I met Kate Laverty shortly after setting up the Law Clinic, I felt immediately that I had met a kindred spirit – someone who cared deeply about helping others in society. Unlike me, Kate had a Scottish law degree and had even practised law. So it did not take much thought in 2006 to choose her as the Clinic’s first supervisor.

Since then, Kate has been a brilliant supervisor, taking our casework to a far more professional and ambitious level than I ever imagined. She has been responsible for some of the biggest and most important cases we have had, but does not confine her efforts to clients alone. Instead she takes a key role in mentoring students, and in ambitious Clinic development.

When Kate started, our activity was confined to casework. Over the years, Kate has always played an important role in guiding and supporting the students responsible for projects which have extended the reach of our service to the community. She was particularly helpful in relation to the Innocent Project (now the Criminal Convictions Unit) and the Immigration Unit. However, perhaps her greatest legacy to date is the establishment of the Women’s Rights Centre in which she plays a leading role. Her runner up position last year in the Herald Society Worker of the Year Award only goes some way to recognise her contribution to the community.

No doubt countless students over the last ten years owe Kate a huge debt of gratitude in the way she has nurtured their legal skills and enthusiasm. I am equally grateful for the role she has played on the Executive Committee and more recently the Management Committee, as well as being someone I can always turn to for advice . Over the years I have come to trust Kate’s judgment on all matters clinical (and some non-clinical!). She has proved extremely wise and has an instinct for the right decision. I am not sure how I would have managed without her over the years.

Donald Nicolson

Over and over again I feel that Kate has taught me a great deal, from how to draft a letter that’s got a degree of humanity rather than a cold business-like tone, to handling people with empathy and finding creative solutions to their problems.

Drew Long

Nothing is ever too much for Kate and she is never too busy to listen and help. Kate is a great inspiration and role model for all students in the Law Clinic because of her dedication, attention to detail and the way that she approaches problems

Scott O’Connor

Kate was integral to the development of the Scottish Women’s Right Centre structure, service delivery, recruitment of staff and volunteers. She approaches her work with knowledge, skill and humour. Her contribution has been invaluable.

Katy Mathieson, SWRC

Miami Exchange 2016

Miami 1

The image of Miami is one of glamorous beaches and fun. However, on our trip we learned that much of Miami is not really like this at all. Instead, poverty is evident almost everywhere. This is particularly the case in the area around the South Florida Aids Network, where we shadowed Miami Health Rights Clinic students at while they conducted client interviews. The clients we saw did not just have one legal problem; they had a whole host of related problems that made for harrowing listening. Even outside the hospital we were confronted with a whole community of homeless people, sleeping rough along the pavements.  We were informed by our student guide that this was in fact the ‘real’ Miami.

Heading back towards the Miami University campus, the differences with the area we had just visited as the houses are big, and the carparks are filled with expensive vehicles. Nevertheless, the students at the Health Rights Clinic are committed to using their time and resources to help bridge the gap in whatever way they can. Theirs is one of a number of clinics operated by the Law School and their remit covers not only advice in relation to accessing health care, but addressing the raft of other legal problems facing their clients.

There was a lot of thought provoking discussion about the similarities and differences between access to justice in Glasgow and Miami over the days which followed, and the students were encouraged to identify which particular issues they were most interested to explore further in research projects which later culminated in presentations on the return trip to Glasgow.

The students and supervisors were then given the chance to see the sights of Miami, and soak up the sunshine.  Saturday consisted of a guided walk around Wynwood Art district, followed by lunch at Wynwood Diner, giving the students the typical American experience.  Before heading to the farewell dinner, the exchange group spent time at South Beach and stocked up on some American candy to fill up their suitcases.  The students were able to enjoy Haitian food before bidding farewell.

Our hosts at the Miami Health Rights Clinic treated us spectacularly well, and we returned the favour whilst they were here during May.  After having arrived and settled in to their accommodation the group from Miami got down to exploring the city they would call home for the following couple of days which included a tour of Glasgow City Chambers as well as the Law Clinic and even joined in on one of our Executive Committee Meetings. We also attended a Ceilidh on the Friday evening so that they could experience something quite unique and on the Saturday they explored the West End taking in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Glasgow University before heading to a BBQ at Kate Laverty’s home. Although the weather was not perfect this was a fantastic way to finish their visit and helped to forge stronger ties between both clinics.

We look forward to continued cooperation with our friends in Miami!

Hannah Grace, Kate Connelly, Gillian Melville & Heather Kemmett

From the Director’s Desk August 2016

13-026-95 - Version 2If I was not certain before, I am sure that the Law Clinic is now the biggest in the UK.

Indeed, after years of attending international law clinic conferences I have yet to learn of a bigger clinic anywhere in the world. Thanks to a legacy left to us by Robert Fernan Smith, we have now expanded to 274 student members, almost 100 more than we had two years ago.

Last academic year students have taken on over 257 cases, which, when added to the 199 clients advised at the Initial Advice Clinics, represents our most significant service to the community to date. All of this has been possible while maintaining our usual high standards, thanks to our supervisory capacity being doubled (from two to four supervisors).

This expansion has also allowed us to bed in the new Immigration Unit and Scottish Women’s Right Centre, both of which were launched last year and are now integral parts of our activities.

As usual, the Clinic never stands still, despite the perennial promise of a year of consolidation! Over the last year, we have developed two new ventures. First, we are now providing services more directly within the community by attending a housing shelter to help people with their social benefits and other problems. The second project aims to go beyond simply offering legal services to those of limited means and to help them to start their own business — putting themselves into the position where they no longer need our help.

This latter project was developed by Stacey Martin and Fergus Lawrie. Fergus was also instrumental in bringing a new form of training into the Clinic and for organising last years’ inaugural Miami exchange. For this he was the deserved winner of the Best Contribution by an Individual Student at this year’s LawWorks & Attorney-General’s Award. This was the fourth time in ten years that this particular award was won by a Strathclyde student and adds to the other three successes achieved by the Law Clinic at these awards – far more than any other law clinic. And just to prove we are not just the biggest but also the best, the year was capped by winning the Pro Bono award at the prestigious Scott & Co legal awards.

And so, after all this excitement, we launch optimistically into next year’s “consolidation”…

Professor Donald Nicolson, OBE

Law Clinic Pilots Innovative Business Law Bootcamp

On 21st June 2016, the University of Strathclyde held its first Business Law Bootcamp, a service that offers businesses legal advice on the issues that affect them.
Bootcamp Photo

The Clinic’s Small Business Law Unit (SBLU) ran its first ever Business Law Bootcamp on the 21st June, with the kind assistance of DLA Piper. This all day event gave key information on the areas of law that affect businesses, such as employment law, intellectual property law and contract law and negotiation.

The event received great feedback and we hope to run further bootcamps again following the launch of our pilot in Autumn 2016. This pilot will also include the provision of bespoke advice for three businesses.

By providing these services, we hope that we will be helping to rejuvenate the local community and empower the individuals behind these businesses to realise their business aspirations; make their businesses a success; and enforce good business practices. This not only helps the individual, but helps their employees, customers and the local community.

In doing so, we will be working closely with other organisations currently providing business support across the city and the university in order to provide a holistic network of support to the small business community.

For further information, please contact us.

 

Scott and Co Legal Awards 2016

IMG_9637On the 24th of March, the Law Clinic won the Pro Bono award at the Scott and Co Legal Awards 2016, seeing off tough competition from The Glasgow University Caledonian Law Clinic, RBS and its long-running sponsor DLA Piper, who were highly commended.

The award was presented at a ceremony at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, and, in giving the award, the judges stated that they were specifically impressed by the wide range of work undertaken by the Clinic and the interesting new projects we have developed over the last year.

Clinic Director Professor Donald Nicolson, and co-Student Directors Lyndsay Monaghan and Clara Smeaton attended the event to accept the award.

On receiving the award, Donald said: “After being highly commended last year, to win this year’s pro bono award was a very gratifying and justified reward for all the hard work by students and staff. This last year has seen amazing progress in increasing the cases we take on, and in launching new projects such as the Scottish Women’s Right Centre and  an Immigration Unit to help destitute asylum seekers. I have no doubt next year will be even better as we look to further increase student and case numbers, and launch a Small Business Law Unit.”

Whilst being nominated for, or winning, awards does not factor into the Clinic’s decisions about the services we offer, it is nevertheless gratifying to receive recognition from the Scottish legal community for the work that we. It certainly makes it worth it for all those who give up so much to help others and also help us expand and offer new services to those who need our help the most.

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University law clinic helps client win payout of £40,000

The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic recently closed a case which saw its client receive a payment of £40,000.

Seven volunteer student advisor’s worked on the case in question over a period of four years, and the law clinic said it was delighted to have been able to assist the client in her dispute and to help her obtain the money she was entitled to.

Professor Donald Nicolson OBE, the Law Clinic director, said: “This is a truly fantastic result which shows the determination of our student advisor’s, and their commitment to both the cause and their client.”

This recent award is the second highest success in the law clinic’s 15 year history and brings the total amount of money won or saved for Law Clinic clients up to £580,000 across the almost 2,000 cases it has undertaken.

This academic year, the law clinic has a record-breaking cohort of 278 students, making it possibly the biggest in the UK, if not the world, and has already after only seven months taken on 186 cases, while also running evening advice clinics at which another 104 have been helped by volunteer solicitors, the majority of whom are clinic alumni.

Published by the Scottish Legal News, on 07 March 2016: http://www.scottishlegal.com/2016/03/07/university-law-clinic-helps-client-win-payout-of-40000/

Strathclyde Law Clinic advises over 100 clients in past 6 months

The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic has given advice to over 100 clients at their initial advice clinics (IAC’s) in the last 6 months.

IAC’s run on the first Wednesday and third Monday of every month, and are staffed by student advisor’s from the law clinic, and volunteer solicitors from across Glasgow.  Clients can attend IAC’s without an appointment to get immediate advice on a wide range of legal problems and are sometimes referred on as clients to the law clinic, or to other local advice agencies.

Many of the volunteer solicitors are law clinic alumni and have been attending IAC’s for several years.  However, the law clinic has been happy to welcome new volunteers this year, and is grateful to all the solicitors who give up their time and expertise to attend and offer advice.

Law Clinic alumnus and trainee solicitor at Hughes Dowdall, Jacky Wall, said: “The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic IAC’s are an immensely rewarding activity to be involved in. They are a tremendous opportunity for both students and practitioners to provide a much needed free legal service to those in need.”

More details on the Law Clinic IAC’s can be found at www.lawclinic.org.uk/iac

Published by the Scottish Legal News, on 10 February 2016: http://www.scottishlegal.com/2016/02/10/strathclyde-law-clinic-advises-over-100-clients-in-past-6-months/