In order to ensure that the Clinic can run at full capacity during the university holiday period, we hire a number of part time ‘Summer Students’ to staff the Clinic. These students are often funded through one of our partnerships or by one of the law firms that support the Clinic. This year we have been able to hire ten summer students, thanks in part to the support of the Refugee Survival Trust, David Stirling and the Scottish Women’s Right Centre.

In the first of a series of articles written by our Summer Students, Ewan Wilson describes a typical day.

Working as a Law Clinic Summer Student is interesting because the work varies enormously. This morning I found myself making calls to clients or to representatives acting for other parties before drafting letters of advice.

Afterwards, it was time to work on a case for our Online Project. This work is slightly different as it usually involves having to do some research, complete an advice form and have this sent to a supervisor to be checked under a tighter timescale. In the afternoon I went to Glasgow’s Lodging House Mission to offer legal advice. This was the second time we had gone to the LHM as part of our new Benefits project. The aim of this initiative is to give support to people trying to claim benefits or face sanctions. This is a project in its infancy however we were able to offer advice and took on a new client.

Upon returning to the Law Clinic I found myself drafting a schedule of loss for an Employment Tribunal, followed by some work on an ‘Enforcement Pack’ to help advisors working on tenancy deposit scheme cases.

Finally, it was time to look over our notes for a small claims hearing set to call at the end of the week and get ready to go again tomorrow…

Ewan Wilson