Recent News
Climate Discussion
Prof Francesco Sindico visited the Law Clinic to talk with our students about his work and to discuss ideas for our environmental justice project. Prof Sindico is a Professor of International environemntal Law at Strathclyde, and works on a number of innovative projects in environmental law; he is the director of the Climate Change Legal Intitiative, the Co-chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, and is the Co-chair of the International Water Resources Association.
His knowledge and experience proved highly useful for those who attended, giving greater insight to his work and how Law Clinic can contribute. He talked about his work with the Scottish Government, in particular the Islands, Nature and Renewable Energy Project, where he helps islands work towards becoming carbon neutral.
“Dr Sindico gave an inspiring discussion on his work on behalf of the Scottish government and his work in the International Court of Justice”
Alison Duncan
Clinic Merch
We are thrilled to announce that the Law Clinic has extended our branding to include an array of stylish merchandise! Our office team has done an excellent job of modelling the new designs. These include a ¼ zip fleece, t-shirt, hat, tote bag and hoodies. There is something for everyone!
Our orders are in and we look forward to seeing our students and staff sporting their new purchases around Glasgow.
Training
January has proven to be an exceptionally busy month of training featuring housing, employment advocacy and introductory training for those partaking in the MOJO project. Thanks so much to Jasleen and Anna from the training team for putting these together and all involved in taking the sessions.
Employment Advocacy Training with Weightmans – by Anna Gren
The Law Clinic recently hosted solicitors from Weightmans, Erin Moncur, Morag Dalziel, Paman Singh and Zoe Kerr to provide Employment Tribunal Advocacy training. A large majority of the cases the clinic deal with are employment related, and so this training provided a great insight into how the tribunal operates and how to effectively advocate for your client.
The session covered all aspect of tribunal advocacy, from examination-in-chief to cross-examination and finally re-examination. It was beneficial to hear the types of questions you would ask in each situation and we even got to give it a go ourselves!
As I’m sure everyone who attended will agree, the training was a great, interactive session that will definitely be useful to advisors attending hearings in the future. A huge thank you to everyone involved!
Miscarriage of Justice Organisation Training – by Rowan Brockie
The Miscarriages of Justice Organisation has recently recruited student advisors from the Strathclyde law clinic to join its volunteer ranks as part of our Criminal Justice Project. Our advisors have spent the last three weeks completing three six-hour training sessions putting in 18 total hours to be qualified as caseworkers.
The fantastic sessions led by Euan McIlvride covered MOJO as a victim support organisation, the process of appeals within the criminal justice system, looking over past cases and the role of MOJO within assisting innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted. Since spending their month learning about the organisation, our student advisors have now begun to take on their own case applications.
Upcoming Training:
Case Surgery – No topic Session – Wednesday 21st February 2024 12:00-13:00
Simple Procedure Training with Patrick Campbell Corcoran – Wednesday 28th February 2024 14:00-16:00
Case Surgery – Ethics – how to manage when personal ethics challenged by client/case – Wednesday 6th March – 12:00-13:00
SSSC Training with Laura Russel – Wednesday 6th March 2024 14:00-16:00
Imposter Syndrome Session with John Stringer – Wednesday 13th March 2024 14:00-16:00
Case Surgery – Conflict of Interest- how to identify and manage – Wednesday 20th March 2024 12:00-13:00
Case Updates
January has been a month full of successes for our clients and student advisors.
SSSC Actions:
- Our student represented one of our clients in a SSSC Case Management discussion in preparation for an impairment hearing
- Students successfully defended a SSSC action for a client, allowing her to clear her name.
Discrimination Cases:
- Student advisors recently settled a disability discrimination case that was due to call at the employment tribunal.
- Students representing a claimaint in the Employment Tribunal submitted further documentation relating to a disability discrimination claim.
- Student representing a client settled a sex discrimination claim at Judicial Mediation.
Other:
- Progress was made in a new Simple Procedure Claim where there has been difficulty serving the claim.
Advisor & Alumni News
Our student advisors from past and present have been exceptionally busy this month, from running marathons to being nominated for awards. Huge congratulations to all those mentioned for your great successes.
Paige Alexander and Laura Nicol – two of our fantastic student directors have recently signed up for the Lisbon Marathon in October and have been competing in running events. Laura has just completed her first solo running event, a 10k in Edinburgh and achieved a personal best! Paige also ran her first-ever half-marathon event over the weekend in Glasgow Green! If you want to follow along with their running journey, check out their Instagram @laura_n_p_run.
Eva Ralston – One of our student advisors and members of the prisons project has been nominated for the Kat Lindner Award for Outstanding Academic and Athletic Achievement at the Scottish Women’s Football Awards! This award recognises female footballers who excel both on and off the pitch, and it is in memory of Kat, who was both an academic and a footballer in Glasgow. Eva plays for Stenhousemuir Women in Scottish League One, and her team is challenging for promotion this season.
“It was a complete surprise and a very pleasant one at that, as I was nominated alongside some incredible professional players who also have a career outside of the game… it is quite intense alongside my final year, but it offers a great escape from level 1 of the library!”
Eva Ralston
Her incredible successes have led to recognition by the PLZ women’s football show! Check out the link to view her full interview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RfV06s0Gqg.
Initial Advice Clinic – Volunteer Solicitors Needed!
We are still recruiting for qualified solicitors who are interested in volunteering at our IACs which are currently held once a fortnight, on Wednesday Evenings.
What are IACs?
Our IACs are our drop-in legal surgeries which are held as an alternative to our main casework stream. Appointments are scheduled with a team consisting of one solicitor and one student, with the expectation that during the 30 minute appointment slot, the student will work the client through a triage form, before the solicitor gives advice to the client. Appointments can be held both in-person and via zoom.
What practice areas do you cover?
As with all of our casework, the most common issues we deal with are employment, housing, consumer and SSSC. There are usually several solicitors on duty and our IAC team will strive to ensure cases are allocated to solicitors which have the most relevant experience.
We are in particular need of solicitors specialising in Housing Law, Commercial Law or those that can offer general advice on a wide range of areas.
How do I get involved?
If you are interested in getting involved, or would like more information, please contact our Depute IAC Student Co-ordinator: lauren.weetman.2021@uni.strath.ac.uk
Please send details of your employment history (a CV would be great) and we will then get in touch to discuss further.