Student advisor, Judith Raskin, briefly reflects on her first year in the law clinic.

I wanted to join the Law Clinic after hearing the amazing things that it was achieving for people seeking access to justice. The initial advisor training taught us how to conduct interviews and draft documents that would be necessary for any case we worked on; it was extremely beneficial and the advisors who ran it were very helpful.

In November 2020, I was assigned an employment case that dealt with race discrimination, unfair dismissal, and unlawful deduction of wages. When I was first made aware of the details of the case, I was overwhelmed because of its content and the thought of representing an actual client at a Tribunal was daunting yet exciting! Every meeting with our client, I was more and more comfortable discussing the case; I now know that this will help me during my traineeship.

In September, my co-advisor, Carmen, and I represented our client at a 5-day Tribunal Hearing which was exhilarating! Carmen led the questioning whilst I oversaw taking notes and finding the relevant documentation for our questions and cross-examination. Carmen is an experienced advisor, and she was most helpful throughout the entire process; she broke everything down for me so that I understood fully the ins and outs of the law surrounding the case. The Judge that presided over our case pointed out where our arguments were strong and where they were not. We are now awaiting judgment and we really hope that it is in our client’s favour. The Hearing was all conducted online which was a surreal experience. I never thought I would be representing my first ever client from my desk in my bedroom!

Joining the Law Clinic has been one of the best decisions I ever made, and I feel very privileged to be a part of it. Since finishing my first case, I have participated in a few of the Initial Advice Clinics which has been a really great experience overseeing a qualified solicitor conduct an interview with a client. I am hoping to get another case soon as I really enjoyed the first one.

Judith Raskin, Student Advisor.

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