Pro Bono Celebrating over 25 years of Student pro bono volunteering

Our family law clinics offer telephone legal advice to members of the public seeking advice and assistance. We offer a free appointment with a lawyer. Students can assist the clinic by triaging the client, drafting the attendance note of the advice, or observing the clinic and taking part in a post clinic learning and reflection exercise. A number of clinics collaborate with law firms such as Mishcon de Reya. This provides you the opportunity to develop client care, ethics, research and drafting skills.

Our wills, trusts and estates dispute clinic provides a free advice appointment with a private client and/or contentious probate lawyer. As a student, you can opt to either assist with a clinic by contacting a client, or to observe a clinic to see and learn from the interaction between a practising lawyer and their client. Through this experience you’ll hone essential communication skills, professionalism and research and analysis strategies.

Our small business advice line offers a telephone legal advice clinic for start-up businesses with legal queries. We offer a free appointment with a lawyer. Students assist the clinic by triaging the client, drafting the attendance note of the advice, or observing the clinic and taking part in a post clinic learning and reflection exercise. We collaborate with law firms such as Shoosmiths on this scheme. This allows you to enhance your written and verbal communication skills and practice building client relationships.

Streetlaw is a pioneering public legal education service through which students inform individuals and organisations about the law. Streetlaw aims to empower people with information about their rights and responsibilities under the law, allowing them to make informed decisions about legal matters in their lives and to give students the opportunity to see how the law works in practice, while at the same time developing essential legal skills.

You will work in groups with other students to devise and deliver a workshop about the law, to members of the public and clients including community groups, charities, schools and colleges. This opportunity will enable you to to develop advocacy, presentation, research and time management skills.

Working in collaboration with the British Transport Police, we run regular Stop and Search Scrutiny Panels to critically evaluate real life cases and consider whether individual officers have met the legal requirements for ‘reasonable grounds’ when using their powers. The British Transport Police are particularly keen to engage with the student community to ensure they are hearing representative views about their stop and search practices.

As a student, you can take part in a letter-writing scheme on behalf of Amnesty International where hundreds of thousands of letters or e-mails worldwide are sent on behalf of perceived injustice. The letters are aimed at persuading government officials to prevent human rights abuses. You will gain an insight into human rights issues via this opportunity and will develop research skills, objective drafting and communication skills.

• Businesses that engage in pro bono work as part of their CSR strategy are often viewed more favourably by local communities and the public, leading to a stronger brand image and increased customer loyalty.
• Organisations who are known for their commitment to social responsibility often attract top talent who are looking for employers that share their values.
• CSR initiatives, including pro bono work, can set a business apart from its competitors and often resonates with socially conscious consumers.
• Employees involved in pro bono projects often report higher job satisfaction, as they feel proud to work for an organisation that gives back to the community. Employee retention is an important factor for more organisations.