Pro bono is an increasingly important part of legal education and practice that is both challenging and rewarding. At The University of Law we have been committed to providing a pro bono service since 2001. Here are details of some of the schemes we have run in Guildford.
Legal Advice Centre (LAC)
The LAC provides free, preliminary legal advice to the public on a wide variety of civil issues. Whilst providing support at this centre you will interview a client and produce an interview summary, carefully supervised by our Supervising Solicitor, in order to help you gain interviewing, drafting and file management skills through hands-on experience.
Legal Advice Centre Triage
This experience will see you calling potential clients for the Legal Advice Centre and taking details of their legal problem before considering, with the help of the Supervising Solicitor, whether the Legal Advice Centre can help.
Family Law Advice Guildford (FLAG)
This experience will see you calling clients, obtaining details from them regarding their legal query, and then taking notes on the advice they’ve been given at our telephone clinics by one of our volunteer local lawyers.
National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV)
This organisation provides fast, free legal advice and support for victims of domestic violence. In particular it runs an emergency injunction service allowing anybody, regardless of financial circumstances to obtain protection through the civil courts (usually an injunction) within 24 hours. After suitable training you could volunteer for various duties either remotely or within NCDV’s headquarters based in Guildford.
Citizens Advice Bureau
Citizens Advice offers free help and advice to members of the public on a variety of topics. All offices have trained volunteer advisors as well as some volunteer solicitors. The services they offer include legal advice and help with form filling.
You could take part in the following activities:
- Help with a combination of reception duties, observation of client interviews, note-taking, preparing brief case notes and answering phone calls from the public.
- Be trained to prepare case submissions on benefit appeals to the First Tier Tribunal concerning overpayment of benefits and rejection of claims for Disability Living Allowance or Employment Support Allowance.
- Train to be a Gateway Assessor or a Generalist / Specialist Advisor.
International Law Book Facility
This charity organises packing and shipment of law books to Commonwealth countries. You could volunteer to help with unpacking donated books or repackaging them for onward shipment to where they are needed.
Judicial Shadowing
Why not spend a day shadowing a local District Judge? This invaluable experience will enable you to gain an insight into civil justice in practice.
Crown Court Marshalling
You can also spend a day shadowing a Crown Court Judge at Guildford Crown Court, learning skills that you can later put into action.
Pro Bono and Work Experience
Go back to find out more about the pro bono opportunities that we offer at each of our campuses.
Go backEmployability
Find out how to make the best start to your career through our Employability and Careers Service.
Discover more