Queen Mary University of London School of Law, has been shortlisted for the prestigious LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2018, in the category ‘Best Contribution by a Law School.’ The annual awards, which will be held at the Houses of Parliament on 25 April 2018, celebrate the very best pro bono activities, law school impact and student participation in pro bono, in the United Kingdom.
Queen Mary School of Law has been unwaveringly committed to pro bono since 2003, with the establishment of the Student Pro Bono Society. In 2006 this developed into a community Legal Advice Centre and in 2013, qLegal to support entrepreneurs and start-ups. The School of Law has also recently embedded pro bono into its curriculum, offering two pro bono modules to students; The Practice of Law in a Clinical Environment at undergraduate level and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at postgraduate level.
Being shortlisted for the award is in recognition of the outstanding contribution to pro bono that the School of Law has made this year. The Legal Advice Centre has engaged over 230 undergraduate law students in pro bono activities and the thriving in house community law centre has provided legal advice to over 300 clients. qLegal has engaged 60 postgraduate students per year and has provided pro bono legal advice to 300 social enterprises, start-ups and entrepreneurs through workshops, online toolkits and 1-1 advice.
Frances Ridout, Acting Director of the Legal Advice Centre said “Since the establishment of the Queen Mary Pro Bono Group in 2003, and then the Legal Advice Centre in 2006, the Department of Law has worked hard to be a dependable, high quality legal resource to its local community, providing much needed pro bono assistance in times of legal aid cuts and an even harder landscape for clients in accessing justice. This prestigious nomination is wonderful recognition of the outstanding work that our students, volunteer lawyers and staff undertake.”
Patrick Cahill, qLegal Director said “Since the establishment of qLegal in 2013 at The Centre for Commercial Law Studies, numerous students, supervisors, partners and staff have been involved in growing our free pro bono services to the high-level of service that we provide today. It is in recognition of this work and the fantastic input of our clients that we are delighted to be nominated in the category of Best Contribution by a Law School for the LawWorks Awards”
The winners of the award will be announced by The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC MP and the awards ceremony will be hosted by His Honour Sir Robin Knowles CBE.