Pro-Bono Work

‘Pro-Bono’ refers to legal work that involves students, law teachers and lawyers providing free legal services for the benefit of the community. Leicester De Montfort Law School currently offers two regular kinds of Pro-Bono work:  

• The Law Clinic, offering staff and students at the University free legal advice
• Street Law, a relatively new project which involves law students giving interactive presentations to local schools and colleges.

At the National Pro-Bono Week held in Leicester, Leicester De Montfort Law School was awarded a Law Society/National Pro-Bono Week certificate recognising our ‘outstanding Pro-Bono work in Leicester.’

The Law Clinic  
This year the Law Clinic boasts a dedicated interview suite allowing student advisors and clients to meet in comfortable and professional surroundings.

Deb Evenden, Staff Supervisor of the Clinic commented ‘the law clinic continues to go from strength to strength – with last year seeing an unprecedented demand from clients for legal advice from our student advice team.  The new facilities will enable students and clients to meet in a dedicated environment with immediate access to case files – whilst at the same time enabling the Staff Supervisors to emphasise the clinical education experience through workshop and seminar sessions within the Law Clinic suite’.

The Clinic runs each Wednesday from 1.00 – 2.30.

Initial advice is available to students and staff on any legal problem.

Street Law 
Street Law is a relatively new initiative in the UK that makes legal issues more accessible to younger age groups, and takes law to them through projects and presentations in schools and community locations. Leicester De Montfort Law School is one of only a few UK Law Schools who run Street Law projects, and many of our Law students participate each year. Drawing on the experience of American and South African law schools, the Leicester De Montfort Law School students have developed Street Law sessions that could include client interviewing, constitutional negotiations, model Parliament or United Nations sessions, mock trials and moots. 
  
Recent developments in secondary education and the introduction of the teaching of Citizenship in schools has meant that Street Law is now also able to contribute directly to the delivery of the national curriculum. Its profile has also been raised after the success of two Law School students, Katherine Hui and Anne Stocks, who won top prize in the De Montfort University Student Learning Awards.

For further information about Street Law projects, visit the Street Law Society’s website, created by our Leicester De Montfort Law School students, at www.dmustreetlaw.co.uk|