Bradford's law students gain hands-on experience helping local community
Law students are putting what they've learnt into practice with new partnerships providing legal advice to all.
The new collaboration between the Law Clinic and CHAS @ St Vincent’s, a community support charity, will focus on providing immigration advice. Students will be able to volunteer with CHAS and undergo formal training and assessment to become qualified immigration advisors and going forward the team aim to provide a drop-in clinic for general legal advice.
The School of Law’s Legal Clinic was opened in January 2016 in collaboration with the Bradford and Airedale Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Law Centre (CAB). The clinic not only offers legal advice to the local community but provides students with a chance to gain valuable and rewarding experience.
Since then the programme has grown from strength to strength with half of final year undergraduates taking place in the Law Clinic module. Students gain experience in a real world setting, learning how to interview clients; identify legal issues and write comprehensive advice for their client.
Ian Miller, Deputy Head of Law and the Law Clinic Director, explains ‘Our strapline is Delivering Education through Public Service, and we think that perfectly encapsulates precisely what we do.
“The law clinic is an amazing thing to be involved in with students getting an opportunity to give back to the community whilst also practising their skills and completing their degree. Here at Bradford we fully believe in equipping our students with not only a first class degree but also real world experience.”
Cara Marshall, Advice Supervisor at Bradford advice Bureau said: “We have received positive feedback from our service users in relation to cases dealt with by the Law Clinic, it has enhanced the information and advice that Citizens Advice offer, without the client having to pay for legal advice in some cases. Thank you to everyone involved in providing the service"
Other schemes in the pipeline for the Law Clinic include collaboration with Leeds Personal Support Unit (PSU) with a view to running an ‘at court’ advice service working with the University of Bradford Students' Union to provide legal advice sessions to students.