Law Clinic Officially Opens

• Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Students celebrate the launch of a new project that will offer valuable work experience.

From February Roehampton law students will have the opportunity to gain hands-on legal work experience at the department’s new Law School Clinic, based in the local branch of Citizens Advice Wandsworth (CAW). Eight final year undergraduates will support law lecturer and qualified solicitor Reshma Derasari with her client consultations, covering issues such as evictions and driving convictions.

All clients will be referred from CAW, and it will be the students’ job to contact them in advance of the appointment for a fact-finding phone call, to ensure that both sides are well prepared for the meeting. The student will then attend the consultation and write follow-up case notes to send to the client and copy to CAW, giving a summary of the advice offered.

Susanna Hoar, Head of Clinic says “Opening the clinic is a key stage in developing the 'Law in Practice' ethos of the law school programmes. By working in Clinic, students will have real-time experience of dealing with clients and undertaking legal-work tasks and will crucially obtain real world experience before entering the job market as well as providing a much needed service to the local community."

The clinic is a being run as on a pilot basis initially, offering appointments on Monday evenings, but it is hoped that the scheme will grow and extend the opportunity to more students from September 2020.