In the News

Senior Judges visit the Student Law Office

HH Judge Goss QC (Senior Circuit Judge in Newcastle and Hon Recorder of Newcastle) and DJ Loomba visited the Student Law Office on 12th December and heard from students about their experiences with the live client program. The Student Law Office has always enjoyed excellent relations with the local judiciary and benefitted from their support of the judicial shadowing scheme , where students attend North Shields County Court and are allowed to sit with local judges hearing small claims. Judge Goss spoke to some of the SLO students dealing with civil and employment cases.

Vice President of the Law Society visits the Student Law Office

The Student Law Office was delighted to welcome the Vice President of the Law Society, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, who visited the office before delivering the Eldon lecture on 8th December. Lucy spoke to some 4th Year SLO students about their experiences with clients, and passed on useful career tips.
In her lecture,  Lucy spoke about the future of the profession with the cuts to  legal aid, entitled ‘What shall we do without legal aid?

Visit from Durham Gilesgate Sixth Form

On 24th November 2011 the University hosted a visit by a group of students from Durham Gilesgate Sixth Form. Northumbria Law students delivered a presentation which provided an insight into the work of the Student Law Office. The visit also included a tour of the Law School and the Student Law Office itself. A mock trial was performed in the Court Room by the Law students and Sixth Form students enacting a part of the recent trial of Michael Jackson’s Doctor. The Sixth Form students were also able to speak to the Law students about University and ask any questions they may have had about studying Law at Northumbria.

Visit of Maxim Tomoszek

The School of Law was delighted to welcome Maxim Tomoszek to the University during 14 - 18 November.

Maxim visited the Law School on an Erasmus exchange visit from Olomouc University in the Czech Republic.  He is a good friend of the Law School and runs a significant clinical legal education programme in the Czech Republic.

As well as sitting in on Student Law Office meetings, Maxim attended some Public Law and Civil Liberties sessions as this is his area of interest.

Newcastle - the promised land (Young Lawyer Magazine Autumn 2011)

The following article was written by Elaine Campbell, Solicitor Tutor and was published in the most recent edition of the Young Lawyer Magazine.

Recently names as the country's top destination for university students, Newcastle is a vibrant and dynamic place to live and an excellent place to train and embark upon a career in law.

I have worked in Newcastle all of my legal life. I trained at Dickinson Dees LLP and on qualification joined Sintons LLP where I specialised in commercial and intellectual property law. Don't let anyone tell you that working at a North East firm is a 'soft option' or that you won't get the opportunities apparently available elsewhere! I remember one day assisting a partner who was thrashing out a big deal. The thrashing moved into the early hours of the morning, continued into the next day and after a short break we were back in the office to finish things off. It was tiring but exhilarating and beat a 9-5 day of paginating hands down. I've advised well-known national and international companies, travelled extensively and worked with and been given outstanding support by colleagues who are experts in their field.

My desire to pass on that knowledge and support the lawyers of the future has now led me to become a solicitor tutor, working in Northumbria University's Student Law Office. The Student Law Office is a pro bono scheme where final year law students advise real-life clients with real-life problems, all under the supervision of qualified solicitors and barristers. It provides law students with the chance to gain a greater understanding of how the legal system works in practice and is internationally renowned. Northumbria Law School has always been at the forefront of innovative legal training. It is the only Law School in the UK to offer the M Law (Solicitor) programme, a full qualification law degree where graduates are eligible to become newly qualified solicitors. The Law School also enjoys an outstanding employability rate - second only to Oxford.

Whereas once Newcastle firms looked to position themselves elsewhere, now - as illustrated by the recent arrival of DWF - we have national law firms wanting to enter the Newcastle legal marketplace. It is an exciting time for young lawyers and those who want to enter the profession in this great city.

Visit by Khaled Chowdhury (London College of Legal Studies, Bangladesh)

Mr Khaled Chowdury visited the Student Law Office on 19th October 2011. Mr Chowdhury is a barrister and is also Head of Laws at the London College of Legal Studies in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The LCLS in Dhaka runs a small pro-bono clinic dealing mainly with public interest cases and some student legal enquiries. During the visit, Mr Chowdhury had a tour of the SLO and was able to see how our clinic operates, achieving the goal of teaching students professional skills as well as providing free legal advice.

Stephen Hughes MEP

Stephen Hughes MEP visited the University on 7th October 2011. Mr Hughes is a Labour MEP representing 2.5 million people in the North-East region of England in the European Parliament. The focus of Mr Hughes’s work has been on the better rights and protection of workers and their families within Europe and beyond.

Mr Hughes delivered a lecture entitled ‘Employee rights as Human rights in the European Parliament,’ discussing the importance of Human Rights in the workplace and the link between European employment regulations and the working conditions of millions of workers in the United Kingdom.

Afterwards, he spoke to Helen Williamson and Fiona Cartwright, trainees from the Student Law Office, about their work.

Professor Lawrence Grosberg

Professor Lawrence Grosberg, of New York Law School, visited the Student Law Office on 16th September 2011 to look at the facilities available to students. As Director of New York Law School Lawyering Skills Centre, Professor Grosberg shares a similar belief that law schools should continue to experiment with new methods of teaching to better reflect legal practice in real life. Professor Grosberg also works with student lawyers in New York Law School’s clinical and skills classes, including the Civil and Human Rights Clinic, the Mediation Clinic, and the Elder Law Clinic, providing student legal advice and representation under his supervision.

Professor Grosberg met with academic staff working on the standardised client project being introduced for our year 3 students as an introduction to clinic.

He also had a tour of the Student Law Office and discussed staff research with individual academics.

Ven Ogbebor Visit

Dr Michael Stockdale, Elaine Campbell, Sarah Morse, Kevin Kerrigan and Ven Ogbebor during Ven’s visit to Northumbria Law School on 4th July 2011.  Ven is a visiting scholar from the University of Indiana, Indianapolis and spent time discussing the nature and operation of the Student Law Office as a means of helping to provide access to justice to vulnerable people at the same time as developing students’ knowledge, understanding and professionalism.

Streetlaw

The Streetlaw project successfully ran a number of presentations to local schools, community groups and charities on various legal areas. Streetlaw is an initiative that began in America over 20 years ago and is a community legal education programme. As part of the project students drawn from the LPC, BPTC, GDL and a number of final year Exempting Degree students delivered presentations with the aim of informing them about aspects of law which affect their day to day lives and in relation to areas of particular relevance to them.
The project is run in conjunction with Eversheds LLP whose lawyers meet with our students and offered guidance and support to improve their presentation and interpersonal skills.

In the academic year 2010/2011 the Streetlaw project had another successful year with 41 students delivering 8 presentations to groups including:

• Elders of Newcastle
• The Lawnmowers
• Wor Hoose
• NE1 Dizzy
• Victim Support Northumbria
• Hexham Queen Elizabeth High School
• Whitley Bay High School
• Monkseaton High School.

Feedback from the host groups and students was excellent. As well as providing valuable information to the organisations and schools involved the project allows students to improve their research, organisational and presentation skills.

This is what Hexham Queen Elizabeth High School had to say about their presentation:

“The group had prepared a very interesting session, pitched at the right level with some good resources. They engaged well with the students and some very good discussion came out of the session- thank you!”

This is what NE1 Dizzy had to say about their presentation:

“The students were enthusiastic, polite, and very knowledgeable and we very much appreciated them coming to our meeting. Everybody learnt a lot.”

This is what student Sharanjeet Singh has to say about taking part:

“I think the presentation went well, the information and research that we did was very relevant and the host group seemed to have appreciated it. I think it would be beneficial for students to do this type of talk because it builds your confidence and gives us a chance to speak in front of an audience about an area of law that you feel confident about.”

This is what student Faith Rose Ansah had to say about taking part:

“I think I speak for everyone when I say we thoroughly enjoyed the programme. For me it brought a new awareness of the law as animal law was a subject I had never looked into…I would definitely recommend streetlaw to other students as it has allowed us to broaden our knowledge.”

Justice For Children

Justice For Children visited Northumbria Law School on 11th May 2011. Justice For Children provides legal advice, training and representation for children and their families in the Rift Valley area of Kenya. In Kenya there is no legal aid or public funding for criminal or civil cases, other than for murder or treason. Children and young people generally have no access to legal help when they are involved in criminal matters or if they are in need of protection, care, or financial support. The visitors, who were all lawyers carrying out pro bono work for Justice for Children,  came to look at the facilities in the law school and to discuss the work of the Student Law Office.  The visitors took the opportunity to talk to students and staff in the Student Law Office and discuss the pro bono work that we are involved with. The School of Law was delighted to welcome the visitors which is part of an ongoing and mutual exchange designed to strengthen links between Newcastle and Nukuru and to provide professional development for Project workers in Kenya.

Law Works Pro Bono Conference 2010

National Pro Bono week 2010 concluded with the annual Law Works student pro bono conference in Birmingham. The conference was sponsored by Clyde & Co, CMS Cameron McKenna, Reed Smith, The College of Law, BPP Law School, Kaplan Law School and LexisNexis. Students Mark Balmforth, Puja Malhotra and Matthew Townsley represented the School of Law at the conference.

The students were joined at the conference by Associate Dean Kevin Kerrigan who was a panellist for “where next for your Pro Bono conference” workshop. The workshop was for students and academics that were from institutions that had pro bono initiatives but were looking to develop such initiatives.

The day consisted of 4 seminars of your choice covering a wide selection of different topics from setting up a clinic (i.e. like our very own Student Law Office ) to talks from Micheal Naughton who set up the Innocence project which involves students assisting people who are serving prison sentences for crimes they maintain they did not commit.

This is what student Puja Malhorta had to say about the conference:

“Overall, I have to say the conference was very useful to understand how much pro-bono work is available to students, and would recommend students to go this conference if they are thinking about doing pro-bono work in a different country, and especially to those students who are looking to take a gap year to gain some experience.”

This is what student Mark Balmforth had to say about the conference:

“From this conference I felt that if I ever wanted to carry out pro-bono work, I now fully understand whom I am able to contact and the opportunities that are and can be made available to me.”

This is what student Matthew Townsley had to say about the conference:

“It was a most enjoyable and insightful day which gave us three budding Pro Bono lawyers many ideas for the development of the SLO and beyond.”

Law Matters

During February businesses met in the Corporate Hub at Northumbria University for an evening sponsored by the Law School. All law students studying to be solicitors participate in the award winning Student Law Office, a free legal advice and representation scheme which can act on behalf of businesses. Practising lawyers closely supervise the students’ work and have overall responsibility for ensuring that clients receive a professional service. 

Presentations from some of students illustrated how the service has assisted local businesses both with advice and litigation. The workshop also highlighted some important legal themes with advice from local law firms. Matthew Rippon from BHP Law argued that protecting Intellectual Property should be part of every business plan. Later Amanda Maskery of Sintons LLP went on to describe the advantages and disadvantages of structuring business as sole traders, partnerships, limited liability partnerships and limited companies.

If you would like to find out how the Student Law Office at Northumbria University could support your business please contact Carol Boothby on: 0191 2273909 or email: carol.boothby@northumbria.ac.uk

MP for Blaydon, Dave Anderson and MP for Sunderland, Julie Elliot

Labour MP's Dave Anderson and Julie Elliott visited the Law School on Friday 21st January at the invitation of Professor Plowden. The visitors attended the Student Law Office where they were hosted by Director Carol Boothby and Associate Dean Kevin Kerrigan and had the opportunity to talk to students about their experience of the Student Law Office. Both MP's had an interest in finding out more about the work of the Student Law Office and the legal services which may be available to their constituents.

MP for Gateshead Ian Mearns

MP Ian Mearns visited the Law School on Friday 10th December 2010 at the invitation of Professor Plowden. He visited the Student Law Office where he was hosted by Director Carol Boothby and Associate Dean Kevin Kerrigan and had the opportunity to talk to students about their experience of the Student Law Office. Ian Mearns was interested in finding out more about the work of the Student Law Office and the legal services which may be available to his constituents.

Dean Philip Plowden and Associate Dean Kevin Kerrigan visited the City University of New York (CUNY)

Dean Philip Plowden and Associate Dean Kevin Kerrigan visited CUNY School of law and were hosted by Professor Beryl Blaustone on Monday, November 1st and Tuesday, November 2nd 2010 at CUNY School of Law.  Professor Blaustone is Visiting Professor of Teaching and Learning here at Northumbria Law School and in that capacity has worked extensively with the School to promote exchange between our two law schools. Their visit increased the commitment by both law schools to expand our collaboration.

Pro Bono Week

As part of National Pro Bono week, the Student Law Office offered free legal advice to staff, students and members of the public, on Tuesday 9th and Thursday 11th November 2010. The SLO was supported by a number of local firms including Eversheds, Irwin Mitchell and ILS Solicitors who also provided free advice to members of the public.

Supervisors from the Student Law Office with the help of local firms were available to give on the spot, confidential legal advice on a range of legal issues including housing, employment, civil (including consumer), benefits and crime.  Over 30 clients were seen over the two days and provided fantastic feedback.

Visit from Durham Gilesgate Sixth Form

Students from Durham Gilesgate visited the Student Law Office on 21st October 2010 to see the type of work that the Student Law Office is involved with and to get an insight into life studying law here at Northumbria University. The students were given a tour of the office and were involved in an exercise looking at ethical issues encountered in the Student Law Office. The students then attended a presentation in the mock court room. The current year 4 students prepared all of the activities and hosted the visit, providing the students from Durham Gilesgate with a fantastic insight into life at university and life in the Student Law Office.

Visit From Chinese Clinical Legal Education Colleagues to the Student Law Office

Meng Jun director of clinical education at Beijing Normal University (BNU) and Dr Cheng Jier director of the criminal clinic at China Youth University for Political Sciences (CYU) attended the School of Law on October 18th -19th October 2010. The Chinese visitors met Director Carol Boothby and Solicitor Tutor Sarah Morse in the Student Law Office and took this opportunity to discuss clinical legal education here at Northumbria. The visitors were interested in the types of clients and cases undertaken, student activities, teaching and learning methods and assessment of student performance. The visitors also took this opportunity to talk to students about their Student Law Office experiences. The visitors also met with various criminal supervisors to discuss the work of their firms and looked at practical and ethical issues surrounding criminal clinics.

The visitors also sat in on Professor Philip Plowden’s firm meeting to observe discussion of criminal cases and strategies. This gave the visitors a great insight into the approach taken by a criminal firm in the Student Law Office.

Pro Vice Chancellor- Ian Postlethwaite

The Pro Vice Chancellor visited the Student Law Office on the 7th October 2010 to have a look at the work that the Student Law Office is involved with. The Pro Vice Chancellor visited the office, talked to a number of students and sat in on Associate Dean Kevin Kerrigan's criminal firm meeting.  

Law Students Support Work in the Community

Local disability organisation, the Percy Hedley Foundation, enlisted the help of Irwin Mitchell Solicitors this month, and challenged them with a horticultural community project.  On Friday 2nd October, a team of 8 Solicitors and Trainees from Irwin Mitchell together with law students from Northumbria Law School, worked for a full day at the Northern Counties site (Jesmond), clearing an overgrown sensory area and repairing a broken block paved path.

Ruth Woodfine, Employability Project Manager, helped to coordinate the day: ‘The area we focused on used to be accessible for disabled students however had become unmanageable and difficult to maintain over the last few years.  Having this space made available to us once again will make such a difference.  Students will help choose and plant new shrubs for the area and will also be responsible for the ongoing maintenance.’

As part of the project, the Irwin Mitchell team were offered the opportunity to tour the Northern Counties site, to learn more about the services provided by the Foundation for disabled people.

Jennifer Cawthorne, Solicitor from Irwin Mitchell said: ‘This was the first community project I’ve organised in the area and I was delighted at the positive response from the Irwin Mitchell staff and university students alike.  We managed to complete the task given to us as well as meet staff and students from Percy Hedley.  It was a challenging day and hard work however we’re looking forward to our next project already!’

Ruth continues: ‘Volunteering in the community is an excellent opportunity to develop team building for the employers involved, it demonstrates commitment to partnership working between our organisations and offers real practical support to the charity.  It’s a win-win situation for us all’