Kent Law Clinic has been shortlisted for the award of ‘Best Contribution by a Law School’ in the prestigious LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards 2014.
Staff and student representatives from the Clinic have been invited to attend the awards ceremony at the House of Commons on Tuesday 1st April at which Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC MP will announce the winners. All nominees will also receive certificates of commendation signed by the Attorney General.
The annual awards celebrate the best pro bono activities undertaken by organisations and individuals and the positive impact they have had on those helped. Kent Law Clinic was selected by a panel of judges that included Tom Laidlaw (LexisNexis, Head of Academic Development), Isla Grant (Editor, lawcareers.net), Andrew Caplen (Vice-President, The Law Society) and Richard De Friend (Ex-Director of Pro Bono at the University of Law and PBUK).
Kent Law Clinic was previously awarded the LawWorks Attorney General’s Award 2012 for the Best New Pro Bono Activity for its Access to Land project. It has also been shortlisted for ‘The Lawyer Awards’ in 2010, 2012 and in 2013, alongside a number of magic circle firms, and in 2007 the Clinic was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize, with staff and students from the Clinic collecting the award from the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
The Law Clinic is a partnership between students, academics and solicitors and barristers in practice locally. As well as providing a public service for local people who need legal advice and representation but cannot afford to pay for it, the Clinic also serves to enhance the education of students in the Kent Law School through direct experience of legal practice.
Kent Law Clinic drew extensive national and international media coverage in January after securing asylum for an Afghan citizen on religious grounds, despite his atheism. The case, undertaken by the Clinic’s supervising solicitor, Sheona York and second-year Kent Law School student, Claire Splawn, was believed to be the first such case of its kind. The story received extensive media attention – worth more than £600K in equivalent advertising spend – and made headlines around the world.