Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP commended Kent Law School for “leading the way” in making it easy for students to be involved in Pro Bono work during a ‘hot seat’ question and answer session at Kent Law Clinic on Friday.
The Solicitor General made his comment in response to a student’s question about whether law clinic work should be compulsory for aspiring lawyers. He also said it was important that the ethos for law clinic or voluntary work should “come from within”. A short clip of the Solicitor General discussing the value of Pro Bono work with Professor John Fitzpatrick, Director of Kent Law Clinic, is available to watch on Twitter.
Among other topics raised by law students Afnan Arshad, Stanislaw Braminski, Maxwell Cunningham, Sophie Griffin, Alexandra Nadasan, Kinga Stabryla and James Whitehead, was a question about the most important duty of his role. The Solicitor General said it was to uphold the rule of law, adding: ‘A particularly important part of my job is reviewing crown court sentences that are too low, which I do on an almost daily basis.’
Robert Buckland QC MP, who was appointed as Solicitor General in July 2014, stopped to answer questions as part of a tour of the new £5m Wigoder Law Building where Kent Law Clinic is now housed. The building was opened in October 2016 by the (then) Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court Baroness Hale and principal benefactor The Honourable Charles Wigoder.
During his visit, the Solicitor General met with Law Clinic staff and some of the lawyers who volunteer their time at Clinic advice sessions in the local community, including: Perveez Sethna of Parry Law, Canterbury; barrister Lavinia Glover of Becket Chambers, Canterbury; solicitor James Muir-Little of Furley Page Solicitors, Canterbury; and barrister Richard Honey of Francis Taylor Building, Inner Temple.
The Solicitor General also heard about Pro Bono Clinic work undertaken by Law School students; Second-year Law LLB student Alexander Dickens, final-year Law LLB student Quennie Bongcac and final-year International Legal Studies student Ledjana Gashi delivered mini-presentations on their practical experience of Clinic projects and live cases involving family law, housing law and immigration law.
