The formal opening of new premises for Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre was attended by Kent Law Clinic’s Sheona York and Professor John Fitzpatrick, both of whom were among the original six members of staff to work at the London centre when it first opened in 1979.
The new offices in Hammersmith Library were officially opened in May by Baroness Hale of Richmond, President of the UK’s Supreme Court and the Law Centre’s Patron. Among other attendees were local MP Andrew Slaughter and two of the Law Centre’s founding Management Committee members George Sheerin and Midge Clarke.
Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre has legal aid contracts in housing, immigration and asylum, and provides free legal advice and representation to people in the borough who are eligible under the scheme.
Sheona York worked at Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre for almost 30 years prior to joining Kent Law Clinic as an Immigration and Asylum Solicitor in 2012. It was during her time working in the borough, that she played a pivotal role in employing DNA fingerprinting for the first time in legal proceedings (a role that was later depicted in ITV docudrama, Code of a Killer in 2015).
Professor Fitzpatrick was a caseworker and solicitor at the Law Centre until 1991, the year he joined the University and became Director of Kent Law Clinic. He then served as a trustee of the Centre in Hammersmith from 1992 to 2015.
Pictured, left to right: George Sheerin, Baroness Hale, Sheona York, Professor John Fitzpatrick, Midge Clarke