By Joanna McGrail (Senior Adviser)
Since it’s inception the Legal Clinic has grown into one of the services most used by our clients. This clinic has become very ‘popular’ with the clients as they feel that ‘getting legal advice for free’ is absolutely fantastic and very helpful.
On many occasions people find that they are not quite sure if the problem they face and the solution they need to find could be dealt with in the Courts of Law. The free half hour offered gives the client another point of view on their problem. Not all problems faced can or even may be taken to a court of law. There are many factors that have to be taken into consideration in every individual case.
Lawyers and clients develop a good relationship. Although the client has no obligation with the lawyer it is a common factor that if a client does have grounds for a court case they will employ the services of the lawyer who has given them the free advice.
Clients that have been referred and subsequently been represented have gone back to the lawyers with other problems without first coming through the bureau.
At present we have twelve Legal Chambers offering their services but owing to certain circumstances the same five or six lawyers are usually the first to respond. The reason for this being that most of the Chambers on our list are established companies in practice for many years with an impressive client list. Due to this they face ‘conflict of interest’ with many of our clients.
Let me explain: Most of the clients referred to lawyers need advice on employment issues, mainly unfair dismissal leading to Industrial Tribunals. The ‘conflict of interest’ lies in the fact that most of these employers are clients of the established Chambers. So at the end of the day it is the new lawyers, just starting out on their own, who are most eager willing and able to accept our referrals.
Our aim is to recruit new lawyers, each Chamber to appoint one lawyer to be the liaison contact with the bureau. Chambers to also provide the bureau with a list of the lawyers who will offer their services and what field they specialise in.
Many clients have taken advantage of the Legal Clinic and a large percentage of clients have experienced positive outcomes.
The procedure is to make an appointment or just pop in to have a chat at the bureau. In these sessions, after relevant questions are asked, it is sometimes possible to offer the client alternative options which they were not aware of. It would be a very positive move if Chambers would ‘loan’ us a student lawyer/legal student to come to the Bureau for a couple of hours once a week. This then would be beneficial for both the lawyers and clients, as it would allow us to offer ‘on-the-spot’ legal advice whilst simultaneously enabling the lawyers to gain practical experience.
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