King's Legal Clinic: offering free legal advice

The Dickson Poon School of Law is proud to launch the King’s Legal Clinic, a service offering free legal advice to the public from students studying law at King’s College London.

Under the supervision of a qualified lawyer, students working at the King’s Legal Clinic will interview clients, analyse their problem, research the issues and send them a written letter of advice. Because the students are being supervised throughout by a qualified lawyer, clients can be assured that the advice they receive will be to the same standard as if they had paid for that advice.

Students in the School will be able to undertake work at the King’s Legal Clinic either for credit as part of their degree course (from September 2017) or as an extra-curricular activity. Working in the Legal Clinic will help students develop a range of skills which are different to those they have been learning in lecture theatres and classrooms. The experience of working on real-life problems will also be of value to employers and exposes students to the difference between knowing the law and practicing the law. Because many of the cases students encounter will involve people at the sharp end of political and legal decisions, involvement in the Legal Clinic forces them to think critically about how laws are made, who makes the law and what can be done where well-intentioned policy results in bad law.

The King’s Legal Clinic is working with law firms, barristers, advice agencies and community organisations taking referrals and in some instances, making them. This network of partners will also be able to assist with supervision in some areas.

Stephen Levett, Director of Clinical Legal Education at King’s said: 'This is an exciting initiative by The Dickson Poon School of Law. Giving students the opportunity to work on real cases whilst they study can transform their understanding of what the law can and can’t do. It also brings them into contact with a range of alternative legal service providers like law centres, Citizens Advice Bureaux and community activists. In some cases students radically change their career plans.'

Professor Gillian Douglas, Executive Dean of The Dickson Poon School of Law said: ‘The launch of the Legal Clinic demonstrates our determination to provide our students with the very best legal education. But just as importantly, it reflects the ethos of service to the wider community which underpins the work of King’s College London.’

If you would like to find out how to get legal advice or are a legal practitioner or organisation interested in supporting our work, please visit the King’s Legal Clinic webpages.