King's College London

King’s Legal Clinic (‘the Clinic’) has won the University Pro Bono Award at the 2026 LexisNexis Legal Awards in recognition of its innovative, multidisciplinary work advancing access to justice and providing transformative experiential learning opportunities for students.

This is the second award the Clinic has received in less than six months for its pro bono work.

The award recognises universities that have made a significant impact through their legal pro bono programmes, demonstrating how their initiatives provide meaningful legal support to underserved communities, while also offering valuable, hands-on experience to their students.

The award highlights the scale and impact of the Clinic’s work over the past year, as well as the innovative nature of its projects.

Demand for the Clinic’s services has risen over the last few years, reflecting the growing need for accessible legal support. King’s Legal Clinic provided free legal advice to 170 clients, supported hundreds more, and maintained 100% client satisfaction. More than 300 students volunteered with the Clinic, describing their experience as transformative and career-shaping, with 90–100% reporting significant improvements in legal knowledge, application, research and analytical skills, ethics, and interviewing.

The Clinic has developed innovative partnerships with a range of KCL faculties and external partners, including six law firms, four barristers’ chambers, and 15 NGOs and community organisations. This has been achieved while offering high-quality legal education and embedding a lifelong commitment to pro bono and social justice in our students.

Windrush Justice Clinic

The Clinic’s partnership with Southwark Law Centre delivered major wins for Windrush survivors, securing substantial compensation for clients and influencing policy discussions around systemic reform, and being cited in Parliamentary debates and strategic legal challenges. To support advocacy efforts, the Clinic secured funding to stage The Promise, an interactive theatre production that brought victims' experiences to life.

Southwark Law Centre have praised the collaboration for “dramatically improving outcomes for our clients,” highlighting students’ “empathy… and real commitment.”

Clients echoed this impact, with one noting, “I would have never been able to bring my claim” without the support of King’s Legal Clinic.

Domestic Abuse Injunction Form-filling CourtNav Service

The service provides structured support to survivors pursuing non‑molestation and occupation orders. Students assist clients through the court process, applying specialist training in trauma‑informed practice to engage sensitively with individuals who have experienced significant and ongoing abuse.

Health and Homelessness Project

Homelessness in London reached record levels in 2024–25. The Clinic published a report revealing that cuts to frontline housing services are driving people experiencing homelessness to A&E, increasing pressure on NHS departments and delaying access to housing support. In response, the Clinic launched a new advice service, placing law students with the Homelessness Team at King’s College Hospital to assist with homelessness applications and related legal processes.

Human Rights & Environment Clinic

Working with Earth Thrive, students contributed to a Bern Convention complaint challenging a polluting mine in Serbia. Earth Thrive’s Executive Director said the Clinic’s “professionalism, knowledge and sheer dedication” helped bring the case close to securing the mine’s closure.

Students described the project as “challenging and inspiring,” sparking new interest in environmental advocacy.

The clinic has also continued its innovative work on rivers with the Rights of Nature Toolkit: How to Protect Rivers in England and Wales.

Refugee Family Reunion (RFR) Project

A report from King’s identified significant barriers to refugee family reunification, further heightened by the absence of legal aid. In response, the Clinic led an interdisciplinary initiative with DNA@King’s and Refugee Legal Support. The project pairs law students with biomedical science students to combine legal submissions with DNA testing to help separated families reconnect. To date, the clinic has supported four refugee families through complex applications.

A student caseworker said the project reinforced that “our clients are not just documents in a folder, but real people,” highlighting the human impact of the work.

Disability Benefits Appeals

Students, working in collaboration with Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K) to support vulnerable clients denied welfare support, achieved a 90% success rate in disability benefits appeals, securing over £100,000 for clients.

In addition to the outlined projects, King’s Legal Clinic offers free legal advice in a range of specialist areas including housing, employment, immigration, and family law, where students, under the supervision of qualified solicitors, provide advice to people unable to afford legal support.

Find out more about the awards on the LexisNexis website