How does NLS Legal assist local organisations and individuals? What services does the group provide? NLS Legal provides legal services to individuals and organisations, predominantly from the Nottinghamshire area, who are unable to afford or otherwise access legal representation. Our ABS status, combined with the incredible resourcing Nottingham Trent University provides us, means that our team of practitioners can offer advice and representation across a large range of service areas – namely business, civil litigation, employment, family, housing, intellectual property, special educational needs and disability, victims’ rights and welfare benefits. Our service includes representing clients in the relevant Tribunal and Courts, and this includes opportunities for our students to undertake the advocacy in many of these cases, something which our Bar students find particularly beneficial. Across our services there is also a significant focus on providing public legal education – through seminars, webinars and information sheets. Such activity helps to expand our reach; educates attendees of their rights and responsibilities and provides our student volunteers with opportunities to develop their presentation and communication skills. What pro bono opportunities has NLS Legal created for students? Across the last academic year (2021-22), NLS Legal created 735 opportunities for 619 students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. In addition to extracurricular volunteering, many students get involved as part of their course, with a number of modules incorporating an element of NLS Legal activity. Students who work with NLS Legal support the experienced and qualified lawyers in their delivery of advice to clients. The opportunities afforded to students are not confined to case work, however, as students also support our practice management functions through administrative placements, and through the NLS Legal Student Committee with the committee acting as an important bridge between the firm’s full-time staff and the student body. The committee provides feedback from NLS Legal students on their experiences with the firm, promotes opportunities to other students within the law school, and undertakes fundraising activities for other pro-bono organisations like the LawWorks Law School Challenge. As the first NQ solicitor to qualify with NLS Legal, can you tell us a bit about your professional journey to date? I first joined NLS Legal – then known as Nottingham Law School Legal Advice Centre - in 2015 as a student volunteer, whilst undertaking my Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) at Nottingham Law School. Following completion of the GDL, I was then fortunate enough to secure employment as a Legal Assistant in 2016, working full time alongside the parttime Legal Practice Course programme from which I graduated from with a 28 LAWYER MONTHLY MARCH 2023
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