The City Law School has a long history of involvement with pro bono activities dating back to the Inns of Court Law School days.
Pro Bono Publico is a Latin term which means “for the public good”. In plain English it translates as the contemporary term “Law in Real Life.”
View our archive newsletters which are sent each term for the type of opportunities we have on offer:
We provide our students with the opportunity to experience the law beyond the classroom whilst widening access to justice and the legal profession. We offer students at The City Law School many opportunities to obtain experience to benefit their future career pathways. These broadly fall into the following categories:
Explore our Law IRL Opportunities
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City Community Legal Advice Centre
Read more about the Centre
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Legal Work Placements
Hear more about the opportunities
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Mock Trials
Find out more about mock trials
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Company Insolvency Pro Bono Scheme
Read more about our free company insolvency service.
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Schools Exclusion Service
Read more about our free service for families.
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The City Law School Innocence Project
A LawWorks service offering advice to victims of miscarriages of justice.
Experience law beyond the classroom
By undertaking these activities students will enhance their CV, whilst gaining valuable skills to take into their future legal career. The experiences will help develop competencies for entry into the legal profession or graduate employment.
The Director of the City Community Legal Advice Centre (CityCLAC) has put in place a wide range of activities open to students at each stage of their studies with The City Law School. This ‘ladder’ of opportunities will develop the experience needed to improve your employability, and effectively prepare students to start building a career in the law or other graduate employment.
What our students say
From year 1 of the LLB course, students are offered the opportunity to apply for places in the law clinic where they will develop their skills and have the privilege of assisting qualified lawyers providing legal advice to clients. In year 3 students can apply for the LawIRL module or other similar placement which is part of the Career Activation Programme. Career Activation Programme.
Opportunities are also available for Bar students either as part of their studies on a voluntary basis. There is a clinical legal education module available to Bar students working with organisations like the Free Representation Unit, and the Pro Bono Community. For GDL and SPP students places are currently offered on an extra curricular basis only.
Students can apply for places in-house at the City Community Legal Advice Centre, the School Exclusion Service or the Company Insolvency Pro Bono Scheme depending on their programme of study.
Widening access to justice and the legal profession
The LawIRL Team work hard to develop interesting opportunities for students at all stages of their studies. Students can apply for a place in the law clinic from year 1 in the welfare benefit form filling clinic, or from year 2 and 3 of their law degree in the general, housing disrepair, and immigration clinics. Postgraduates can obtain experience of advocacy in the City School Exclusion Service, and the Company Insolvency Project. Advice is always on hand if students want to volunteer closer to home, rather than in and around The City Law School. City St George's Volunteering offer lots of applicable external placements for law students.
An active annual programme of court marshalling and mock trials are arranged for students to get a feel for court etiquette, and witness advocacy in real life. Participating in mock trials helps develop our students’ confidence, teamwork and advocacy skills in a safe environment. Mock trials are a really valuable and fun activity to take part in.
Message from Director Sally Gill
Our Partners
As a service we love partnering with law firms, not for profits and individual lawyers committed to providing access to justice for the public, to attempt to redress the balance of the legal aid cuts.
We work with a number of esteemed partners in the provision of legal advice and services. We are proud of our partnerships, and extend out thanks to the many lawyers who volunteer their time to help us widen access to justice and access to the profession.
We also have partnerships with the not-for-profit sector where we send students to volunteer, helping provide much needed services to members of the local City St George's community and wider community of London.
If you are interested in partnering up with the LawIRL at The City Law School please get in touch with Sally Gill the Director of the LawIRL and City Community Legal Advice Centre.
Law IRL articles
Contact us
Please note we do not operate a drop in service for clients. To request legal advice you will need to fill in our online form, which is available on the CityCLAC website.