The University of Bristol Law Clinic is a nonprofit organisation that was set up in 1995 to provide free, confidential, legal advice and assistance to those who, for what ever reason, cannot obtain such services elsewhere. The clinic was the brainchild of Donald Nicolson, a lecturer in the university’s Law Department, who brought the model with him from South Africa. The scheme in which he had participated in Cape Town involved a network of local clinics that offered free legal services and were staffed by student volunteers working under the supervision of qualified lawyers also acting in a voluntary capacity. As well as directing the clinics, these lawyers provided telephone support and advice to the students as they worked on the cases they had taken on. An initial meeting for interested students was arranged in October 1995 and the response demonstrated that the idea had struck a chord. They had expected to attract about twenty students to the meeting, and had hoped to enrol half that number as active participants. In the event, some 200 people came to the meeting, 180 of them became members of the Clinic and 120 took part in a weekend training event. Services now offered by the law clinic range from advising people of the legal complications and consequences of their position through to general reassurance and support. Such support might involve accompanying a client to a hearing and providing explanations, thereby acting as a guide through the complexities of English Law. The clinic will also help with certain pratical tasks such as filling in application forms and dealing with local authorities. The law clinic thereby provides help for those who would otherwise go unas sisted and does not encroach upon the work of other organisations or the legal profession. For more information on the history of the Univerity of Bristol Law Clinic, plese visit the Institute for Volunteering Research or The Journal of the Institute for Volunteering Research Volume 2 Number 3 Autumn 2000 Colin Rochester, University of Surrey, Roehampton

Address: University Of Bristol Law Clinic School of Law Wills Memorial Building Queens Road Bristol BS8 1PJ
Telephone: (0117) 9545 340
Website: http://www.bristollawclinic.co.uk/