King's College London

The Annual LawWorks Pro Bono Awards cover the whole legal sector and “recognise and celebrate achievement in legal pro bono work, undertaken by organisations and individuals, and the commitment of the legal sector in enabling access to justice”. The judging panel include the Law Society and representatives of charities and NGOS working to ensure equitable access to justice.

Shaila Pal, Director and Supervising Solicitor at King’s Legal Clinic, said: “Our shortlisting recognises the breadth and depth of King’s Legal Clinic’s work, and our commitment to service-led education and research aimed at promoting access to justice and climate justice, in the UK and internationally.

Set up in 2017, King’s Legal Clinic consists of six in-house legal advice clinics and a number of collaborative community projects. The in-house legal advice clinics, supported by law firms and chambers, provide advice in Family, Immigration & Asylum, Intellectual Property, Employment and Housing law.

As the world attempts to address the challenges of climate change at COP 27, the work of the Human Rights and Environment (HRE) Clinic is of particular relevance. Under the supervision of Sue Willman, the HRE Clinic has provided advice to a wide range of organisations, including the London Waterkeeper on river pollution in East London, an NGO supporting indigenous community groups in Colombia to protect the right of a river, and a legal intervention on deforestation in Uganda. Research has also been conducted to promote recognition of the right to a healthy environment in the UK and across Europe as a new Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Clinic also works in partnership with community organisations to provide advice and representation to excluded and disenfranchised groups. These projects include the Windrush Justice Clinic (with Southwark Law Centre); the Protea Clinic (with Hibiscus Initiatives, Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre and Sutovic and Hartigan) assisting vulnerable migrant women, and the Z2K project representing in disability benefits appeals.

You can read about the work the Clinic does and the impact they make in their annual report. 

LawWorks is a legal charity, now in its 25^th year, which aims to enable access to legal advice and justice. It works to connect people in need of legal advice with the skills and expertise of lawyers willing to meet those needs for free, by supporting a network of local independent pro bono clinics. LawWorks seeks to address barriers to accessing justice, with a goal of prompting positive policy change.

The full Awards shortlist was announced on 11 November and the Awards ceremony will be held on 6 December 2022 at the Law Society.