Law graduates give back to community
Three law students had their reward today after giving hours of their time to Liverpool people in crisis.
Molly Richards, Morgan Lunt and Aran Bassi, who worked at LJMU’s Legal Advice Centre offering free advice to the community, received their Bachelor in Law with Honours at Liverpool Cathedral.
The joyful moment comes after months of volunteering at the clinic on Hardman Street where the university’s School of Law helps meet rocketing demand from people priced out of hiring lawyers when faced with a personal or professional problems.
LJMU has already invested around £2.6 million in the centre, which teams law students with academic experts and around 100 volunteer solicitors from law firms in the city-region.
Molly Richards, from Wirral, has been volunteering three or four days a week at the centre on top of her studies and is staying on to work in a paid capacity with the advice group, Liverpool Advocates for Windrush, a key School of Law partner.
She said: “It feels amazing to be using my knowledge to help people, I’ve really enjoyed it.
Aran, from Manchester, agreed: “It’s been a fulfilling experience; not what you expect when you come to uni and at times, it’s been really sad, you meet people are in real trouble.
“It definitely brings you closer to real world of being a solicitor.”
Morgan, from Runcorn, also found the experience had improved her as a young legal professional, helping her land a job with the Support Through Court programme.
Centre offers help on family, civil, employment, wills and housing law as well as some commercial and small claims work,
Pro Vice Chancellor with responsibility for the School of Law Professor Tim Nichol has said the scheme is in the LJMU DNA. “We have a responsibility to help wider society and the reality is many at present cannot afford a solicitor nor pay for a marketing campaign or a business planner.
“There is a vast unmet need out there with many people struggling, so if we can lend our experts and students to make a difference, that is positive.”
The trio are among dozens of LJMU student offering volunteering at the clinic. Well done to them all!
