For immediate release: Wednesday 26th March
The LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono awards celebrate the best pro bono activities undertaken by law students and law schools from across the UK.
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the House of Lords on Wednesday 23rd April with the Attorney General, The Rt Hon. Lord Hermer KC.
Alasdair Douglas, Chair of LawWorks said:
“It has been 20 years since LawWorks began celebrating the significant contribution made by students and law schools from across the UK. It was humbling to read the nominations setting out what you have been doing over the last year. Doing pro bono work, in addition to studying, some of you having to work at the same time to make ends meet and fitting in a social life tells me that we have some very special people studying law. You all deserve wider recognition and praise for enabling those without means to have access to justice.
I would like to thank the judges for their time - choosing from so many excellent and innovative nominations is a challenging and time-consuming task and I know how conscientious the judges always are. Thank you also to the Attorney General for once again supporting the Awards.
Above all, thank you to everyone nominated and shortlisted and to their teachers and legal supervisors for your dedication to helping those in need of legal support. Society owes you a great deal.”
James Harper, Executive Sponsor for Rule of Law and CSR at LexisNexis, said:
"We are immensely proud to sponsor the Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards, a relationship which stretches back some 17 years. Access to justice is more crucial now than ever over that period of time, and it remains no less inspiring to see the dedication and passion of law students who are committed to making a difference. Their pro bono work not only supports those in need but also strengthens the fabric of our society by promoting fairness and equality. We are honoured to support these future leaders, and the fantastic institutions behind them, in their journey to uphold justice and serve the community."
This year, more than fifty nominations were received representing thirty-seven law schools, universities and law clinics from across the UK. The shortlisted nominees are:
Best New Pro Bono Activity
- Bangor University Legal Advice Clinic, Bangor University
- Welcome Immigration Service, part of City Community Legal Advice Centre, The City Law School, City, St George's University of London
- Emma Ritch Law Clinic, University of Glasgow School of Law
- University of Hertfordshire Parole Clinic
- Windrush Community Law Clinic, Liverpool John Moores University
Best Contribution by an Individual Student
- Julius Balchin, BPP University
- Mia Beckford-Brown, University of Surrey, School of Law
- Susie Brown, University of Dundee
- Eli Goldsobel, City Community Legal Advice Centre, The City Law School, City, St George's University of London
- Megan McLennan, The Aberdeen Law Project
- Maddy Nicholl, University of Southampton
- Chintankumar Parmar, University of Hertfordshire
Best Contribution by a Law School (undergraduate and postgraduate)
- LawIRL at The City Law School, City, St George's University of London
- Community Law Clinic, University of Exeter
- Glasgow Open Justice Centre, University of Glasgow School of Law
- Pro Bono Network, Manchester Law School, Manchester Metropolitan University
- Justice Hub, University of Manchester
- Hallam Legal Advice Centre and Justice Hubs, Sheffield Hallam University
- The University of Law Pro Bono Team, The University of Law
Best Contribution by a Team of Students
- BPP's Public Legal Education student team, BPP University
- University of Derby CLAS - Refugee Law Clinic
- LSE European Court of Human Rights Intervention Clinic, LSE Law School
- Employment Law Clinic, University of Plymouth
- Bethan Lloyd and Elli Bainton, Support Through Court Cardiff
- School Tasking Student Team, Warwick Law School
The winners of the Advocate and LawWorks Law School Challenge 2024 – 2025 will also be recognised with a presentation to the winning team.
The Law School Challenge 2024-25
The Law School Challenge ends next week, the current top three teams are:
- De Montford University Law School
- Birmingham City University
- Swansea University
The Law School Challenge is a fundraising initiative created to raise awareness of pro bono and to raise money for free legal advice. To date, the teams taking part in the challenge this year have raised more than £13,000 to support free legal advice.
The judges for the 2025 Awards are:
- I. Stephanie Boyce, former President of The Law Society of England and Wales (2021-2022)
- Marina Faggionato, Joint Chair of the Bar Council Pro Bono & Social Responsibility Committee
- Peter Farr, Head of Civil Law Policy, Ministry of Justice
- James Harper, Executive Sponsor, Rule of Law and CSR for LexisNexis UK & Ireland
- Deborah Smith, Executive Director and Senior Counsel, Goldman Sachs and LawWorks Trustee
- Victoria Speed, formerly Director of Trust for London’s Employment Legal Advice Network & Director of Pro Bono at BPP Law School
LawWorks would like to congratulate all the shortlisted nominees and thank everyone who submitted nominations and took the time to celebrate student pro bono. We would also like to thank the judges for their hard work in drawing up the shortlist from a very impressive list of nominations, and LexisNexis for their continued sponsorship of the Awards.
For further information on the Student Pro Bono Awards, please visit: www.lawworks.org.uk/student-awards
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Notes to editors:
- LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group) is a charity working in England and Wales to connect volunteer lawyers and law students with people in need of legal advice, who are not eligible for legal aid and cannot afford to pay, and with the not-for-profit organisations that support them and their communities. LawWorks supports a network of independent pro bono advice clinics across England and Wales and facilitates the provision of free legal advice for smaller charities and not-for-profit organisations. For further information about LawWorks visit: https://lawworks.org.uk/
- LawWorks is supported by the Law Society of England and Wales, the independent professional body for solicitors.
- LawWorks are extremely grateful for the sponsorship of the awards by LexisNexis Legal & Professional. LexisNexis' central mission is to progress the Rule of Law around the world - bringing as many people as possible within its protection. To achieve this, LexisNexis empower and enable legal, compliance and tax professionals with access to the very best in legal and business intelligence. LexisNexis holds one of the largest and most up-to-date collections of legal, tax and compliance content in the world. All of their products are fuelled by the latest technologies. From powerful search technology to cutting-edge AI, their tools are specifically built to help legal professionals to reach better answers faster and more efficiently. Lexis+ AI will let you add more value at speed with conversational search, drafting, summarisation, and document upload tools.
- For further information about the Awards contact Peter Jackson, Communications Officer, peter.jackson@lawworks.org.uk, 07961 522042