Law Clinic | The University of Sunderland

The Law Clinic allows us to help people who maybe can’t afford legal representation, and at the same time, the students are getting the educational benefit in that they can practice law."

Welcome to the Sunderland Student Law Clinic.

We have reached our current capacity for new enquiries and are no longer accepting any new enquiries to our waitlist. If you have already enquired with us then you will remain on our waitlist until we have a student advisor available to assist you. This could take several weeks but we'll update you as soon as possible. The Law Clinic operates on a part-time basis so it will inevitably take much longer for us to deal with enquiries than if you were to contact a firm of solicitors. We deal with enquiries in the order that they arrive.

If you have enquired with us but your legal issue has become urgent, then we would advise that you seek alternative legal advice such as from a solicitor or one of the organisations listed below.

We may open our waitlist again in the New Year so we recommend you check back in January.

If you are an existing client, email law-clinic@sunderland.ac.uk or call 0191 515 2550 (voicemail facility only). If your matter has become urgent such as a court date coming up soon or deteriorating health, we recommend you seek legal assistance elsewhere such as:

A solicitor, which you can find via the Law Society website or by calling 020 7242 1222
North East Law Centre for employment, family, immigration, and benefits law advice. Call 0191 230 4777
Support Through Court for those without legal representation in court. Call the National Helpline: 03000 810 006
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau
Search for other pro bono (free of charge) organisations via the Law Works website

Students: What the Law Clinic can offer you

You can choose to study in Sunderland Student Law Clinic in your final year of your undergraduate studies and all students studying to become a solicitor on our LLM Legal Practice LPC spend at least half a day each week in clinic, meaning that you have the opportunity to graduate with significant live work experience.

Sunderland Student Law Clinic offers advice and assistance in relation to property/land, family/children matters, divorce, employment law, residential housing, residential landlord/tenant, immigration, wills and probate, and lasting power of attorney.

To date, the Law Clinic has provided assistance to over 600 clients and saved around £500,000 in legal costs. The clinic utilises the industry-standard CRM system, CLiO, providing you with an authentic legal practice experience.

The Law Clinic enables you to:

Work as part of a student law firm
Improve your client interviewing skills
Gain experience of writing professional legal advice
Enhance your graduate prospects with real-life practical experience
Receive training and support from experienced staff and learn the rules and procedures of working in a Law Clinic

How the Clinic works

Pre-interview

If staff decide that a case can be undertaken, the client will be invited to come to the University for an initial interview. The case will be assigned to a student law firm under the supervision of Clinic staff.

Interview

The student law firm will conduct an interview with the client to find out essential information about the case. The students will then consult with Clinic staff to decide whether the case can be taken on.

Advice

Research will be undertaken into the client’s legal issues surrounding the case. The student law firm will then create a letter of advice which will be sent to the client instructing on a suitable course of action.