London Legal Walk 2010
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On Monday 17th May LawWorks took part in the 6th London Legal walk along with around 4,500 others! The walk, in aid of the London Legal Support  Trust, seems to grow each year and it looks set to beat previous fundraising records! There was excellent feedback on the new, somewhat leafier, route and our thanks once more to Sarah Cox for her hard work in mapping it out.
LawWorks itself has raised £1700, £400 of which was all down to Choices volunteer Sharon Nayyar. This doesn’t include gift aid benefit, and it will be matched by the Ministry of Justice. There’s still time for more money to roll in, so we hope to increase our final figure.
Extra special thanks to all the firms that have walked (and raised) for us and made direct contributions which have really made a huge difference and have more than double the figure above. These are Vodafone, Covington & Burling, Proskauer Rose, Cleary Gottlieb, Maxwell Winward, Linklaters and Shoosmiths. Thanks especially to Vodafone for organising successful satellite walks, including one in Luxembourg, and to Linklaters for their contribution further to that walk.
And of course thank you to everyone involved for donating, walking, marshalling and organising – look forward to seeing you all again next year! |
Stockport CVS Practical Advice Talk
On 28 April, Peter Budd from Halliwells gave a Practical Advice Talk on Data Protection and Confidentiality to community groups based in the Stockport area. The event was a great success and we are very grateful to Peter Budd, Halliwells and Rebecca Threfall at Stockport CVS for all their help in organising the talk.
If you would be interested in giving Practical Advice Talks to community groups and charities please speak to Megan Pearson (megan.pearson@lawworks.org.uk) for more information.
Member Firm of the Month - Finers Stephens Innocent LLP
What are the main areas of law practised at this firm?
Property, Corporate, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Employment, IP/Media, Private Client, and Family.
When did the organisation start carrying out pro bono work?
Pro bono has always been part of the FSI ethos and traditionally, was undertaken in abundance. Many partners sit on the boards of foundations, charities and arts organisations. Pro bono work was undertaken by fee earners through their own contacts and individual causes.
In 2008 a group of associates established a structured, formalised pro bono programme. Following consultation meetings it was decided that pro bono advice would formally be provided to two organisations - Law Works, and the National Centre for Domestic Violence (“NCDV”).
How are staff encouraged to become involved in pro bono work?
The firm has a Pro Bono Committee to encourage and organise pro bono work throughout the firm. It is recognised throughout the firm that volunteers benefit from developing their legal knowledge and expertise and enhancing their client management and interpersonal skills. Involvement in pro bono work is monitored and counts towards the assessment and appraisal of an individual’s contribution to the Firm.
What type of pro bono work does the organisation carry out?
Organisations with whom ongoing pro bono relationships exist in addition to LawWorks include the National Centre for Domestic Violence, Own It, the Oxford Policy Institute, the Bianca Jagger Foundation, the Olympian Arts Trust, Quicksilver Children’s Theatre Company, Mary Ward Legal Society, the Royal Geographic Society, the Open Society Institution, the Contemporary Art Society, the New Berlioz Edition and NMC Recordings.
Please give details of a case that illustrates your organisation’s success with pro bono work?
A trainee, Hannah Gray, recently handled the following LawWorks case:
Mr C had taken out a credit card in 2001, a debt had accumulated and this was sold to a debt collection company. The company issued proceedings against Mr C and were pursuing him aggressively for the entire amount. He had been acting as a litigant in person and subsequently sought advice from LawWorks, as he wanted to resolve the matter by way of mediation.
Mr C was experiencing a very difficult time, both financially and physically, and the stress of litigation only added to his problems. I reviewed all the documents and discussed the matter in detail with him and prepared him for mediation. I prepared a position paper and an opening statement, and discussed these with the mediator during pre-mediation contact.
The mediation was carried out by telephone and lasted about four hours, and I negotiated a very favourable settlement. Mr C was delighted. He thanked me for my help and expressed his relief that the litigation had been settled.
Did you know that LawWorks……produces fact sheets to inform small charities on various legal issues
Lawyers can volunteer to produce a fact sheet on various topics to enable small not for profit groups to expand their legal knowledge and recognise potential problems.
Trustees needed
Crossroads Care is one of Gloucestershire’s leading providers of support for carers with over 25 years of experience and consistently high service quality ratings. There are three schemes in Gloucestershire offering a range of services including respite care; personal care; palliative care; assistance with transport; shopping service; day care; social events and outings; waking night service; complementary therapies; managing finances and support to maintain independence
Some of our services are offered free of charge and we also welcome anyone who is in receipt of direct payments or individual budgets.
As a national association of local charities, Crossroads care for people not profit.
For further information about the services offered or if you would like to become a trustee please contact Scheme Manager Claire Kear on 01453 755999 or email claire@sgxroads.co.uk
LawCare
 LawCare Ltd
Health Support and Advice for Lawyers
President: The Rt. Hon. Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice
LawCare assists lawyers, their families and their support staff who are suffering from stress, depression, alcohol or drug abuse. The charity provides free and confidential support via a 365 day a year helpline; a network of lawyer volunteers, with experience of problems, to provide on-going support; contact with professionals / treatment centres for referrals; free information packs on a huge range of topics eg. debt, bereavement, bullying, dealing with a problem drinker; and free preventative education as to the recognition / management of stress, depression and addiction.
Due to LawCare, no lawyer need ever face such problems alone.
Law Society Quiz Night
Two teams of previously undiscovered quiz masters from LawWorks, the Bar Pro Bono Unit and friends stormed to victory at the Law Society’s charity quiz night in aid of this year’s London Legal Walk on the 12th of May, taking both 1st and 2nd place.
1st place was taken by Barely Legal, a dream team of LawWorks’ Kathie, Tim and Ruth (plus friend), and the Bar Pro Bono Unit’s Rachael and Natalia. A close 2nd place went to Some of my Best Friends are Lawyers, including LawWorks’ Richard and Sarah, LawWorks’ good friend Bob Grindrod from the Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council, and two other friends from the AJTC.
The teams celebrated their unprecedented success with the spoils of victory: a bottle of champagne and two bottles of wine for the runners up. A generous amount of funds was also raised for the walk, which hopefully softened the blow for the other teams. Thanks to the Law Society for a great event!
Quiz Corner
Last month’s Latin teaser saw a tremendous response and four fine winners, but I have to apologise to those classicists amongst you who spotted the grammatical errors with my Latin (including our Chief Exec - sorry Rebecca!)… Clearly the memory of my classes as an eleven year old wasn’t as accurate as I thought.
The answer we were looking for was:
- Alison is drinking in the kitchen.
- Kathie is sitting in the garden.
- Martin is under the table.
However I had a couple of scholars point out to me that in fact it read:
Alison is drinks in the kitchen. Kathie is sits in the garden.
Anyway, our skilful prize winners were: Becky Parker (College of Law, Birmingham), Sarah King (College of Law, Guildford), Clive Tulloch (Free Representation Unit) and Marina Nembhard (RCJ CAB).
This month’s question will take a little longer to play out and requires you to keep your ear to the ground. All answers in by 30 June 2010.
June will see us packing boxes and crates in advance of our move to 48 Chancery Lane with the Bar Pro Bono Unit. But on which day do you anticipate those crates to actually leave Lovat Lane and the move commence? Day and time please! Usual array of prizes on offer, plus a bonus item left over from our office move no doubt.
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| General Enquiries |
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t: 020-7929-5601 |
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| Chief Executive |
Rebecca Hilsenrath |
t: 020-7929-5601 |
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| Administration & Finance |
Alero Arueyingho |
t: 020-7090-7351 |
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| Membership |
Anne Monk |
t: 020-7929-5601 |
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| Business Development |
Kathie Clark |
t: 020-7090-7365 |
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| LawWorks Choices & ALLIES |
Lorna Heselton |
t: 020-7090-7368 |
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| LawWorks Clinics |
Richard Harrison |
t: 020-7090-7356 |
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| LawWorks Clinics |
Sarah Cox |
t: 020-7090-7361 |
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| LawWorks for
Community Groups |
Alison Ingram |
t: 020-7090-7352 |
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| LawWorks for
Community Groups |
Liz Adebajo |
t: 020-7090-7359 |
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| LawWorks for
Community Groups/Initial Electronic Advice |
Ruth Thompson |
t: 020-7090-7357 |
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| Individual Casework |
Tim Atwood |
t: 020-7090-7355 |
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| LawWorks Mediation |
Lavinia Shaw Brown |
t: 020-7090-7354 |
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| LawWorks Students/Law Schools |
Martin Curtis |
t: 020-7090-7358 |
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| LawWorks Training |
Megan Pearson |
t: 020-7090-7369 |
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10-13 Lovat Lane
London
EC3R 8DN
DX: c/o Clyde & Co 1071 London City
www.lawworks.org.uk |
Registered Office:
Pellipar House, 1st Floor, 9 Cloak Lane; London EC4R 2RU
Registered Charity No: 1064274
Company Reg No: 3410932 |
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It was great to see so many of you at last month’s Forum, kindly hosted by White & Case, at which we had a helpful and interesting dialogue about individuals casework. The big news here continues to be about our move and the opening of the new National Pro Bono Centre. We were already very excited about it before we announced the news, and your universally positive and enthusiastic reaction has been all that was needed to create a really upbeat atmosphere in the office. Thank you all so much for the emails and messages of congratulations. The latest news is that fit-out has started, the move is planned for the end of July and a really good housewarming party is being put together for October. Watch this space. We will be approaching people about sponsorship opportunities, so for those who have not yet registered an interested, please let me know if you’d like to have a conversation. On another note, if anyone is aware of any recent or imminent moves where furniture is being disposed of and might be interested in a loving home, it would be great to hear from you.