Answers to key questions about the Legal Advice Centre's services.
What is the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre?
The University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre is a Lawworks clinic, and works in partnership with local, and national volunteer lawyers and caseworkers, to supervise the provision of legal advice.
The University also employs solicitors who work with these partners to supervise and train law students from the School of Law and Criminology. The students complete the work as part of their studies and receive training to enable them to participate effectively. All advice work and form filling services are supervised to the same standard as practice.
We are a member of Lawworks (formerly the Solicitors Pro Bono Group) and sign up to the Attorney General's pro bono protocol.
Who are Lawworks?
LawWorks (formerly known as the Solicitors Pro Bono Group) is a membership organisation, supporting volunteers from over 100 law firms and legal teams across England & Wales. The University of Greenwich, Legal Advice Centre is a Lawworks clinic.
Lawworks are passionate about enabling access to legal advice and justice. They work 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. We support charities and not-for-profit organisations by facilitating free legal advice and providing online information. We also seek to address barriers to accessing justice, including adding our voice to those seeking positive policy change.
As a clinic member the University of Greenwich, Legal Advice Centre we can benefit from training; development opportunities and a referral network.
What is a virtual clinic?
The University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre offers professional advice accessible from the comfort of your own home, office or wherever you may be located.
All appointments take place as virtual interviews. Virtual interviews are conducted using Zoom, which is an online meeting platform. When an interview is arranged, you will be sent a link to click on to enter the interview. Clicking on this will give you access to an online meeting room where your student advisers will be able to speak to you online via microphones and/or video. You don't need any special technology to be able to use Zoom so you can be anywhere with internet access. You can attend an online meeting via a computer/laptop, or any mobile device.
Who can use the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre?
The University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre is open to all members of the public, including members of the university.
How does the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre work?
The University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre is a collaboration between volunteer lawyers, supervising solicitors employed by the University and trained law students.
Interviews are conducted by volunteer lawyers and Students Advisers who will undertake research and produce a letter of advice. All the work of the Student Advisers is closely supervised by a qualified solicitor.
How do you get in touch with the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre?
The University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre is an online law clinic. You complete an enquiry form and you will be contacted via email.
What areas of law does the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre cover?
The University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre provides legal advice in employment and family law.
What areas of law does the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre not cover?
We will not be able to take on a case that falls outside the scope of the clinic's expertise, where there is a conflict of interest or cases that require urgent assistance.
The University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre cannot pursue a claim against the University, its governors, employees or students. We provide advice only which means we are unable to negotiate settlements to disputes or provide representation in the courts.
How does the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre work?
A client completes an enquiry form and then if the case is accepted, an online or face to face interview is arranged. Following the interview, your case is researched and a letter of advice is prepared.
We aim to provide written advice within 3 weeks of accepting a case. You will receive some verbal advice at interview followed by more detailed advice in writing.
Is there any charge for using the Greenwich Legal Advice Centre?
No, our service is free of charge.
Confidentiality
All communications between you and your advisers (including supervising solicitors) will be in the strictest confidence, and your file is kept online on a secure server. The information you provide is subject to your instructions, the GDPR 2018 and our professional duty of confidentiality to clients as solicitors.
When is the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre open?
You can contact us anytime using the enquiry form or by email. We arrange online and face-to-face interviews with clients during the day and evening when we run sessions, Monday – Thursday.
Our phone lines are open daily 10-2pm and 2-4pm, apart from Fridays when the office is not manned. Rest assured we will endeavour to deal with your query as soon as possible. We are approached by many clients which means that we are not always able to get back to you as soon as we would like to. We try to respond to clients within 48 hours of their initial contact with the service.
What are the benefits of using the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre?
We hope that diversifying the service to provide online advice sessions will make accessing legal advice easier and more convenient. Using an online meeting forum means that clients can receive legal advice in any location with an internet connection. Our clients benefit from quality legal advice that is free, easily accessible, and convenient.
How do I contact the Legal Advice Centre team?
You can contact the University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre team by emailing us legaladvicecentre@gre.ac.uk
If you wish to contact us in writing, our address is:
University of Greenwich Legal Advice Centre,
Stockwell Street, Building 11_0008,
London
SE10 9BD