The Queen Mary University of London’s Legal Advice Centre (QMLAC) is a free community law centre based in the Law Department at QMUL, located in East London.
QMLAC is a collaboration that brings together law students, QMUL staff and volunteer barristers/solicitors to achieve two central aims: firstly the education of students; secondly, engaging and supporting our local community through the provision of pro bono 1-2-1 legal advice and public legal education initiatives. We aim to create a truly inclusive environment, building on our cherished cultural diversity, where students and staff flourish, reach their full potential and are proud to be part of the QMLAC/University.
The service provided by QMLAC broadly aligns with the Legal Service’s Board (LSB) own three strategic themes (fairer outcomes, stronger confidence and better services). Like the LSB, QMLAC is committed to ensuring that legal services meet society’s needs, and that each actor in the legal services landscape will need to play its part in ensuring legal services meet these needs.
QMLAC also recognises that pro bono services cannot be considered as a substitution of a properly funded legal aid system, which remains a vital component of a fair justice system.
Access to Legal Services
A fundamental requirement of any effective legal system, QMLAC’s client 1-2-1 advice works as a four-way collaboration between students, clients, volunteer lawyers and staff.
Trained undergraduate law students interview pre-booked clients in the presence of a volunteer lawyer. A letter of legal advice is produced by the student, signed off by the supervising volunteer lawyer, and sent out by the student within 14 days of the interview. QMLAC staff coordinate all client enquiries, students and volunteer lawyers, to ensure a smooth running and high quality service.
Advice is given across a range of areas including; landlord and tenant, family law, criminal matters, consumer disputes, contractual matters and immigration law. There are clinics specific to community groups and in response to community need, such as the LGBTQ community (Pink Law), Black Justice project, and families and children with special educational needs (SEN).
In 2015 QMLAC launched SPITE (Sharing and Publishing Images To Embarrass) which was (and remains) the only free law clinic providing specialist free legal advice to victims of image-based sexual abuse (revenge porn). Since 2018 QMLAC has collaborated with the anti-poverty charity Zacchaeus 2000 (Z2K) to provide direct representation to clients in social security (first tier) tribunals (assisted by QMLAC staff). This year, in conjunction with the Royal Courts of Justice Advice (RCJ Advice), students have supported victims of domestic abuse to use the RCJ’s CourtNav system as a first step in obtaining non-molestation and occupation orders.
Public Legal Education
Public legal education has an important role in addressing the sector’s challenges related to access to justice, respect for the rule of law and consumer protection.
QMLAC adopts a cross-sectoral strategy. An important plank of this involves embedding legal and justice issues in children’s standard education, giving them life tools to navigate an increasingly complex society. Our ‘SPITE for Schools’ project for instance sees QMLAC students deliver bespoke and interactive workshops (in conjunction with a volunteer lawyer) to secondary school students, making them aware of the law around image-based sexual abuse. The ‘I am You’ project, is a series of workshops for children aged 9 and 10 exploring the principles of the Equality Act 2010, encouraging children to embrace the meaning of community, gender-stereotypical jobs, and inclusion, whilst giving our students the opportunity to understand the wider implications of the Act.
Professional Ethics, Education and Training
The work of QMLAC allows students to put the theory of law into practice, undertake problem-based learning, and see how multiple legal issues can arise in one case. Students have the opportunity to repeatedly use these skills, learn to use their common sense, adapt when things go wrong, work in a busy office environment, and be professional. These skills, difficult to teach in a classroom, are fostered through the supportive co-creative experience in QMLAC, involving interactions with lawyer volunteers, clients and staff.
Students are then encouraged to reflect and think about professional legal ethics across all projects/clinics. They attend ‘Breakfast Club’ with QMLAC staff, following each client appointment, where they can reflect on the experience, discuss ethical issues and explain the case to other students in a concise and professional manner.
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