Sussex Law Clinics

Develop legal, professional and vocational skills, and gain field level legal experience, by being involved in our pro-bono law clinics, which provide free legal advice and education to the local community.

Gain practical legal experience

Our law clinics give you the chance to develop your skills and gain work experience that can be vital for your future career prospects. You'll apply classroom theory to real life issues, gaining hands-on experience of law in action. Our wide range of clinics means you have the opportunity to focus on an area of law you are interested in, which can help shape your career plans.

In many of our clinics, you’ll be assigned client enquiries to research and prepare for in advance for a client interview. You’ll then draft a letter of formal legal advice. All of this will be in accordance with professional processes and in collaboration with clinic leads and supervisors.

Some clinics are involved in the preparation of research briefings and notes, document preparation for external organisations, and delivering public legal education sessions beyond Sussex.

Since we only provide advice, we do not offer to represent our clients in court or at tribunals, but you may become involved in the preparation of paperwork to pass an enquiry on to another organisation.

You can get involved in the law clinics through the Clinical Legal Education option module, which features on our Law LLBs. This module gives you practical experience that can’t be replicated in a classroom setting.

Enhance your employability skills at a Law Clinic

Video transcript

Professor Amir Paz-Fuchs, Sussex Law School: “Welcome to the University of Sussex Law Clinics where theory meets practice and students become real-world problem solvers for their local community.”

Hashim Al-Metwakill, Migration Law Clinic student: “Although the Law Clinics aren't a module that you have to take here, I really do think that it is one of the best experiences and that everyone should have an opportunity to do them. There are a lot of options in terms of Law Clinics available here. I chose the migration Law Clinic.”

Paz-Fuchs: “What students get from the clinics is real-life experience, helping people in the community, understanding how the law operates in practice, and gaining extremely valuable skills for their CV and for their employability.”

Al-Metwakill: “So throughout my time at the Migration Law Clinic, I learned to client interview, draft memos, advice letters, and how to deal with the unexpected. There are situations that arise that you might not know how to react to originally, but with experience and with the guidance of our teachers, you really get to know how to deal with them.”

Zoe Janae Hoyte, Street Law Clinic: “Doing the clinics has meant that I've gotten to see that I have skills that are going to make a difference for people. Knowing that I can find that purpose in what I've studied in a real impactful way, in a real world, is really empowering for me and has encouraged me to move forward in my route of doing charitable work in a legal setting, and I'm just really excited to know that there's going to be a future in helping people like I have in Street Law.”

Dr Lucy Welsh, Sussex Law School: “The Law Clinics really empower the students through experiential learning. It's about more than just reading case law or reading articles. It's about rolling up their sleeves and actually making a tangible difference to people's lives through the law.”

Deanna Coe, Housing Law Clinic student: “It gives you a different law degree in comparison to just looking at statute, writing an essay. You are able to apply the law practically, which you don't get to do everywhere or within every module. If you're writing a dissertation, it's not the same experience whatsoever, but being able to be a part of the Law Clinic, it does give that other angle of your degree and it gives you that other skill set which it is priceless.”

Haley Stern, Employability Law Clinic student: “I think the Law Clinics really showed me why I'm passionate about law. Why I chose law in general. It's seeing that interpersonal element. It's real-life people with real-life issues and being that person to either help them or just listen to them, is the reason why I came into this. It's about people and at the end of the day, it's about that person in that time of their life. So if you can help them, that's the best thing. That's the only thing you can ask for really.”

Hear from our students

Explore our law clinic student blog, where you can read about the experiences of students who have worked in our clinics.

Our clinics

Learn more about the law clinics and projects you can get involved with:

Citizens Advice

This project is an exciting collaboration between the Law School and Citizens Advice in West Sussex. Citizens Advice offer generalist advice to members of the public on a full range of issues including housing, consumer concerns, family crises, debt problems and welfare advice.

You will receive intensive training to then deal with clients in the triage service, delivering advice face to face, by telephone, email and via webchats. As the service also feeds into research and campaigns, you will help with these by gathering raw frontline data. You are positioned in one of the Citizens Advice offices in West Sussex (Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham, Horsham, Crawley, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill).

You will cover a wide range of issues, and develop a significant skillset around client interaction, research and dissemination. You will commit to spending one day per week at your placements in teaching terms (organised around the remainder of the timetable) and as these are outside of Brighton, the University will cover reasonable travel expenses.
Criminal Justice

Budget cuts have taken hold across the whole Criminal Justice System and it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to access legal support. Our Criminal Justice Law Clinic plays an important role in enabling some of our most vulnerable citizens to access services that help them navigate the process of state-led prosecution, accepting enquiries relating to criminal offences, appeals against conviction and/or sentence, and prisoner rights.

You will manage the enquiries directed to the Criminal Justice Law Clinic, working alongside internal and external supervisors to respond and advise. Additionally, this clinic works alongside various organisations and charities, such as JENGbA, Release, and Sussex Prisoners’ Families, where placement opportunities are available. You also have the opportunity to attend magistrates' and Crown courts, as well as the police station, to shadow lawyers and legal advisors. This will allow you to attain a full understanding of many processes and practical aspects in the criminal justice system.
Employment

Workers face many issues on a daily basis, including discrimination, pay and leave issues, dismissals and questionable contract terms. Many workers have no idea what their rights are or what to do when they are concerned about their employment. You will manage enquiries including all of this and more, bringing a crucial and often unattainable level of support to the community, whilst developing and exercising inter-personal and client interviewing skills in this area of law.

You will need to take the co-requisite module ‘Employment Law – Foundations’ to participate in this clinic, which will give the requisite teaching in this field. Clinic seminars are more or less taken up with enquiry review, pair work on client matters, and reviewing access to justice issues. Students on this clinic are often placed on roster to manage the influx of enquiries, and will undertake defined processes with each one, logging progress on internal systems including the client database.
Environmental Justice

Locally, nationally and globally, the health of the environment is under threat and it cannot speak for itself, but individuals, communities and organisations can and do! The Environmental Justice Law Clinic is a collaborative project between the University of Sussex and the Environmental Law Foundation. The clinic provides support to individuals and communities who wish to address their concerns about the environment and gain legal advice on their position. This clinic’s work can have a wide-reaching impact, and offers you the chance to make real-time difference to the ongoing climate crisis.

You will work in pairs or small groups on client enquiries and research projects, which will involve many different areas of law including tort, planning and public. Students who are passionate about making a positive difference to environmental issues may find this clinic to be rewarding and will gain an invaluable insight into this expanding area.
Family

The Family Law Clinic is run in a similar manner to a law practice and provides a valuable pro-bono service in the area of law that has seen some of the biggest impacts of legal aid cuts over the past decade. Supported by a variety of local solicitors and barristers, the clinic deals with a range of issues including divorce, separation, child arrangements, co-habitation, civil partnership and financial matters. You will be immersed in client cases, as this clinic involves researching real issues, taking interviews and providing legal advice. You will be placed on an enquiry roster to take client enquiries from the start to the end of our service.

Your legal knowledge will grow, as this clinic will provide a deeper understanding of legal issues connected to the breakdown of family relationships, such as whether grounds exist for a divorce in a particular case, how the arrangements for the children should be resolved and what should happen to the family home and other assets. Students taking this clinic are strongly encouraged to opt for both Adult and Child Law modules alongside it, to complement their understanding of the legal processes faced by the client base. This clinic is a great opportunity if you want to be engaged in helping families overcome a variety of legal issues, whilst developing transactional skills in practice-related activities.
Housing

Our Housing Law Clinic offers free advice to members of the local community on a wide array of housing law matters including landlord disputes, disrepair claims, unlawful eviction, possession and deposit issues and complaints against managing agents. We do not provide advice to landlords.

The Housing Law Clinic works in conjunction with Dean Wilson LLP, a local solicitors firm reputed for excellence in this area of law. You will be placed on an enquiry roster to see the client through from initial enquiry to letter of advice. You will work in pairs to review and research the clients issue, prepare interview plans and meet with the clients at the office of Dean Wilson, under supervision of one of their solicitors. You will then further research the issue and draft a letter of advice, agreed with the Supervisor, sending this to the client to direct them. You will also have the opportunity to undertake a placement at the local office of a national charity who work on behalf of the Gypsy Roma Traveller community, providing advice and undertaking research around their specific legal issues.
Migration

The Migration Law Clinic offers migration , asylum and citizenship advice on a pro bono basis to those individuals who need, but cannot afford, legal support. Our Migration Clinic is supported by two in house and one external Immigration Barristers and is authorised by the Office of the Immigration Services Commssioner (OISC) to provide legal advice up to OISC level 3.

With a current focus on asylum and human rights claims, you will gain hands-on experience of complex legal issues in one of the most in-demand and underfunded areas of legal practice. Working in pairs, you will review and research client enquiries, prepare for and attend client interviews with Immigration Barristers, and give input to the letter of advice. Client appointments may involve interpreters and support workers, giving an exposure to the expansive and complex issues in this area. You will encounter often vulnerable clients who have gone through very difficult and emotionally challenging experiences, and will be provided with grounded training and support.

You may also be able to undertake a placement at a prominent refugee charity in central Brighton. On placement, you’ll support drop-in sessions where you can assist with a range of enquiries from members of the public under the supervision of caseworkers. You must also take the Immigration Law optional module alongside it.
Performing Arts

The Performing Arts Clinic provides free legal and compliance advice to charities operating within the arts sector, many of which are well known and household names. Currently focussing on complex legal issues resulting from the pandemic, online copyright infringement, and Britain leaving the EU, you support a creative ecosystem including freelance musicians, actors, artists, designers, conductors and writers.

Our students, working with academic staff and a seasoned practitioner from Covington & Burling, advise on a range of business-related issues, from safeguarding, equal opportunities and privacy, to charities governance, employment law and commercial contracts. You will be tasked with a variety of projects, such as redrafting contracts, advising on clauses and drawing up anti-discriminatory practice agreements. This clinic provides a niche in-house lawyer experience that is well suited for students that are passionate about the arts and entertainment industry, and who want to gain frontline business law experience working with no-for-profit corporate clients.
Sports

Sport in the UK is heavily reliant on coaches who are often unqualified and act on a voluntary basis. These coaches have reported a lack of accessible support and advice when faced with legal challenges. The Sports Law Clinic, working in collaboration with UK Coaching, is the very first of its kind to provide free legal advice to amateur and professional sports coaches across the UK, including e-coaches.

Working with academic staff and experienced sports law practitioners, you will advise coaches on a range of legal issues including civil and criminal law disputes, safeguarding, employment law, commercial contracts, charities governance and disputes with national sports organisations. Individual enquiries from members of the public will be managed in a similar way to our other clinics; you’ll in pairs to review and research the client’s issue, engage with the interview process and draft the letters of advice, all under the supervision of our experienced practitioner partners. You will also undertake research tasks in conjunction with UK Coaching, to produce and develop bespoke content and materials that are widely disseminated and utilised for the purposes of coach education, training and support, raising awareness of relevant legal matters.

The clinic provides a crucial service to coaches nationally both in considering their individual legal problems and proactively considering potential issues around incumbent responsibilities before they arise. Further, the clinic gives you the opportunity to develop and exercise transferrable inter-personal and client interviewing skills in the area of sports law. This clinic is of particular interest to students with a passion and enthusiasm for sport, who want some direct sports law experience. You are required to also take Sports Law 1 as an option in the final year.
StreetLaw

StreetLaw is a conceptual approach wherein law students provide interactive legal education to community groups, charities, schools and similar organisations. Unlike those clinics which receive enquiries from individual members of the public around a legal problem they face, you will design, produce and deliver essential, accessible information based on the legal rights or issues established in a scoping meeting. Such delivery will be tailored to the client and may take the form of group sessions, technology-based approaches e.g. videos, podcasts or blogs, information packs, or other suitable forms. Past topics have included starting a business, interaction with the criminal justice system (including mock trials), human rights/protest law, and young people’s rights in employment.

This clinic works with a diverse and often much younger clientele than other clinics, you will need an enhanced DBS check (which the clinic staff complete). All students within the clinic may work on a project or delivery session together, or may each take component parts. Students who enjoy design and media, collaborative working or leading workshops or community groups will thrive in the StreetLaw clinic.
Wills, Trusts and Estates

The Wills, Trusts and Estates clinic offers advice to clients on a range of issues around Wills, Enduring and Lasting Powers of Attorney, Will Trusts, Intestacy, Trust Administration and associated matters. You will be supervised by experienced law practitioners who are experts in their field. The Clinic is run in a similar manner to a law practice and you will have front line responsibilities for live client cases; working in pairs to research relevant areas of law, prepare for and participate in interviews and draft advice letters, all under the supervision of our practitioner partners.

You will receive training and gain experience in key ethical issues connected to work in practice such as professional conduct, client confidentiality and conflicts of interest. The clientele for this clinic can You members of the public who cannot travel to campus or use zoom for client meetings as is the norm for our other clinics, and students will collaborate with the leads to consider viable alternative solutions, and work on developing accessible signposting and process documents. You will enhance your transactional abilities in key practice-related skills such as client interviewing and letter writing, and learn how to translate your legal knowledge into advice which is understandable to clients. Through your engagement with this Clinic, you will gain a deeper knowledge of legal issues relating to the interpretation of wills, will trusts and trusts, and issues surrounding intestacy and inheritance.

Other ways to get involved

First and second year students can apply to volunteer within the Clinic office, with two coordinators, supporting the work of all clinics. Volunteering roles are also often advertised by our partner agencies, giving you the opportunity to gain experience in the charity or support sector.

Looking for legal advice?

If you need contact one of our law clinics for free legal advice, find out how we could help.