Messenger September 2017

News 27
Pro bono for busy lawyers
BPP Manchester’s Pro Bono Centre runs a range of student
led projects. These include the more well-known
legal advice clinics as well as areas such as public legal
education, translation and procedural assistance at employment
and medical tribunals in the area. We have
over 250 students volunteering annually and help
scores of clients in a variety of different practice areas.
Given the volume and variety of projects the Pro Bono
Centre runs, their work would not be possible without
the fantastic support of its external supervisors.
Enterprise Clinic
This year we have set up an Enterprise Clinic. The adage of
Britain being ‘a nation of shopkeepers’ is reflected in the fact
that of the 5.4 million businesses in the UK last year, 5.3 million
were classed as ‘micro businesses’ with fewer than 10
employees.
The clinic provides free commercial advice to startups and
small businesses who would not otherwise have access to
legal advice. In its first term, the clinic has helped a wide variety
of clients with issues including:
• how to register a limited company,
• disputes with consumers or suppliers
• issues with commercial leases; and
• advice regarding copyright or trademark.
community’s legal needs and provide better opportunities
for lawyers to get involved in pro bono.
Pro bono from your desk!
• ELTAL is BPP’s employment law helpline. This project provides
a simple but effective model, enabling clients to receive
prompt initial advice by telephone. Nearly all of the
callers would find it difficult to access traditional legal advice,
largely because of cost, but also because traditionally
evening appointments are not available. We are on the lookout
for qualified solicitors to give an hour’s free advice to
clients by telephone once every 8-12 weeks.
• Streetlaw is BPP’s free public legal education project. Fun
and interactive legal sessions are delivered to community
groups that might not otherwise have access to legal information,
including schoolchildren, prisoners and homeless
people. In 2016/17, 325 BPP law students delivered over
200 Streetlaw sessions to over 3000 members of the public.
BPP has over 50 presentations in its precedent bank, on
topics including housing, employment, consumer law, IP
and human rights. BPP is always on the lookout for experienced
practitioners who would be willing to review a presentation
to check the legal content is up to date.
If you would like to get involved, or simply have a chat to
discover how you/your firm could work with us, please don’t
hesitate to contact Probonomanchester@bpp.com.
Law student volunteers meet clients and conduct a factfinding
interview. They follow up each interview with a detailed
letter of advice supervised by a qualified lawyer. The
Enterprise Clinic is currently looking for commercial solicitors
to supervise the clinic appointment either in person or
via Skype and review the law students’ letter of advice.
Should you volunteer, we will endeavor to match your experience
with the advice being sought.
All projects are supported by fully qualified solicitors, who
have all previously worked in private practice. BPP’s staff understand
the barriers that practitioners face when engaging
in pro bono work. Time can be a major factor, as well as
many feeling their field of expertise might not add value.
The Pro Bono Centre has created initiatives that meet the
Bring your child to work for an inspiring day
Bring Your Child To Work Day (www.bringyourchildtoworkday.co.uk)
provides children with the unique opportunity
to spend an entire day at their parents’
workplace, learning about the company and industry
they work in, in a highly interactive, fun and educational
way.
This initiative, founded by Employees Matter, has been
adopted by many companies in the UK and is run by highly
trained educational leaders who create a full day of inspiring
events for children of staff to give them their first look at
the world of work. While parents carry on with their daily
work routine, their kids are elsewhere in the building, engrossed
in innovative workshops and events related to the
industry they work in.
Whether it’s setting up the world’s first childrens’ law firm,
bank, stock market, retail chain, newspaper or TV channel or
just learning about their parents’ industries, the programmes
comprise fun, workplace-inspired activities designed
to develop their understanding of work.
The fun-filled Bring Your Child To Work Days have already
been successfully taking place within many companies
across the UK, including Northern Trust, , BNP Paribas, Pinsent
Masons and Bloomberg, with further days planned for
summer 2017 at firms, including VISA, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi,
Bird & Bird and Herbert Smith Freehills. This initiative
bridges the gap between the academic offerings of the
school curriculum, and the real-life experiences that shape
the vision and ambition of our future leaders. Not only funpacked,
it also introduces the concept of work at an early
and impressionable age.
The Bring Your Child To Work Days are organised by Employees
Matter, who piloted the Bring Your Child to Work Day
after hearing about the success of the initiative in the United
States. Starting out in two companies, they now firmly lead
the field, as 8-16 year olds across the country get a real-life
glimpse of mum, dad, auntie or uncle’s job and responsibilities.
Zoe Sinclair, Director of Employees Matter, who founded the
Bring Your Child To Work Day said: “This is a great way for us
to create a window into our working lives for our children to
climb into, to help them understand what their parents do
all day at work when we are apart from them.” She added,
“what could be more exciting than spending a day seeing
what adults really do all day?
Together with the team at my company, Employees Matter,
I thought about what would inspire and engage my own
children. I wanted to create something for the kids that was
more than just ‘work experience’ and something more than
sitting bored at their parents’ desks observing them in action.
That’s why we work with engaging and inspirational
teachers who run workshops throughout the day for the
children, on all aspects of the business. The children are taking
part in team building, financial education, marketing,
branding and innovation workshops.
When would they ever get to do that at 8 or 12 or 16 years
old? Surely this will get them excited about life after
school…”
For further information, visit
www.bringyourchildtoworkday.co.uk
SRA Corporate Strategy
Over the last three years
we have reformed our regulation
and how we work.
We have cut bureaucracy,
improved our customer
service and set out a path
for real change in our sector.
Now it is time to look ahead.
This draft strategy sets out
what we want to achieve
over the three years to 2020.
We are proposing five
strategic aims:
1 We will set and apply
consistently high professional
standards for the
individuals and firms we
regulate and make sure
they are appropriate to
meet the challenges of
today and the future.
2 We will make sure our
regulatory requirements
are proportionate, providing
solicitors and firms the
flexibility to innovate and
better meet the needs of
members of the public
and businesses, while
maintaining appropriate
levels of public protection.
3 We will increase the
availability of relevant
and timely information to
help people make informed
choices in the
legal services market.
4 We will make sure that
our regulatory arrangements
work as effectively
as possible for the public,
businesses, solicitors and
firms in the context of
constitutional developments
within the UK and
any new relationship with
the EU.
5 We will work better together
and with others to
improve our overall effectiveness,
our responsiveness
and the delivery of
our regulatory functions.
To draw up our strategy, we
have looked at what is coming
down the line – what is
happening in the legal sector
that would or could impact
on what we do, from
Brexit to the rapidly changing
legal market.
This is the first time we are
consulting on our Corporate
Strategy, as we want to
know if we have got it right
and if anything is missing.
We welcome your views on
whether our strategy will
help us build a diverse,
open and modern legal
market. One that works in
the best interests of the
public, and helps solicitors
and law firms develop and
thrive.