Law Clinic

Homelessness in Scotland – GCU Law Clinic & Homeless Project Scotland

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This Christmas, 50,000 people in Scotland will be classified as homeless by the Scottish Government. That is enough to fill Hampden Park, home of the Scotland National Team.

Child homelessness is also on the rise, with almost 3,000 more children experiencing homelessness in 2023 when compared to the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Overall, 9,595 children live in temporary accommodation and are classified as homeless.

This year, the GCU Law Clinic has teamed up with Homeless Project Scotland in an effort to raise awareness of the current housing crisis in Scotland and to help Scotland’s homeless through this difficult period. Volunteers at Homeless Project Scotland work tirelessly to provide support for Scotland’s homeless population, providing:

  • Daily soup kitchens
  • Deliveries of food, water, and other essential items
  • Emotional support for rough sleepers

 

 

 

 Homeless Project Scotland volunteers at the soup kitchen

At this time of year, it is especially vital to come together as a community to help rough sleepers get through the winter. 244 homeless individuals in Scotland died in 2022, with the harsh conditions of winter undoubtably contributing to this number.

Law Clinic Charity Collection

The GCU Law Clinic is holding a charity collection to help provide essentials to the homeless population in Glasgow. We are accepting the usual hats, scarves, and gloves, as well as toiletries, sanitary products, hot water bottles and any other items which may be of help to the homeless.

Any contribution would be massively appreciated by all at the Clinic, Homeless Project Scotland and most importantly, those who will receive this support.

An Analysis of COP26 One Year On

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COP26 in Glasgow was a gathering of world leaders to promote the actions of improving climate change, from Nicola Sturgeon to Greta Thunberg, lots of plans were discussed. How well have these actions went in achieving their goal? This blog will highlight the good and the bad affects COP26 has had on climate change in conjunction with the active approaches law firms can take in contributing towards the COP26 objectives – as it is Pro Bono week and in the light of COP27 in Egypt this year. This will help people most affected by climate change stay informed to access justice.

Successes and Failures

The United Nations Convention on Climate Change gives COP26 as an annual conference a purpose. Mainly to adopt decisions which develop and implement the COP26 convention, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. However, there were aims which were set out for COP26 specifically. The four main aims set out in COP26 in Glasgow were to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, keeping 1.5C degrees within reach – aimed to be done by switching to electricity powered cars, preventing the prominence of deforestation, and promoting the use of renewable energy sources while minimising fossil fuels.

Further to this, it was proposed to protect communities and natural habitats which ties in with the deforestation objective as a whole. COP26 raised the issue of being able to manage and make available £100 billion in finance to work towards these goals. The fourth aim was for countries to work together and finalise the Paris Rulebook – which guides countries on reporting emissions, timeline for reducing emissions in total, and rules set out for carbon markets.

Before looking at the failures of COP26, we should acknowledge the successes. For one, the COP26 pact is now 190 nations strong, according to COP26 President Alok Sharma. This coalition has pledged to “phase out coal power and end support for new coal power plants”, showing that the international community is most united in their efforts to prevent global warming. However, certain key players in the international community, such as Russia and China, were notably absent from the conference. According to Paul G. Harris writing for PLOS Climate, the latter produce over a quarter of all global emissions and intend to increase this until 2030, while the rest of the world’s nations are actively looking to decrease such emissions. Therefore, the efforts of these nations may not be enough in achieving the target of 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels.

A further failure has been identified by ethicist Julian Sheather, who attributes “global ‘blinkmanship’” as another failure of COP26. Every country wants the changes to occur and is fully aware of the consequences that will follow if action is not taken. However, no nation wants to be the first to introduce such painful measures which will alter their citizens way of life, as not to be labelled as “draconian” or “authoritarian”. COP26 should provide the nations with a way of making these necessary steps together as a unified front, however Sheather’s proposes “weakness of global governance” leads to infighting between nations that detracts from the larger fight; the one against global warming.

The Legal Profession and COP26

Additionally, the legal profession has been urged to adapt its practices to meet the COP26 aims. Whilst changes to environmental law at a statutory level will work as an accountability tool, the most effective changes will operate at a firm level.

One of the most important starting points is the adaptation of firm targets. Firms must take a proactive approach to implement new science-based targets to limit carbon emissions associated with their practice. This will not only contribute to further achieving the 1.5°C target but also shows active engagement at a ground level which should be adopted by all employees. Alongside this also comes the publication of said targets, and how the firm has implemented practical measures to meet their aims and operate on a more environmentally friendly platform. This again will not only work as an accountability measure but also allows firms themselves to see if their measures are working and how they can be adapted for improvement or to ensure they remain affective.

Promotion of climate change within the legal profession is also vital to further achieving COP26 aims. In light of pro bono week, this is particularly relevant as pro bono activities is one of the most effective, proactive approaches firms can take towards achieving this. By carrying out pro bono work, firms can ensure access to justice for those who are negatively affected by climate change at an affordable level. Additionally, engaging with current and prospective policy making will also help contribute towards upholding the human rights of those majorly affected by the issue. Overall, it is important to recognise this is not an ‘over-night fix’, approach whilst it will be gradual must be consistent and continually adapting if further improvement is ever to be achieved.

 

Written by: Holly Stokes, Fraser Scott, Paul Jay Cassidy, Patrick Goodfellow, Louis Gibson and Scott Gemmell

Employability – James Cox

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James is currently a fourth year LLB student at GCU and, after completing a vacation scheme in summer 2022, James has secured a training contract at international commercial law firm CMS, commencing in August 2024. In this blog, James talks about his experience this summer.

 

Firstly, not everyone knows what they want to do with their LLB degree and that’s okay. You shouldn’t feel freaked out when people start mentioning grad jobs and training contracts.

This post is mainly to get first and second years thinking about the legal opportunities out there and give some insight into the recruitment process at big commercial law firms.

 

For me, I think I always really knew that I had a keen interest in commercial issues and business in general, so a career in commercial law was the best way to marry this together with my passion for the law. It’s not for everyone and you shouldn’t feel like you ought to be attracted to it just because people tell you “it’s where the real money is”.

 

This leads me on to my first key point; before you even start to think of applying for traineeships or internships, you must first get to grips with your personal motivations for pursuing the career path. These should be genuine and personal reasons, not just the standard clichés that grad recruiters will have heard a million times before.

 

After, in my experience, I think that you should research around 10 firms in depth, all the time being aware of your personal motivations and how a firm aligns with these. There are so many resources that you can use to do this out there such as Chambers Student, Legal Cheek and the firm websites. Additionally, don’t be afraid to reach out on LinkedIn (can’t believe I actually used that phrase!) to trainees at law firms to get some personal insight into the firm. You can use Law Fairs to do this too. I know it is quite daunting but I promise they are really just normal people and you won’t be the first or last to contact them about this. Plus, doing so gives you some insight that puts you ahead of so many other applicants.

 

This all does sound like a lot of work before you even get to writing an application. That’s why it is best to start as early as you can. For instance, at CMS the application window for the vacation scheme for the following Summer opens around the end of September and closes just before Christmas. I personally began my firm research around the start of August 2021 and submitted my various applications around early to late November – I promise I do actually have a life by the way!

 

This brings me on to one of the biggest things I learned during the application cycle; consistency compounds.  What do I mean by that? No one can spend all day every day working on applications – it is not sustainable when you have other commitments like your studies, part-time work and a social life to balance. A couple hours of work most days is actually better than spending three days straight sweating it with deadlines approaching. I know people like to say they work best under pressure (another application cliché!) but traineeships or vacation schemes are incredibly competitive so you need to give yourself the best chance to submit as good an application as you can – this starts with being organised and committed.

 

On the subject of competitiveness, it is inevitable that you will face rejections. To give you an idea, I applied for around nine schemes and got rejected from seven of them – some at much smaller firms than the one I ended up in, and one time I just never heard back either way! Don’t take it personally; it is a simple fact that way more people apply for these positions than there are spaces on them. However, you should leverage rejections to show the resilience and motivation you possess and always back yourself – someone has to get the spot, so why should it not be you?

 

Finally, I would like to stress the value of non-legal work experience. The only real experience I had, apart from a week with the Procurator Fiscal way back in fourth year of high school, was my part-time job. In my experience this can be just as, if not more, valuable than a week of informal experience here or there doing admin work. Beyond having to manage your time and juggle different commitments, part-time work exposes you to the realities of the working world including managing relationships, working in a team and possibly being a leader of some description. So don’t think it’s not that relevant, it really can be if you frame it in the right way.

 

So good luck! Here’s some resources I found useful:

  • Aspiring Solicitors
    • Coaching programmes, mentoring schemes, virtual events, financial support from their foundation

And all of the below are great for developing commercial awareness:

  • Watson’s Daily Podcast
  • FT daily newsletters (use the university library for free subscription)
  • The Corporate Law Academy newsletter
  • Commercial Law Academy Newsletter
  • Roll on Friday (try to avoid the forums full of unhappy lawyers looking for somewhere to vent!)

 

James Cox. LLB4, Glasgow Caledonian University

 

If you would like to speak to James about his experiences, he is happy for you to contact him JCOX202@caledonian.ac.uk

Dr Jane Goodall

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Jane Goodall is 87 years old and she was born on the 3rd April 1934 in London.

She is an English primatologist and anthropologist and she is best known for her 60-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees. She is the world`s best-known living naturalist and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute.

In April 2002 she was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace and she is also an honorary member of the World Future Council.

Jane was fascinated with animal behaviour in her early childhood and she dreamed of travelling to Africa to observe exotic animals in their natural habitats.

Through Jane`s research, it is believed that she has developed a breakthrough approach to species conversation that improves the lives of people, animals and the environment by highlighting how they are all connected to each other.

One important aspect of Jane`s career is to show others why protecting the natural environment and species matter to people and the planet.

During the COP26 Jane was announced to be the COP26 Advocate, and during this time she drew the world`s attention to the importance of tackling climate change and she also raised awareness about the importance of climate action globally.

Before COP26 started Jane appeared on a Twitter video in which she said:

“We have come to a turning point in our relationship with the natural world. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that we must change our ways. In my 87 years, I have seen the ice melting in Greenland and the glaciers vanishing on Mount Kilimanjaro and around the world. Forests are disappearing – deforestation means we are losing one of the lungs of the world. In 100 days, it is crucial that world leaders come together at COP26 to take urgent action to protect our planet.”

A global study from the World Economic Forum was conducted before COP26 started and it found that most people do not feel their countries are prepared to tackle climate change. However, in response to this study Jane reminded us all that hope can be a way out of our darkest times she said:

 “Hope is rather like being in a very dark tunnel with many obstacles that have to be climbed on, and it seems impossible to get to the other end, where there’s a speck of light, that hope. Hope can’t happen unless we take action and fight to get there. Once in place, hope can propel us to do more and even inspire others to join in. It’s an upward spiral.”

Jane pushes for progress against the climate emergency in 4 different ways. Firstly, she talks with people and not at them as discussing problems by arguing at people makes it harder for the other person to understand your point of view and therefore it becomes harder for them to take your side. Secondly, she connects with compassion, Jane does not point fingers at people instead she finds a connection point between herself and the other person, such as an animal or a hobby, and she takes a few minutes talking about these topics to build a bridge between herself and the other person`s different ideas.

Thirdly, she employs stories which means that through a story she begins to connect with other people and these stories often reach people`s hearts. This is good because it is often harder to bind with someone over statistics as change must come from within. Last but not least she acts locally, rather than jumping straight for world change she finds issues within a community and seeks to change them first. Then slowly these little differences start to show great impacts on the wider community and the world as a whole.

Influential Environmentalist – Greta Thunberg

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Greta Thunberg is an 18-year-old environmental activist from Sweden. She is one of the youngest activists in the world, being only 16 when she received the Times’s Person of the Year award. Thunberg’s school strikes for climate change became well-known around the world, with many pupils from across the globe taking part in these to stand with her in her campaign. By December 2018, over 20,000 students in countries such as the UK and Japan joined her in skipping school to protest. She missed around 3 weeks of school at the start of her striking until she got the attention of the Swedish Parliament. This helped her in the start of the global movement which she has now created, called Fridays For Future (FFF). This involved encouraging school pupils to skip school on a Friday and protest for climate change. The movement became well-known and was given a lot of publicity which brought it to the attention of world leaders.

 

In one of her most famous speeches at a UN climate conference in New York Thunberg told world leaders “You all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,”. This was only the beginning of speeches Thunberg would go on to make. Greta does not fly due to how much this can affect the climate, and instead she often takes very long journeys by train or boat. For the climate conference in New York, Greta took a two-week long zero-emission yacht across the Atlantic Ocean. This is an example of her incredible commitment to making a change to the climate problem currently faced around the world.

 

The book ‘No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference’ contains all of Greta’s speeches, with proceeds being donated to charity. As well as this, a documentary about her was released in 2020. Recently, Thunberg visited Glasgow during the Cop26 climate change conference which took place over a 2-week period. She took part in protests across Glasgow and encouraged so many people of all ages to get involved in the protests to campaign for changes to be made. After Cop26 Greta criticised the agreement which had been struck, stating it was very vague and contained too many loopholes. She emphasised that the climate crisis is about the time limit faced where changes need to be made before it is too late.

 

Thunberg continues to influence people, particularly the younger generations, around the world to get involved in climate change campaigning and protesting in order to try and help for changes to be made.

100 years of Women in Law – and the launch of our Women in Law project!

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Last year marked a huge step in gender equality; one hundred years since women were given the vote in British parliamentary elections. This year we are celebrating another landmark moment. It is one hundred years since women entered the legal profession. The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 allowed women in the UK to become solicitors, advocates and to sit on a jury.

This anniversary is particularly important to the West of Scotland as the first woman to practice law after the introduction of the act was a University of Glasgow graduate. Madge Anderson, born and raised in Glasgow, gained her LLB in 1919 upon the changes made by the act. GCU Law Clinic have chosen Madge Anderson as our first ‘Woman in Law Wednesday’, a series we will be running on our Instagram throughout the project (@gculawclinic). We will be inviting suggestions for who should be our ‘Women in Law Wednesday’ each week, so head over to our Instagram to let us know.

In order to mark this important occasion, the GCU law clinic will be starting a “Women in Law” project. This project will feature interviews from influential women in the Scottish Legal Profession, as well as informative talks, blog posts and social media posts. These will be used to highlight the successes, and struggles, of women within the Legal Profession. The project will be running from now until March 2020, in the run up to International Women’s Day. We hope to use this project to provide information about the female journey into the legal profession and hopefully use this information to inspire a new generation of female law students.

By Emma Smith, GCU Law Clinic Volunteer, LLB1

Speed Networking Event 2017

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After the success of the GCU Law Clinic’s first speed networking event in March 2016, we were pleased to welcome representatives from some of Scotland’s leading firms and organisations to GCU once again for a second speed networking evening with our LLB in April 2017. This evening was an excellent opportunity for our students to network with professionals from:

Our students and guests arriving and enjoying refreshments.

 

Anderson Strathern; Ashurst; Brodies; Beltrami & Co; BLM; BTO; Cloch Solicitors; Eden Scott Recruitment; Ellis Whittam; Hymans Robertson; Katani & Co; Kerr Brown; KPMG; Latta Law; Leslie Wolfson; Livingstone Brown; MacRoberts; Paul Hannah Solicitors; Peacock Johnston; Shepherd and Wedderburn; SYLA; Thompsons and Whyte & Mackay.

Many of the representatives of these organisations are GCU alumni and are now employers of GCU Law graduates. Our students were extremely grateful to all our guests who gave up their evening to speak about their careers in law and the many, various opportunities available to students studying law
There was a variety of guests differing in both the sectors they work in and the roles they perform. This unique opportunity to hear from experienced solicitors and trainees about their experiences in the profession, securing jobs within it and lessons they learned along the way was invaluable for all our students, particularly those about to embark upon the same journey. We were fortunate to have representatives from companies such as KPMG and Ashurst to give our students an insight into the varying career paths you can go down when equipped with a law degree.

Since it was very effective last year, the evening was once again styled as a ‘Speed Networking Evening’, using a speed dating format to ensure that all of our students had the chance to speak to each of the guests. Between 6pm and 8pm, a buzzer would ring after each 5-minute period, signalling to the students to move on to the next table. Both the guests and the students were impressed with the high turnout, and often they were so engaged in conversation that they would run over 5 minutes. Our students were extremely grateful to all the guests for giving up their time to come along, especially as many travelled in straight from work, some even coming from Edinburgh to attend our event to help inform and inspire the next generation of the legal profession in Scotland.

Being able to have this interaction in a one to one conversation was a fantastic opportunity for our students to allow them to gain information of specific interest to them. Our Academic Director of the Law Clinic, Claire McFadzean, was delighted by the turnout of employers, GCU graduates and students. “There is a real focus at GCU on the employability skills of our students. This is a key focus in the Law Clinic and on the modules ‘Skills for Legal Employment’ and ‘Professional Links’. It is vitally important in this competitive legal market that our students have well developed skills in client care, interviewing, negotiating and legal letter writing. This networking event has allowed our law students to discuss their skill set and experience with professionals in the industry and allowed them to leave with greater knowledge on how to best move forward in developing and improving their CV.”

 

Among the guests from the prestigious firms and organisations were a large number of GCU graduates whom we were delighted to welcome back. Seeing what they have gone on to achieve in their careers was fantastic for our current students to give them a real sense of what is possible for them. Their success speaks volumes about the LLB at GCU, as does the fact that these former students were willing to return and spend the evening giving back to the current law students. One of these graduates was Gregg Scott, the GCU Law Clinic’s first ever student director, who came as a representative of Ashurt and their new Legal Analyst role, an alternative to practicing in the legal profession. Another was last year’s student director, Ian Laing, who came as the ‘Emeritus Director’. At last year’s networking event, Ian said, “I would be keen to come back and take part in this event in future once I have begun my own career,” and we were very grateful that he did.
Our students found the evening both thought provoking and insightful having been able to make connections with people in a variety of different areas of law. Some students were offered summer internships on the night and a handful of other students were encouraged by some of the large commercial firms to send them their CV’s for consideration for summer placements, proving this annual event to be a very valuable and successful night for our students and their experience and progression in their legal careers.

We would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to all invited guests who attended what is now our annual GCU Law Clinic Speed Networking Evening. Thanks must also go to our students and lecturers who helped with the organisation of the evening and attended. We hope to see many of you again next year!

Mock Court Involvement

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The High Court held the mock trials.

From the 29th of November to the 1st of December, Glasgow was fortunate enough to host the mock court competition!  We at the Law Clinic were fortunate to be involved in lending our services to clerk for some current Sheriffs, in a welcome break from our typical studies.

Primary schools from Glasgow and the West descended on the Saltmarket as soon as regular court business had concluded in the matter of Talk ‘n’ Text v Telfor.  Donning homemade wigs and gowns (which frankly put the real ones to shame…), some of the legal professions future leading lights took their places in courtrooms, and set to work for their respective clients.

Leading evidence from their witnesses, the sides did battle over whether or not a contract was formed; with some interesting results – the same set of facts in separate courtrooms often produced different results!  This was only a testament to the ability of the pupils involved.  Clerking for Sheriff Miller, our Outreach Manager Rachel Campbell said:

“Some of the skill shown were extraordinary.  The productions were well organised and the lawyers questioned their witnesses with a clear plan and considerable confidence.  I only wish I was that good in primary school.”

Assistant Outreach Manager Ross Wilson, clerking for Sheriff Murphy QC, also added:

“I’ve been lucky enough to witness some of the top advocates in Scotland cross-examine witnesses, from Donald Findlay QC to Gordon Jackson QC.  The pupils would have given them a run for their money – I felt uncomfortable sitting outside the witness box.”

Also involved was our Senior Operations Manager David Scott, who commented:

“I only wish I had the confidence to stand up in the infamous North Courtroom of the High Court and lead evidence in front of a Sheriff at that age.  The pupils were a credit to themselves, their schools and their communities.  I hope to work with them someday, although certainly not in opposition.”

As a team, we had a great time assisting with the project.  It shows pupils from a very young age that courts aren’t just for criminals, but for everyone.  It also helped them too see that the courts aren’t so terrifying, the Sheriffs were kind and understanding, and this showed in the confidence displayed by the pupils.  As an aside, our volunteers benefitted from seeing behind the scenes of a court and to network with some of the most experienced jurists in the country.

 

Glasgow Legal Walk

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On Monday 10th October, a group of our volunteers took part in the Glasgow Legal Walk to help raise funds and awareness of Access to Justice.

Being an organisation which provides free legal advice; we completely understood the importance and need to help raise money to further develop this area. Over the past few years there has been a reduction in local authority and government funding being distributed to aid legal organisations, such as our own, which help those struggling within our communities. The contributions raised from everyone taking part are going to help fund this gap.

The walk was 10K in length and had a fun photo challenge to get the creativity flowing, where you had to find locations throughout the walk which fit the caption. We met with Sheriff Turnbull, as well as other law firms and academics who were participating. The walk began at the Glasgow High Court at 5:30pm and followed on through Glasgow Green, around the South Side and finishing off at Bar Home, where all participants were welcomed in for a much needed drink at the end.

Overall, the night was a fabulous opportunity to raise money for a good cause, interact with similar people in the field and have a nice walk in the fresh autumnal air!

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The total raised by all participating was £1,163.49.