First Legal Clinic Opens in Haddington
August, 2011 - Edinburgh, Scotland
LawWorks Scotland is delighted to announce the launch of its first legal clinic in Scotland in conjunction with the Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) in East Lothian.
The clinic, which commenced on 9 August 2011 and which will run on a weekly basis, have been established with the support of Shepherd and Wedderburn, one of the founder members of LawWorks Scotland. They will enable CAB clients to access free legal advice at a 30-minute appointment with a LawWorks Scotland lawyer.
Speaking after the launch, Anne Hastie, Manager of Haddington CAB said: " We are delighted to work with LawWorks Scotland to establish the legal clinic for the citizens of East Lothian. We have been well supported by our local legal community in various ways over many years and our relationship with LawWorks Scotland will help us to build upon that to provide a regular weekly advice service for our clients, which is much needed."
LawWorks Scotland launched in March with the aim of facilitating the provision of pro bono services by the legal profession in Scotland. Ian Moffett, Chairman of LawWorks Scotland said: "We have been very encouraged by the support we have received from various legal firms and lawyers to date and by continuing to work with front line agencies, such as Citizens Advice Scotland, we hope to build upon the success of this clinic and attract more law firms to work with us to develop a network of similar clinics to respond to a presently unmet need across Scotland."
LawWorks Scotland patron, Dame Elish Angiolini QC commented: "I firmly believe that pro bono should be at the heart of lawyers’ corporate social responsibility commitment and I congratulate Shepherd and Wedderburn for taking the plunge in being the first firm to work with LawWorks Scotland in this way. The opening of this new clinic is a small but important step in the expansion of pro bono legal services in Scotland. I would encourage more firms to join LawWorks Scotland so that this expansion can continue."
Directors and staff from LawWorks Scotland will be exhibiting at the Law Society of Scotland's conference in Glasgow on 6th September. Looking ahead to the event, LawWorks chair Ian Moffett said: "We've already attracted good support from Scotland's legal profession and the Law Society's conference provides an ideal opportunity for us to build on that engagement. As well as meeting colleagues from firms which are LawWorks members, we will use the event to encourage more people to get involved in pro bono work." Conference delegates can find out more about LawWorks Scotland by visiting its stand in the exhibition area.
