CLOCK

Founded 10 years ago, CLOCK began as a research project, listening to 'Voices of Experience'; a group of women from a domestic violence refuge, who shared their fears and proposals for how to support women going to court alone following the significant withdrawal of legal aid under LASPO, the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, 2012. CLOCK has been Highly Commended by the Attorney-General National Access to Justice Award, 2016, and the Green Gown Awards for 'Benefitting Society', 2019.

CLOCK co-created a multi-agency collaboration with the Stoke Family Court, law firms, mediators the Citizens Advice Bureau, Domestic and Sexual Abuse survivor support services, to design the unique and innovative role of the Community Legal Companion to assist litigants in person though the court process.

As a law student, you will be trained by court staff, solicitors, barristers, mediators and domestic abuse and sexual abuse support services to understand the complex needs of litigants in person, in a variety of civil legal issues:

• Children Arrangements
• Suspending Evictions
• Non-molestation Order
• Small Claims

Law students will be trained by the partnership as a Community Legal Companion to signpost for legal aid and where not available, assist within the remit of the McKenzie Friend principles to assist:

• Filling in Court Forms
• Arrange court paper work
• Accompany in Court Proceedings
• Note Taking

Community Legal Companions are required to sign a code of conduct and volunteer 2 hours per week to assist at the Stoke on Trent Family Court CLOCK Desk.

The Community Legal Companion role has been endorsed by the President of the Family Court and has been cascaded to 12 University Law Schools to operate in 8 court centres; Stoke, Brighton, Canterbury, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Oxford, Liverpool and York.

The clock.uk.net web portal provides a unique direct public access through a web portal clock.uk.net to provide direct online signposting to law firm and charitable partners, providing national reach.

We have experienced increasing demand for the CLOCK service, with cases signposted by Schools, CAFCASS, Health workers, the Police and Children Services.

CLOCK has adapted the service to respond to the Covid crisis, by training students to provide an  online service, using online platforms such as Teams, which are now being adopted by the courts for online hearings.

The clock.uk.net portal monitoring and collating the information to provide a live data base, to submit evidence to inform the Ministry of Justice LASPO Reform, Justice Working Party and wider contributions to social and legal research, based upon the Krishnadas' underpinning research of CLOCK as a 'Transformative Methodology for Access to Justice'.

If you apply to train as a Community Legal Companion, you will be joining the 400 Community Legal Companions to date, many of whom have since become Citizen Advice legal advisers, Domestic Abuse support workers, legal aid solicitors and barristers and UN advocates for access to justice.