Case Studies

• Kennedys / Mulberry School for Girls

• Olswang / Highbury Fields School & St Matthew Academy

• Mallesons Stephen Jaques / Sir John Cass Foundation and Redcoat Church of England Secondary School

• Linklaters / Clapton Girls' Technology College & Skinners' Company's School for Girls

• Addleshaw Goddard / Intake High School Arts College & St Matthew's RC High School & St James School

• S J Berwin / The Charter School

Kennedys / Mulberry School for Girls

Kennedys signed up to Lawyers in Schools to enhance their Corporate Responsibility programme. They are partnered with a community school in Tower Hamlets that has over 1400 students. The staff at Mulberry School for Girls are keen that their students experience work-related learning and active citizenship and the students there have been incredibly engaged with Lawyers in Schools. Kennedys and Mulberry School for Girls are looking at ways to develop their partnership further through additional schemes.

'Students are more engaged with the subject since having the opportunity to work with the lawyers. They contribute to lessons,. use reasoning more and apply what they have learned through the programme to a variety of other contexts. This has improved their attainment overall...another superb year - thanks to Kennedy's and the Citizenship Foundation for all their support and expertise.'   Teacher, Mulberry School for Girls

'[Through working in small groups] I was engaged more, I spoke more and I was more confident.'    Student, Mulberry School for Girls

'I found that the most enjoyable part of the experience was hearing the children give their views about the different subjects and to hear them debating about quite highly loaded subjects.'      Volunteer, Kennedys

Olswang / Highbury Fields School, St Matthew Academy, Haverstock School & Burlington Danes Academy

We first met representatives from Olswang, a London-based international law firm, at the Lawyers in Schools Celebration Event in 2008. After hearing first-hand accounts of the benefits that schools derive from the programme, and after taking part in a session on intellectual property rights with students, Olswang enthusiastically signed up.

In 2009, Olswang committed the largest number of volunteers (56) for the Lawyers in Schools scheme out of all our participating law firms, including partners, associates and trainees. Many of the volunteers were able to work with, and get to know, new people from across the firm as a result of the scheme and have benefited from strengthened ties with colleagues at different levels and from different departments.

Olswang has chosen to work with two schools: Highbury Fields School in Islington, where their volunteers work with girls in Year 20, and St Matthew Academy in Lewisham where the volunteers work with three classes of Year 10 boys of varying abilities. Lawyer to student ratios vary in each class so as to best meet student needs. 

Olswang initially chose to work with two schools: Highbury Fields School in Islington, where their volunteers work with girls in Year 10, and St Matthew Academy in Lewisham where the volunteers work with three classes of Year 10 boys of varying abilities. 

Olswang now have 76 volunteers working with four schools with Haverstock School in Camden and Burlington Danes Academy in Hammersmith & Fulham as recent additions. With the latter partnership, Olswang invited the legal department of one of their clients BBC Worldwide to join them. This has been a positive experience for all involved and a fun way to stenghten their business relationship.

On 22 June 2010 Olswang hosted our celebration event for the 2009/10 academic year.

"Students were able to discuss with a professional their rights and the legal system in a structured and empowering way. The lawyers involved clearly learnt from the students and the students really improved the way they talked to adults and conducted themselves. A very enriching experience." Teacher, St Matthew Academy

'We believe Lawyers in Schools makes a massive difference to our community...it helps build contact between professionals and young people who might think that a career in law isn't open to them...we have a responsibility to help break down some of those barriers.'   Head of Coporate Responsibility, Olswang

'The experience of working with real lawyers was an eye opener and made the possibility of a career in law seem more real and achievable.' Student, Haverstock School

Mallesons Stephen Jaques / Sir John Cass Foundation and Redcoat Church of England Secondary School 

Mallesons Stephen Jaques, a large Australian law firm, participates in the scheme through its three-partner London office. Almost all of the lawyers that work in the office take part in the scheme and work with the students at Sir John Cass School. They have a great relationship with the school where they have been running sessions for two years now, generously extending their support by providing Young Citizen's Passports to the whole year group (almost 200 students).

In the 2009/10 academic year, the Lawyers in Schools materials were adapted for New South Wales law and the scheme was piloted in four schools; two in Sydney and two 350 miles outside of the city. It has so far been a success and feedback has been positive. Malleson Stephen Jacques are exploring the possibility of extending the pilot to Melbourne and are currently in the process of carrying out a thorough evaluation of the scheme. 

"I really enjoyed listening to the students debating issues. It was also interesting to see the amount of misinformation that was circulating among the students, but equally interesting to find out that quite a few students were very well informed in relation to certain topics." Volunteer, Mallesons Stephen Jaques

"The lawyer was easy to understand, friendly and listened to what everyone had to say." Student, Sir John Cass School 

'They have clearly enjoyed the sessions and hopefully it will encourage some of them to aspire to a career in the legal profession as they all asked to participate in these sessions.'   Teacher, Sir John Cass School

Linklaters / Clapton Girls' Technology College & Skinners' Company's School for Girls

Linklaters is the longest running, and original, partner firm of Lawyers in Schools. The programmes were developed in partnership with Linklaters back in 1999, and the scheme has benefitted enormously from Linklaters' support and encouragement since then.

Volunteers from the firm are still working with two schools in Hackney, East London. Over the years, very strong links have grown between the firm and the teachers and schools. A decade on, we are delighted that Linklaters is still so heavily involved with the project and grateful to them for hosting our ten year Celebration Event in the summer of 2009.

"These issues are very real in the lives of our students. They gain a lot of knowledge from the streets about gangs, ASBOs and courts which is not always accurate and they often feel they, or their peers, are being picked on for no good reason. The lawyers encourage pupils to discuss the issues and help them see things from another point of view." Teacher, Skinners' Company's School for Girls 

"I would have changed the amount of time we had in lesson today. There was not enough time for discussion. I enjoyed Citizenship for the first time in ages." Student, Skinners' Company's School for Girls 

 

Addleshaw Goddard / Leeds West Academy & St James' School

Addleshaw Goddard was the first law firm to take Lawyers in Schools into classrooms in Northern England. Volunteers from two of their offices work with three schools in Leeds, Manchester and Bolton. The dedication of the volunteers in working with this number of schools is impressive.

When organising the sessions, a few different models have been adopted to meet the needs of the schools and volunteers. Typically, the scheme is run across the academic year. However, at one of the schools, St James', all six sessions were run within a six week period. This intensive block was well received by the students with both the volunteers and teachers commenting on its success.

'It has brought home to both pupils and teachers that Citizenship covers real issues in the real world rather than just isuees discussed in a classroom.' Teacher, St James' School

'I enjoyed breaking the law down to an understandable level and I enjoyed teaching the children something new and discussing thought-provoking subjects with them.' Volunteer, Addleshaw Goddard

"The scheme provides our people with a valuable opportunity to help young people understand the broad range of legal issues they may face as they leave school. Our lawyers are also given the chance to develop their presentation skills in an environment that is very different to where they work." CSR Manager, Addleshaw Goddard 

S J Berwin / The Charter School

S J Berwin volunteers have been working with students at The Charter School for the past year. The Charter School delivers Citizenship in 'drop down days' once a term (as opposed to weekly one hour lessons). The volunteers from S J Berwin were happy to run the scheme with students in double sessions on three of these days across the academic year.

Having fewer, but longer, sessions minimises the amount of time volunteers spend out of the office by cutting down on travel time. The students responded very well to the double sessions and were able to develop strong bonds with the volunteers.

"I was pleasantly surprised by the level of interest and discussion from the students. They proved to be very thoughtful on some quite difficult issues." Volunteer, S J Berwin

"I enjoyed learning about youth laws as it was very relevant to me. Working with lawyers was interesting and useful." Student, The Charter School

"I enjoyed all of it. Our lawyer was very smart." Student, The Charter School