About the Legal Advice Centre

What we do and why

We believe that our students learn best when they see how the law works in real life for real people. As such, we aim for all the services we develop and provide to educate our students, at the same time as helping our clients. We always do this in a sensitive, respectful and responsible way, observing strict rules of ethics and confidentiality, and as set out in our Privacy Notice.

We are now one of the biggest law clinics in Europe and one of the few where all students who wish to take part in pro bono work can do so for academic credit at all stages of their studies.

Our key concern is to use our expertise and resources to address unmet legal need in our communities and ensure citizens have access to clear information about their rights. For more details about our ethos and purpose, read our School of Law Pro Bono Policy.

The Legal Advice Centre (LAC) is a pro bono project operating as part of Liverpool John Moores University. It is not a regulated law firm, but all LAC solicitor staff and volunteers are subject to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)’s Code for Individuals. Find out more.

We are a member and regular contributor to the Access to Justice and General Committees of the Liverpool Law Society. The LAC was shortlisted in 2015 for the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards in two categories (Best Contribution by a Law School and Best New Student Pro Bono Activity), just a few months after being established by Rachel Stalker. In 2019 we were shortlisted for the national Access to Justice Foundation Award and our student fundraisers won the LawWorks and Attorney General Law School Challenge award in the same year. The LAC is a member of the UK Clinical Legal Education Organisation, the European Network of Legal Education and the Global Alliance for Justice Education, and we form the Practice Area in the Centre for the Study of the Law in Theory and Practice.